"It is a great honour and responsibility to work for such an historical case. This case will have a remarkable impact and affect every Egyptian who leaves Islam and converts to Christianity.
It is our hope that those who want to see religious freedom can do so without fear of being harmed. It is time for Egypt to recognize the legality of those who desire to convert from Islam to Christianity. Since Egypt plays such a pivotal role in influencing other Islamic countries, it’s important that those who choose to leave Islam and accept another religious affiliation are permitted to do so in accordance with international human rights standards."
The Egyptian Christians suffers a lot; they are almost persecuted. It is our will to draw the International attention to this grave situation.
The ECLJ, in support to the Hegazy application to the United Nations, and in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review, has completed a very detailed legal study on the status of conversions in Egypt. This study is in French, one of the two working language of the United Nations.
http://www.eclj.org/pdf/ECLJ_Changementdereligion_20100201.pdf
This 44 pages long study shows that even if death penalty (demanded by Muslim authorities) is not provided under Egyptian law, abandonment of Islam has consequences that are equivalent to civil death: the apostate can not marry and if he was already, he is separated from his wife, his children are kidnapped, his estate is open, he cannot inherit, and only his Muslim heirs can inherit him. He cannot obtain an identity card, which denies him the basic rights to live. That is why the converts to Islam are practically obliged to leave the country to live their faith.
This Legal Memorandum will be provided to the Members of the Human Rights Council while reviewing the fulfillment by Egypt of its human rights, obligations, and commitments. The UPR is a cooperative mechanism, based on an interactive dialogue with the State under review. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accredited to the ECOSOC such as the ECLJ are entitled to participate to this process. The UPR working group will review the actions of Egypt during its session scheduled for February 17-19, 2010. Three States (China, Madagascar and Italy) are in charge of drafting the Report on Egypt. That report will then be considered, discussed, and voted upon before the Human Rights Council in June 2010.