Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There is an inequality constitutionally and legally for Christians in Egypt. The constitution contains an overriding provision in regard to sharia law. Certainly there is evidence that where there is an accepted conversion to Christianity, which is rare, we do engage in trying

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The estimate is about 2.2 billion Christians in the world today.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chair, it is inordinately high, which is why the world watch list is cut off at the top 60 most offensive nations in that regard. When one considers that 60 countries is somewhere between 15% and 18% of the number of nations on the planet, it's a substantial number of nations

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's another very good question. What's taking place on the streets in Egypt is coming to us through a variety of news sources and reports, including social media. Some violence by larger groups is being attributed to predominantly Muslim extremist groups, and some to the mili

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It is a correct assumption that Christians are subject to different treatment, which we would describe as persecution. I referenced earlier that this report will be sent electronically to the clerk so it can shared with the committee once it is translated. If it had been transl

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The three churches that have been completely destroyed since the uprising in January commenced are the ones I've mentioned: the two in Cairo, and the St. George church in Merinab in Aswan province.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Damage to houses of worship has taken place in the past in more limited numbers than in this past year. There has been a general sense of respect for the places of worship among the different religious communities. One of the great concerns is the effort on the part of extremist

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  No. I was referencing one of the statements I had read today that we'd gathered in the last six days from someone on the ground in Egypt.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll premise this by stating that one of the principal differences between Reverend El Shafie and me is that I'm a lawyer, so my understanding of the definition of a terrorist organization might be different from his. To my knowledge, the Muslim Brotherhood has never been categ

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chair, those are very good questions. It's a strong series of questions. I'm familiar with Mr. Nabil's situation. There are members of the Religious Liberty Partnership who are engaging on his behalf. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is not directly engaging, and I'm not

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm aware that other Christians have been detained and imprisoned. I'm not certain whether they've appeared before the particular tribunal that deals with charges of engaging in operations against the current military rulership of Egypt.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In some instances, it is in fact institutionalized. I referenced the letter in regard to Sri Lanka earlier, since we've gotten broader than just the three countries. In Sri Lanka, the government has intentionally chosen to recognize only the Roman Catholic church and a council

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  We have endorsed the concept of developing an office of religious freedom. We have made a full submission on what we would hope would be a robust office that would help inform the policies of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in establishing best practices for diplomats and

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's Penn State university. I know the authors are Grim and Finke, but I forget which one is with the Pew Forum and which one is at Penn State university. Last December they published the book The Price of Freedom Denied, which is an examination of religious freedom on the face o

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  They're not only fearful; they are concerned that showing up with documents identifying them as Christians may actually have them turned away, even if they have the courage to go to the voting booth.