Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Under the title Documented, Accurate Figure – Census of Copts is 18.565.484 million, Mājid 'Attīyah writes in a column in Watanī newspaper of January 15 that Dr. Tharwat Basīlī has said he has a documented, accurate figure of the Coptic population in Egypt and that he challenges anyone who would want to prove it is wrong. [Mājid 'Attīyah, Watanī, Jan. 15, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic

The ‘urfī (conciliatory) council of the elders of Muslims and Copts in Asyut governorate managed to restore calm to al-‘Adar on the third day of sectarian incidents in the village and some other neighboring villages, sparked after a Coptic high school student has reportedly published cartoons offensive to Muslims on his Facebook page. [‘Abduh Hasānyn and Ahmad al-Asyūtī, Al-Wafd, Jan. 2, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic 

Table of Contents

I. Introduction: Complications

II. Egyptian Media Reporting

III. Experiences of the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU)

IV. NGO Registration: The U.S. Model

The Coptic Organizations Union in Europe “AYKOR” denounced the arrest of the Egyptian Blogger Michael Nabīl and sending the activist 'Alā’ 'Abd al-Fattāh to prison. It asked the Military Council to release Nabīl immediately. Nabīl was sent to a mental hospital last week after being arrested for 7 months due to an article that he wrote and published on his blog about the relation between the Egyptian army and the Egyptians after the 25th of January revolution. Besides, in its statement issued the day before yesterday, the Union demanded the Military Council to pay immediate compensations to the families of the martyrs and the injured victims of Maspero incidents as a way of equating them with the families of the martyrs and victims of the 25th of January revolution.

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Donors and organizations usually support particular organizations that may have religious immunity which allows them to breach the rule of law. When there is no control over such organizations, social work becomes a tool to penetrate Egypt at all levels. Rose al-Yūsuf continues to publish the financial statements of foreign grants received by the Christian organization of Caritas. It unveils countries and international organizations that fund these entities without the knowledge of the state or its means of controls. Ironically, organizations that receive funds from abroad are not subject to the control of the Central Accounting Authority [CAA] and this control is limited to organizations that get subsidies from the government. This led to the spread of foreign funds that are not subject to accountability and control is confined to a follow-up by directorates of social solidarity in different governorates.

The Adminstrative Court yesterday (October 16, 2011) transferred the case of Kāmilīyā Shihātah to the Board of State Commissioners.

Hāmid Sidīq Mikī had filed a lawsuit against Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III to release Shihātah who was reportedly detained by the Church.

Shihātah's location has not been disclosed.

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Egypt’s South Suez Court has adjourned the sixth session of the Suez martyrs' trial until next November.

Lawyers representing the families of those killed demanded financial compensation estimated at LE10,000 (U.S. $1,680) for each victim’s family.

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The General Committee for Human Rights (GCHR), an affiliate of the Lawyers’ Syndicate, has denounced the authority’s recent reactions to Friday’s controversial attacks on the Israeli and Saudi embassies as well as the Giza security headquarters, pointing especially to the reactivation of the contentious emergency law.

The testimony of Field Marshal Hussein Tantāwī, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, as a witness in the trial of former president Husnī Mubārak, has been postponed to September 24, judicial sources said yesterday.

The trial of the former President Husnī Mubārak, Habīb al-‘Ādlī, former minister of the interior, and 6 of his aides took place today with Field Marshal Hussein Tantāwī, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, giving his testimony.