What does religion have to do with voting in Egypt?
Dalia MalekDalia Malek send this dispatch from London on the experience of registering to, one day, be able to vote in Egypt's elections.
After months of protests at Egyptian embassies around the world, SCAF announced that Egyptians abroad would have the right to vote. However, at least in the United Kingdom this has been more challenging than it would seem.
A delegation went to the Egyptian consulate in London between 18 and 22 November to issue Egyptian IDs, while online registration for voting closed on 19 November. This overlap of dates appears intentional, but in fact, no one with an Egyptian ID issued after 27 September 2011 could register to vote.
Egyptian IDs and the “new” versions of the Egyptian birth certificates and passports have a serial number (raqam qawmi) that is identified with a citizen’s records, and this is not present on the “old” birth certificate or the “old” passport. Religion is also not written on the passport. Although both of my parents are Egyptian and I have had the old version of the Egyptian birth certificate since I was born, and the old passport since 2007 (valid until 2014), I have chosen not to request an Egyptian ID until now because of the privacy issues.
While it may not be immediately apparent for those who have habitually had their religion written on official government documents like the Egyptian ID for most of their lives, voting for Egyptians is inherently the laying down of the right to privacy. For those who practice or identify with religions other than the three recognized religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism —- or no religion, it is also the laying down of the right to freedom of religion.
An Egyptian passport and/or birth certificate is not considered enough proof of citizenship to vote: and an Egyptian ID is required. Dual-national Egyptians like me who are asking an ID for the first time will have to prioritize their rights before deciding whether to keep religion out of public government documents or to vote in the upcoming elections. While I have the option to make a nuisance of myself regarding my opposition of this practice at the consulate or the Mogamma because I have dual citizenship to fall back on, for those who do not have that option this is also an issue of citizenship rights. Religious minorities like Baha’is have been embroiled in lawsuits over the issue of religion on the Egyptian ID for years, while others have simply said they are Muslim to save themselves the trouble. While many Egyptians do not see the harm in having what is normally an aspect of their public lives written on government-issued documents, for these reasons it is still a form of repression.
When I went to the consulate in London to issue an ID, I said that I did not want a religion stated on my ID. I was shuffled between three or four members of staff who wanted to know my reasons for not wanting to declare a religion on the application form. One asked plainly, “Are you Baha’i?” I was also told that if I wanted to convert, I needed to provide documentary evidence from the mosque, church or synagogue in which I had converted. It seemed that the ideas of renunciation of religion and the concept of privacy, or simply declining to state a religion, were being conflated conceptually.
Since I had already paid a non-refundable fee of £55 for the application form, I submitted it with a vertical line through the field that asked for a religion. Interestingly, on the old birth certificate, it does not say what religion I am, but rather the religion of both of my parents. It is implied that the religion is inherited from the parents, and at some point, their religion has been attached to my own records. Just before visiting Egypt in October, I had someone issue a new version of the birth certificate for me and sure enough, on a separate line it says that I belong to the religion of my parents, in addition to stating their religion. Just to be sure, when I tried entering the raqam qawmi on the new birth certificate into the online voter registration form, it gave an error message that said that my information was not in the system.
I was told at the consulate in London that even if I were to strike through the “religion” field on the application form, or even write a different religion than that of my parents, when it reached Cairo for processing, my ID would still have the religion of my parents on it. Changing religions is a separate process that needs to be done before issuing an ID, and declining to state one at all is not an option. At the consulate I was told that if I wanted to do this, I would have to make a case before a court in Egypt. It was also suggested to me to put down the name of a contact in Egypt to chase after my application before it is processed to see what will happen with the religion category on the ID. Although I was given a lot of conflicting information from different staff members, I was also told that processing should take a month.
The voting process for those who successfully registered has also been confusing. Deadlines have been extended with little notice, and sometimes this has been announced by emails that only a few people have received. For example in the US, the Elections Committee in Egypt sent a circular to consulates announcing an extension of the deadline to have votes mailed to Washington, D.C. In Texas, for a deadline of 25 November, the consulate did not receive this circular until Friday 25 November at 17:30, and the consulate distributed the email at 19:25 that day.
Reader Comments (8)
Wow! That is terrible that you must state a religion or take the religion of your parents. I would never last there.; I have no religion and I study all religions.
Is there a way to change the laws of having religion being part of the process. It seems that this is necessary in this day and age.
Welcome to the 21st century, Egypt!
This is nothing to do with the issue of voting. Ridiculous bureaucratic procedures characterise Egypt. Wrong as they are its not some plot to stop Egyptian atheists voting. This is a non-story except that the headline allows it to imply in some way that Muslims are taking over and want to control the voting process, government and then the world!!!
You were better labeling your article as it is, an issue with identifying your religion, rather than linking it to voting, while this can be an issue to you, I assure you that most of the Egyptians have other demanding needs and they have no dual citizenship to fail over it. It is so easy for non-egyptians not knowing the hardship of finding daily provisions for many Egyptians to come and schold Egypt on the rights of the minority, while minority Muslims living.in the 21st century civilized West is tainted with islamophobia and shariaphobia.
