CAIRO: A number of Egypt's political parties and movements issued a statement decrying the forced eviction of Coptic families in the al-Nahda village of the al-Ameriyah area of Alexandria. It comes as the incident has raised widespread controversy within the Egyptian Parliament, as a group of Coptic Youth movements marched on the Parliament Sunday to protest the ongoing forced eviction of Coptic families. Their protest led to a hearing held by Parliament's Human Rights Committee and number of inquiries submitted by several MPs to the Speaker of the Parliament. Member of the Parliament Emad Gad confirmed on Sunday the continued efforts to address the “scheme” to displace Christian Egyptian families in al-Ameriyah, and stressed on his official Facebook page that he “discussed the issue with a number of human rights activists and will address the crisis at different levels so as to put an end to this crime.” Gad, one of the founders of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, confirmed that the liberal and left-wing political forces are considering all possibilities, “including mass resignations from parliament if it fails to lay the foundations of citizenship and equality in a civil state that prevents discrimination amongst all of its citizens.” The crisis erupted when a Coptic man was alleged to have had an affair with a married Muslim woman, which led to clashes between the two families, and resulted in the torching of Christian houses. A “customary hearing” to achieve reconciliation among the disputing parties was then held, and a decree was issued by an ultra-conservative Salafist sheikh in the village to deport Coptic families from the village and sell their property. Political forces have condemned the eviction and issued a statement, describing the ruling of the informal hearings as “collective punishment without any legal basis and would stir sectarian strife.” Among the signatories of the statement were the Popular Socialist Coalition Party, The Egyptian Social Democratic Party and Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination Movement, whose joint statement, entitled, “No to customary hearings, yes to justice,” denounced the current incidents in al-Ameriyah. The statement said that security forces “failed to perform its duties and protect the Christian houses and then sponsored a customary reconciliation session that led to a decree to evict a number of Coptic families.” It called on the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists, who now hold the majority in Parliament, “to demonstrate their commitment to the principles of law and human rights and the seriousness in engaging in the state, which is only ruled by law that everyone is seeking to build, and stop getting involved in traditional customary sessions, which is a violation of law and its role in society.” The statement continued to demand a fair trial before a civil court and to include all those involved in the crime of “sedition, theft, looting and burning the property of Christian citizens.” The statement added, “We hold the state authorities, particularly the military junta, full responsibility, which has not sent any troops or leaders to contain the situation, the Ministry of Interior, which stood still at the outbreak of the events, and contributed directly to dispel the rule of law when it opened its headquarters for informal reconciliation meetings.” It demanded the application of the law strictly and impartially, and to “maintain the rule of law and the arrest of culprits who stole and looted and burned the houses of their neighbors, and bring them to justice and to stop resorting to these informal meetings, in cases of sectarian violence, and to protect the lives and money and property of the Christians of the village.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/irzD0 Tags: Ameriyah, Christians, Coptic, Evictions, featured Section: Editor's choice, Egypt, Features, Human Rights, Latest News, Religion
