Background:

Bahāʾ al-Dīn Ḥassan [Bahay Hassan] is an Egyptian Human Rights defender who has led the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, CIHRS. Since he has received death threats for his work, he is currently living in France. Najād Barʿaī [Negad Borai] also works in the field Human Rights with NGOs in Egypt.

SIDE A

Bahāʾ al-Dīn Ḥassan [Bahay Hassan] analyzes the development of islamist groups in Egypt in 1996. The interview begins with the question of whether Islamic extremists and political islamists have been set back by losing the elections. Hassan answers that he cannot see any new developments in this arena. When asked to speak aboutthe situation in other countries, he spokeabout Bahrain for a while, though he claimed that the situation there is completely different from the situation in Egypt. The focus of the interview then shifted tothe situation in Upper-Egypt, where there have been many conflicts betweenthe Egyptian Government and the Islamists, especially those from al-Jamāʿa al-Islāmīyya. In Hassan’s opinion, it seems that the Government is going to win, in spite ofnumerous complaints ofHuman rights violations. However, freedom of religion and speech are not the only targets in that conflict. Moreover, the majority of the victims are innocent civilians.

The question remains of what will happen to the extremists when they lose. Hassan fears that the islamists will continue working underground and rise again as a powerful opponent in the future. Reports about protection money for Christian inhabitants of this region are also acknowledged. Due to this fact, many Christian citizens have fled to Cairo. Another issue discussed involves the role of United for Human Rights (UHR), which is claimed by both parties tosupport the specific opposition in question.

SIDE B  

For Najād Barʿaī [Negad Borai]the main problem in Egypt is not relations between Muslims and Copts, rather, the issue lies in not having a democracy. By having a democratic system and society, in Borai’s opinion, these problems would be solved. Borai says that since the Egyptian victory against Israel in the Yom Kippur war of 1973,the situation in Egypt has changed. Particularly in the media, the industry is not the same as before. A lot of new religious television programs have been created, and as a result, tensionsbetween Muslims and Copts have been exacerbated. Borai then goes into detail describingthe matter ofhuman right abuses in contemporary Egyptian society due to interreligious tensions. Borai discusses Muslim girls who cannot go back to their families because they married a Christian boy, and the “jizyah” (protection money) which must be paid by Christians and Jews in some regions to reside peacefully (without being killed) in Islamic societies. Furthermore, Borai describes the working methodologyof the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, EOHR, which evaluates human rights violations with their team of lawyers. Subsequently, if these violations are demonstrably proven, EOHR provides the necessary information to the local authorities and publishes analyses of the incidents in their reports. Furthermore, Borai knows about fundamentalist groups whocomplain about his organization for helping the Copts. However,Borai denied this by saying thathuman rights are universal and not dependant on the religion to which someone belongs.