The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has added Egypt to its list of the most severe violators of religious freedom, citing it for the first time as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). This comes after a year of protest led to the ouster of longtime president Hosni Mubarek.
“CPCs are nations whose conduct marks them as the world’s worst religious freedom violators and human rights abusers," said USCIRF Chair Leonard Leo. “In the case of Egypt, instances of severe religious freedom violations engaged in or tolerated by the government have increased dramatically since the release of last year’s report, with violence, including murder, escalating against Coptic Christians and other religious minorities. Since President Mubarak’s resignation from office in February, such violence continues unabated without the government’s bringing the perpetrators to justice. Consequently, USCIRF recommends CPC designation for Egypt.”
You can read the entire USCIRF report for 2011, which emphasizes the growing problem of countries allowing abuse to go on unpunished, here (pdf).
