Stop the Attacks on the Copts in Upper Egypt

We, the undersigned, are outraged by the attacks of the Muslim fundamentalists against the peaceful and innocent Coptic Christians in the towns of Farshut, Abu Tisht and Nag Hammadi in Qina Governorate, Upper Egypt, that have been underway for several days running without any serious intervention from President Hosny Mubarak and his Government to stop them. In fact the Government's security forces have been reported to assist the mobs in their attacks.

Several Copts have been injured, including Christian religious dignitaries, and their properties set ablaze and looted. Many Coptic families have been deported at short notice. None of the perpetrators of the attacks have been arrested or apprehended.

This is not the first time Copts are attacked and molested in Egypt. Since ex-president Sadat introduced Islam into Egypts politics in the 1970s, and amended the Constitution to make Sharia the principal source of legislation, Copts have been under tremendous pressure - so many have been brutally murdered; so many Coptic girls kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam; so many Coptic properties looted. The rule of the present President, Hosny Mubarak, has not made things better: in fact, the situation deteriorated further - the numbers of Copts attacked or killed or kidnapped or forced to convert to Islam or those who have had their possessions looted, in his nearly three decades long rule, have not been matched or surpassed except in the dark ages of the country prior to 1800 AD.

I, the undersigned, join all freedom loving people in raising my voice and shouting loud and clear that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - Egypt must respect and protect all her citizens equally; she must remove once and for all the stigma of dhimmitude that has stained her reputation so long, and made her pariah in the civilised community of nations. I hold Egypt's President, Hosny Mubarak, responsible for any negligence of his Government's officials in their duties towards the safety of the Copts in Egypt- after all, and as the case in all dictatorships, the buck stops with the dictator. I demand that all perpetrators; all those who have instigated them; all those who have assisted them, by omission or commission, get brought to justice.