A delegation from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an office of the US government, presented complaints from expatriate Copts to the Egyptian National Council for Human rights which accused the state of "downplaying the significance" of the Naga Hammadi Christmas shootings.
The delegation, which met with Ahmed Kamal Abul Magd, deputy head of the council, said the Egyptian state engages in informal reconciliatory efforts, but never acknowledges the existence of real problems, thus leading to the repetition of such incidents.
The USCIRF delegation was comprised of eight delegates, in addition to the US ambassador to Egypt. In the meeting, members from the delegation and members of the council discussed the general status of Copts in Egypt.
The head of the USCIRF delegation and a member of the American Jewish Committee, Felice D. Gaer, was absent from the meeting. The American Jewish Committee is one of the most prominent organizations defending Jewish interests in the United States and abroad.
Members from the commission are scheduled today to meet with officials from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and with human rights activists. In statements to the press following the earlier meeting, Abul Magd said there are "red lines imposed upon Muslims and Christians limiting them from issuing statements or taking positions that could ignite further tensions and violence."
The USCIRF was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and Congress.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
