Middle Eastern nations Wednesday, March 31, after Tunisia cancelled an annual Arab summit, because of a lack of progress on democracy and human rights in the region, news reports said.
The gathering with Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain and the host country, was expected to be closely monitored by organizations such as the U.S. Copts Association, which has expressed concern about the persecution of Christians in especially Egypt including the "systematic forced conversion and abduction of Coptic girls"
Washington has also expressed concern about the rapid spread of Islamic extremism throughout the Middle East at the expense of minority groups such as Christians and pushed for reforms as part of its efforts to fight terrorism. Egypt, which has been seen as a key player within the 22-member Arab League, has often been signed out by human rights groups as not doing enough to end persecution of non Muslims.
As part of the latest campaign by Muslim extremists against Christians, the U.S. Copts Association claims it has received "troubling reports (that) indicate that supermarkets publicizing shopping contests are in fact singling out Coptic girls for conversion to Islam.
CONTROVERSIAL PAPERWORK
Once alerted to the girls religion, store employees notify the young Christian woman that she has won a contest. To claim her prize, she is asked to proceed to the upper levels of the store where her reward awaits. Once upstairs, the girl is asked to sign documentation confirming receipt of her reward," the organization said.
"However, the paperwork is documentation for the conversion of an individual to Islam; and the young girl is unaware that her signature is in fact official confirmation of her conversion to Islam," it added.
Coptic women who resist are reportedly accused of theft and strip-searched. "There are several reports of the rape of these young Christian women. Despite their families desperate attempts to rescue their daughters, the girls are not returned to their families," the U.S. Copts Association said.
EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT
There has been no official reaction to this report, but the Egyptian government has in the past made clear it wanted to crack down on Muslim extremism. Yet human rights groups say that police forces are often involved in actions against Christians throughout the country, and that many believers are held in prisons.
The spiritual leader of the estimated 11 million Copts of Egypt, Pope Shenouda III, has urged police officials to "take a decisive position." He also condemned the recent arrest of young Coptic Christian college students in Sinai.
"DISTURBING UNITY"
The four students, ages 19-20, had in their possession a number of Bibles and Christian material. They were reportedly detained on January 26th on charges of "disturbing the national unity" and received another 49-day extension to their imprisonment with no court date in sight, the U.S. Copts Association said.
"We don’t want any more catastrophes to happen to us, what has happened in the past is enough, the Copts’ Pope was quoted as saying by the organization. But despite growing pressure on the Egyptian government, the issue of Christian persecution and the US demands for improving democracy in the Middle East was was not expected to be high on the agenda during the Arab talks.
Commentators say that the governments of Egypt and authoritarian governments of other Arab countries are pressured to play a more active role in defending the rights of Palestinians, even when this leads to growing tensions with America. Last week the U.S. used its veto power to block a United Nations Security Council resolution presented by Arab states condemning Israel’s recent killing of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in the Gaza Strip.
