The 50-member committee charged with revising the constitution approved 14 articles — articles 37 to 51— of the freedoms and rights chapter during three closed-door meetings on Sunday and Monday. Other closed-door meetings are scheduled today, with discussions on articles regulating press freedom, public gatherings, the setting up of political parties and NGOs. The first reading of the 38-article chapter on freedoms and rights, however, saw clashes between Islamist and secular members of the committee. In a press conference on Monday committee spokesperson Mohamed Salmawy said the previous evening's session ended with a majority vote in favour of a new draft of Article 47 which guarantees the “exercise of religious rites in an absolute way”. The text of Article 47 drafted by a 10-member technical committee last August read: “Freedom of belief is inviolable… the state guarantees the right of all citizens to exercise religious rites freely and facilitates the building of places of worship for followers of Abrahamic religions as regulated by law.” The suggestion now, says Salmawy, is that the text be amended to read “the state guarantees that all citizens exercise religious freedoms in an absolute way”. A majority of members, says Salmawy, agreed that Islam grants absolute freedoms for all religions, citing Prophet Mohamed's “We are not entitled to open the hearts of others to know their beliefs” in support of extending freedoms to the adherents of religions other than Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Mohamed Abul-Ghar, chairman of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, told parliamentary correspondents on Sunday that “the new constitution will include an article lifting all barriers standing in the way of building churches in Egypt.” Representatives of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party and of Al-Azhar remain opposed to any amendment of Article 47 and insist guarantees to practice religious rites remain restricted to followers of Abrahamic religions. Salmawy denied reports that any discussion on Article 219 — drafted by the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly in 2012, it glossed a definition of Islamic Sharia — had been opened. Abul-Ghar told correspondents that Article 219 undermined religious freedom by attempting to impose a strict code of Islam on Egyptian society. The Nour Party representative, however, continues to argue that Article 219 is necessary to prevent Shia Muslims from proselytizing in Egypt. Committee chairman Amr Moussa told an Algerian newspaper on Sunday that “a decision on Article 219 will be left to the final vote on the constitution at the end of November.” Moussa met with the representative of the Nour Party, Grand Mufti Abdel-Karim and Coptic church representative Bishop Paula on Monday in an attempt to secure agreement over the article. According to Salmawy, just “one member [the Nour representative] defends Article 219”. Salmawy confirmed that the 50-member committee's meetings will continue to be conducted behind closed doors and that reserve members of the committee would be barred from attending voting sessions. He also revealed that during the first two closed-door meetings on Sunday a consensus had emerged over the draft of eight articles in the chapter regulating freedoms, rights and public duties which meant there was no need for recourse to the 75 per cent rule stipulated by the committee's by-laws in case of ongoing disagreement. Meanwhile, the so-called Islamic identity articles — 1 to 4 of the constitution — continue to be the focus of contention and have yet to be drafted in the final form on which the committee will vote. The 14 articles endorsed by the committee will now be referred to the 10-member technical committee for a final review of the texts. Currently Article 37 states: “Dignity is an inviolable right for every human being and the state is committed to respect and protect it”; Article 38 reads “all citizens are equal before the law in terms of rights and public duties and without discrimination on the basis of religion, sect, sex, gender, colour, language, handicap, geographical location, social status or political affiliation.” The latter, said Salmawy, is completely different from the 2012 constitution and will be supported by an anti-discrimination commission “including representatives of civil society organisations that will fight all forms of discrimination and prejudice”. Article 40 guarantees personal freedoms and states that citizens cannot be arrested, interrogated or detained in the absence of a judicial order and cannot be questioned without access to a lawyer. Defendants detained illegally will be entitled to compensation. Article 41 stipulates that prisons and other places of custody be placed under judicial supervision. Articles 42 and 43 prohibit the gathering of information on the private lives of citizens or the searching of houses in the absence of judicial orders. Article 44 makes the state responsible for guaranteeing the safety and security of citizens; Article 45 addresses the sanctity of the human body and Article 46 forbids the “forced evacuation of citizens”.
