A/S POSNER ENGAGES WITH GOE, ACTIVISTS ON NAGA HAMADI KILLINGS

Reference ID 10CAIRO233
Created 2010-02-23 12:12
Released 2011-01-28
Classification CONFIDENTIAL
Origin Embassy Cairo



VZCZCXRO0743
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #0233/01 0540947
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 230947Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0359
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000233

SIPDIS
FOR DRL AND NEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/02/23
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF SOCI EG
SUBJECT: A/S POSNER ENGAGES WITH GOE, ACTIVISTS ON NAGA HAMADI
KILLINGS

REF: 10 CAIRO 163; 10 CAIRO 153; 10 CAIRO 141; 10 CAIRO 59
09 CAIRO 1556

CLASSIFIED BY: Margaret Scobey, Ambassador, State; REASON: 1.4(B),
(D)

¶1. KEY POINTS



-- (C) In January 12-14 meetings, A/S Posner urged the GOE to hold
accountable those responsible for the January 6 Naga Hamadi
sectarian killings, and to issue additional statements of
condemnation.



-- (C) Senior Interior Ministry and MFA officials said the
perpetrators would be tried and convicted. They attributed the
attacks to Upper Egypt's culture of revenge killings for "honor
crimes," such as a November 2009 rape of a Christian girl by a
Muslim man.



-- (C) The Legislative Affairs Minister feared a Unified Places of
Worship law could exacerbate sectarian tensions. The Minister of
Population and Families called for educational reform to promote
religious tolerance.



-- (C) Activists criticized the GOE for not preventing the attacks,
and for issuing insufficient condemnation.



¶2. (C) A/S Posner urged GOE officials to hold accountable those
responsible for the January 6 sectarian killings in order to break
the cycle of sectarian violence (ref D). He stressed the
importance of credible prosecutions, and urged the GOE to issue
additional public statements condemning the attacks.



-------------------------------------

MOI and MFA Stress "Vendetta Culture"

-------------------------------------



¶3. (C) Interior Ministry State Security Director Rahman said
residents of Upper Egypt are "limited in their culture and
education," and often react violently to what they perceive as
"honor crimes," such as the November rape of a Christian girl by a
Muslim man in the Upper Egyptian town of Farshoot. He asserted
that in response to "honor crimes," there are often attacks in
Upper Egypt, but the violence only attracts attention when Muslims
target Christians. He said that feuds and vendettas between
families can continue for generations.



¶4. (C) Deputy Foreign Minister Wafaa Bassim said that Upper
Egyptians maintain a tradition of revenge killings, and that the
January 6 shootings were a response to the Farshoot rape. She said
the GOE would try and convict the Naga Hamadi perpetrators. Deputy
Assistant Foreign Minister for Human Rights Wael Aboulmagd said
that the People's Assembly and the quasi-governmental National
Council for Human Rights would send fact-finding missions to Naga
Hamadi.



--------------------------------------------- ---------

Minister Shehab Pessimistic about Legislative Solution

--------------------------------------------- ---------



¶5. (C) Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shehab said the GOE needs
to punish the perpetrators. He contended that the Interior

CAIRO 00000233 002 OF 002


Ministry is conducting a serious investigation. Shehab said that
Egyptian Muslims and Copts have lived together for many years, and
he hoped that peaceful coexistence would resume.



¶6. (C) Minister Shehab said that a Unified Places of Worship Law
would not be a "magic solution" to sectarian tensions. Shehab
asserted that although he personally favors passing such a law, it
would have a negative effect on Muslim-Christian relations. He
contended that Christians would protest any GOE rejections of
church building requests, and Muslims would react badly to GOE
approvals. Shehab opined that President Mubarak's immediate
approval of four to five church building requests would send "the
right signal" following the Naga Hamadi killings.



-----------------------------------------

Minister Khattab: Education is the Answer

-----------------------------------------



¶7. (C) Minister of Population and Families Mushira Khattab
underscored that civic education in schools stressing Egyptian
identity over religious faith is needed to combat hate speech and
intolerance. She noted her ministry plans to send the Prime
Minister such an education proposal, as the issue affects families.
Khattab said the GOE has previously promoted reconciliation, and
then assured the public that "everything is ok." She called for
consistent action to promote religious tolerance. Regarding
identification documents, she opined that the GOE should allow
identification documents for Bahai'is to state "Baha'i" in the
religion field, or order dashes in this field for all Egyptians.
(Note: Per ref E, following a January 2008 court decision, the GOE
has begun issuing identity documents for Bahai'is with a dash in
the religion field. Previously, the GOE would only issue documents
stating the bearer's identity as Muslim, Christian or Jewish. End
note.)



-----------------------

Civil Society Reactions

-----------------------



¶8. (C) Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Executive Director
Hossam Bahgat said the GOE failed to prevent a predictable attack.
He asserted that the GOE should have been aware of rising sectarian
tensions in the Naga Hamadi area over the previous two months. He
attributed sectarian violence to a culture of impunity resulting
from a lack of convictions in recent years. Bahgat called for
improvements in the educational system to promote a culture of
tolerance.



¶9. (C) Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Director-General
Bahey Al-Din Hassan said he expects "exponentially increasing"
sectarian violence as the GOE did not hold anyone accountable for
violence against Copts in 2009. He criticized the GOE for not
acknowledging the killings as sectarian. Afro-Egyptian Human
Rights Organization Director Engi Haddad blamed the GOE for not
issuing sufficiently strong statements in response to the killings,
and asserted the killings illustrated the GOE's inability to
protect its citizens.



¶10. (U) A/S Posner cleared this message.



SCOBEY





Source: Wikileaks