The case of the arrest of 48 Egyptian Copts in Libya on charges of practising missionary activities has shed light on violations of human rights and the spread of extremist thinking in Libya. According to Hafez Abu Seada, chair of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), the detention of the Egyptians in Libya was a flagrant violation of human rights. He called on the Libyan government to guarantee that they were treated in a proper way. The 48 were arrested on charges of attempting to convert Libyan Muslims to Christianity, and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry is making every effort to ensure that the men are released as soon as possible. Ali Al-Esheiri, assistant minister for consular affairs, said that efforts exerted by the Egyptian consulate in Benghazi had led to the release of 20 of the men. “Efforts are being made to release the others as soon as possible,” he added. Egypt's foreign minister, Mohamed Kamel Amr, called his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Abdel-Aziz on Saturday in order to discuss the issue. Ministry spokesman Nazih Nejari said that Abdel-Aziz had expressed his regrets about what had happened and described it as “unacceptable”. Abdel-Aziz had added that a “crisis committee” had been formed to investigate the incident and had promised that the Libyan authorities would follow up the case, according to a statement released by the ministry on Saturday. The 48 Egyptian Christians were arrested in Benghazi last week, where they work as traders in the local market. They were said to be in possession of copies of the Bible and texts bearing images of Christ and the late Coptic Pope Shenouda and were charged with urging Libyan Muslims to convert to Christianity. They were also charged with illegal entry into Libya by the Libyan authorities. The arrests came after a complaint filed by Islamists who were annoyed by the Christian images carried by the group of market vendors in Benghazi. A video and pictures posted online have shown that the men have subsequently been treated in an inhumane way by the Libyan authorities. The images show the detainees with shaven heads squatting on the floor of a small room while one bearded man describes how they had been arrested on charges of proselytising for Christianity. One day after the arrest, Coptic Bishop Bakhomious, archbishop of Beheira, Matrouh and Libya, said that “this is a very serious incident, in which Egyptian citizens have been arrested on the mere suspicion [of proselytising] and tortured while in detention.” Abu Seada, who has argued that there is a problem with freedom of belief in the Arab countries, called on the Egyptian government to take all the steps necessary to free the detainees. The government “should denounce this action and it should take that action to ensure that the detainees are treated in a humane way. If their rights have been violated, proper investigations should be undertaken,” he told Al-Ahram Weekly. Islamist extremism has spread in various Arab countries, including Libya, where groups that are out of the control of the country's authorities have been formed. Libya's prime minister has urged the militia groups, one of which is suspected of having arrested the Christians, to join the government security forces. He was quoted by the media as saying that the militias often act with impunity, run their own prison cells, and make arrests in the absence of state control and oversight. The arrests are the latest in a series of incidents in Libya targeting Christians. In December, two Egyptian Christians were killed and two others were injured when suspected Islamist extremists threw a homemade bomb at a Coptic-Orthodox church in western Libya. Four missionaries from Egypt, South Africa, South Korea and Sweden were also recently arrested in Benghazi on charges of printing and distributing materials that promoted Christianity. Other Christians in Benghazi have also been arrested, including several Egyptians and three non-Arab expatriates who were working as language teachers or businessmen. The men have also been accused of proselytising, although no formal charges have yet been made against any of them.