This article could be called "What does religion have to do with marriage in Egypt?" and the same human rights--the right to privacy and the right to freedom of religion--would be at stake. Anyone, including non-Egyptian nationals, must declare one of the three recognized religions on a marriage certificate in Egypt. Again, if an Egyptian or non-Egyptian does not belong to one of the three recognized religions or does not want to declare a religion on the marriage certificate, he or she will have to sacrifice what is called the "right to found a family" in Egypt. This is only an option for some.
Here we are talking about voting rights because it is yet another right that must be sacrificed in order to have privacy/freedom of religion, or vice versa: privacy/freedom of religion must be sacrificed to have voting rights. Also, the difficulty and confusion of registering and voting from abroad is a problem many Egyptians abroad who do not even have ID issues are facing.
Check out the rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is party. It's more than ridiculous bureaucracy, it is a violation of the rights Egypt is legally bound to uphold. The EIPR does an excellent analysis of this: http://eipr.org/en/report/2009/12/06/261/275. This link mainly covers the right to freedom of religion, but the right to privacy is also in the ICCPR.
Regardless of what some may see as "more demanding" at a particular moment, the Egyptian government must strive to uphold all human rights without exceptions.
I used to live in Egypt and I know it was standard to have religion listed on national ID and passport (pre-revolution). I agree that it is a bureaucratic thing and that most Egyptians would think it was entirely normal and not a problem, but I also agree that it actually is a problem for religious minorities, the nonreligious, or people who have converted and don't wish to make a public governmental issue out of their conversion. Religion should not have to be listed on government IDs whether passports or otherwise. It may not be a pressing issue for the vast majority of Egyptians but it is something I hope they will change since it would be so easy to do so - just remove the field and make sure that everyone knows it is no longer required because the govt has no need to know what your religion is. In fact reforming the bureaucracy and making it less intrusive would bde a win win for whoever ends up in charge of Egypt.
Dalia, not for a moment should you think that what you describe is specific Egyptian woes.
I am Greek. (Born in Cairo to Greek parents, but that's an aside in this context.) Neither one of my parents was religious, although their birth certificates stated them as Christian Orthodox. At the age of a month or two I was baptised into the Christian Orthodox church. That's not because my parents had a sudden change of heart and saw the light of religion. It was because, by Greek law at the time, baptism was the only way to give a child a first name. It was not possible to just declare a name at the authorities, nor was it possible to have any documents issued for the child until it had a first name. This is why, for many years, my Greek ID-card stated "Religion: Christian Orthodox". Yes, they put religion on ID-cards and, unlike in Egypt, you could get nowhere with just a birth certificate or a passport. All the contrary, you couldn't and still can't get a passport unless you have an ID-card.
A few years after the fall of the junta I decided that enough was enough. I had lost my ID-card and needed a new one anyway, democracy was back and I would (probably) not be beaten to pulp for challenging the system, so I applied for a new ID and stated "Religion: atheist" on the application form.
At the ID section of the police they went ballistic. They suggested in turn that I was (a) not Greek, (b) un-Greek, which is much worse, (c) crazy, (d) an "anti-social element seeking the uprooting of all values" and then yet some other such that I do not recall. At the end they had to give in, but required a new birth certificate with the corrected data. In turn, to get my birth certificate corrected, I needed a certificate from the archdiocese of the Orthodox church to prove that I was no longer a member of the church. In other words: as an adult it was impossible for me to get an ID-card without the church's approval of my "exit" from the church, although I had never applied for membership in that church in the first place but, in fact, membership had been forced upon me at an age of just a few weeks.
I went through the process and I got my atheist ID at the end; probably a near-unique document in Greece. Many years and several ECHR convictions later, Greece removed religion from ID-cards but still notes it on all underlying documents, like birth certificates etc.
The morale? Despair not. Some things suck majorly, but there is hope.
Well, it has been the same in Turkey. Religion was noted on the national ID cards, and there was no way for Turks to get "Islam" deleted from the Religion section of the national ID. In this respect, Turkey is more like Greece (as per Zenon's experience) than Egypt. I suppose, in Egypt there is the Arab, the Muslim and the "Egyptian" which does not automatically mean the former two. In Turkey, on the other hand, being a Turk is nearly synonymous with being Muslim. Only recently, after a decision of the European Court of Human Rights that it has become possible for individuals to have nothing written about their religion on the national ID cards.
What I find ironic about this episode, both in Egypt and in Turkey, is that this enforcement of the public declaration of one's religion was done by staunchly secular regimes that persecuted and suppressed religious expression and religious movements. And in Turkey, it was repelled, along many other democratic reforms, during the supposedly Islamist AKP rule.
So, Dalia, I say, a more democratic Egypt will hopefully be a more tolerant and free Egypt. There is hope.
If you don't consider minority rights when trying to establish a democratic system then when do you? You say it's not important, but when aren't the rights of all citizens important?Since legally countries can neither afford rights to people based on religion, political beliefs etc nor can they impinge upon rights based on these things, what benefit does it serve to have such information public? Forcing people to acknowledge difference highlights a conceivably inconsequential element of identity to separate a minority from society while simultaneously reaffirming that part of the population will never be equal. Religion is supposed to be protected under the International Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The forced imprinting of religion on identity may not be important to some, but forcing others to accept an identity that they do not recognize in the name of government law, is unnecessary and illegal.