Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-01-21-Speech-4-058"
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"en.20100121.4.4-058"2
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"Mr President, the Commission is deeply shocked and saddened by what happened on Coptic Christmas Eve in Nag Hammadi in southern Egypt, the tragic deaths of six Copts and a Muslim policeman in a drive-by shooting.
We are positive that the authorities took rapid action to find and arrest those suspected of committing this awful crime, and a thorough investigation and bringing those responsible to justice will send a clear signal that violence based on religious influence is not acceptable in Egyptian society.
Egypt’s Constitution provides for freedom of belief and free practice of religion. However, we do hear complaints of discrimination against the Copts and against other religious minorities such as the Bahá’í in the workplace and by the judicial system. We are aware of difficulties encountered by several Christian converts, such as Maher El-Gohary and Mohammed Hegazy, in Egyptian courts. We raised those issues in our regular political dialogue with Egypt.
We understand that the government is seeking to address some of the grievances of the Copts, for instance, by removing the obstacles that delay and limit the building and refurbishment of churches. We welcome and encourage such moves and urge the government to identify and tackle the root causes of religious tensions in Egyptian society and to end all forms of discrimination against those belonging to other religions.
The acts of vandalism against churches in Malaysia following a High Court ruling on the use of the word ‘Allah’ give rise to serious concerns. The government, as well as the opposition, including the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and 130 Muslim NGOs, have all strongly condemned those attacks. The government has increased security measures to safeguard all places of worship and has also reconfirmed its commitment to protect Malaysia’s social and religious harmony and a culture of religious and ethnic diversity.
The Malaysian Federal Constitution states that Islam is the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practised in peace and in harmony in any part of the Federation.
We encourage the authorities to initiate as soon as possible an all-encompassing inter-faith dialogue with all religious beliefs to promote mutual understanding so that Malaysia can continue to develop peacefully in ethnic and social harmony. In that regard, the Malaysian Home Ministry has a particular responsibility to explain thoroughly and objectively to its citizens the issue at stake.
We strongly condemn all acts of intolerance against any person because of his religion of belief wherever they occur. Unfortunately, no country is immune from this. We call on public authorities to fully protect all religious communities, including Christians, from discrimination and from repression.
The Commission gives high priority to freedom of religion or belief as central tenets of the EU’s human rights policy by raising the issue in political dialogue with countries where the problem persists, by supporting local human rights projects and by actively promoting freedom of religion or belief at the UN forums."@en1
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