Additional Name(s): منير سمير منير
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Egypt
Religion or Belief: Christian – Orthodox
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: January/30/2022
Date of Release: April/23/2022
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Protesting Religious Freedom Conditions
Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly Public Disorder Terrorism
Mounir Samir Mounir
Extra Bio Info:
Mounir Samir Mounir was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.
On January 30, 2022, authorities arrested Mounir and several other Copts a week after they had peacefully protested against authorities' inaction to rebuild the Church of St. Joseph and Abu Seifein in Samalut, Minya governorate. In 2016, the church was destroyed in a fire. Authorities reportedly did not investigate the cause of the incident. In July 2021, the church was formally demolished, and church representatives applied for a license to rebuild the church under Church Building Law 60/2016. However, they received no response from authorities within the law's stipulated waiting period.
Mounir was accused of participating in a demonstration threatening public safety, committing a terrorist act, and organizing a demonstration.
On April 23, 2022, Mounir was released.
Related Cases: Abanoub Magdy Semaan, Girgis Samir Girgis, Jayid Saad Zekry, Milad Mahrous Tawfik, Milad Reda Tawfik Ayyad, Mina Salib Hosni, Raymond Mamdouh William, Shenouda Salib Hosni
Sources:
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"On the occasion of Easter: the release of the 9 Copts of Ezbet Faragallah imprisoned for demonstrating to rebuild their church" Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
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"Egypt: Release nine Coptic Christians detained for attempting to rebuild church" Amnesty International
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"Renewed imprisonment of 9 Copts accused of demonstrating in order to issue a decision to rebuild a church, and EIPR calls for their release" Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
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"تجديد حبس 9 أقباط متهمين بالتظاهر من أجل صدور قرار بإعادة بناء كنيسة، والمبادرة المصرية تطالب بإخلاء سبيلهم" Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
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"تظاهر أقباط عزبة فرج الله بمحافظة المنيا للمطالبة بإعادة إنشاء كنيسة .. والمبادرة المصرية تجدد مطالبها بإعادة النظر في قانون بناء وترميم الكنائس" Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Pakistan
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other
Health Concerns: Deaf, dumb, behavioral disorder
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Texts)
Nature of Charges: Blasphemy
Muhammad Akbar
Extra Bio Info:
Muhammad Akbar is detained for blasphemy.
In 2019, authorities arrested Akbar after he was accused of burning papers containing Qur'anic texts. The accusations were reportedly spurred after Akbar witnessed the infidelity of a family member. Akbar is charged with "desecrating the Qur'an" (Sec. 295-B PPC). Akbar is also illiterate.
Akbar is deaf and dumb and reportedly suffers from a behavioral disorder.
Feb 25, 2022
Many of the religious communities that call Iraq home have suffered from conflict and displacement in recent decades. The civil war in Iraq in the 2000s led large numbers of Christians and other small religious groups to flee the country. Between 2014 and 2019, many religious communities in the north suffered horrifying atrocities under ISIS—including what the United States in 2016 formally declared as a genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims.
Today we are joined by USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza and Jeremy Barker, Senior Program Officer and Director of the Middle East Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute. Our discussion focuses on the current state of religious freedom in Iraq; in particular, for Iraq’s beleaguered religious minority communities.