Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Egypt

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

Egypt

Updated March 2024

USCIRF Recommended for Special Watch List

Copts

Copts, indigenous Egyptian Christians, are the largest 

religious minority in Egypt. Copts from all denominations—

the traditional Coptic Orthodox Church as well as Coptic 

Catholic, Evangelical, and more—are subject to harassment 

and repression by government officials. State security, 

prosecutors and judges have targeted Copts for speaking 

out about anti-Coptic discrimination and for alleged insults 

against Islam (i.e., blasphemy).

Marco Girgis

religion or belief:

Christian 

arrested:

June 14, 2021

sentence:

5 Years’ Imprisonment

reason for persecution:

Accused of insulting Islam 

Nour Fayez

religion or belief:

Unspecified 

arrested:

November 1, 2021

reason for persecution:

Discussing religion and religious conversion 

on social media 

Muslims: Non-Sunnis & Theological Dissenters 

Muslims from non-Sunni branches of Islam (e.g., Shi’a and 

Qur’anist Muslims), as well as Sunni Muslims whose views 

diverge from state-approved interpretations of Sunni Islam 

are vulnerable to state harassment and prosecution for 

perceived insults to Islam (i.e., blasphemy) and, in some cases, 

unfounded accusations of belonging to a terrorist group.

Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Khalifa

religion or belief:

Unspecified

arrested:

May 9, 2022

health concerns:

Denied psychiatric evaluation 

reason for persecution:

Accused of desecrating religious symbols

Converts from Islam to Other Religions

Government actors have used the blasphemy statute and 

other laws to detain converts from Islam to other religions, 

usually Christianity, as well as people who provide information 

or support to those considering religious conversion.

Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo

religion or belief:

Christian

arrested:

December 15, 2021

health concerns:

Heart and liver conditions

reports of medical neglect: Yes 

reason for persecution:

Publicizing his conversion to Christianity 

FoRB Victims List Stats

18 out of 2,282

Religion or Belief # of Victims

Christian 14

Unspecified 3

Qur’anist Muslim 1

Total 18

Type of Abuse # of Victims

Detained 15

Imprisoned 3

Total 18

Reports of # of Victims

Torture 2

Medical Neglect 3

Total 5
Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Egypt

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Special Watch List

Egypt

Updated March 2024

Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List Background

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), as amended by the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016, 

requires USCIRF to:

make publicly available, to the extent practicable...lists of persons it determines are imprisoned or detained, have 

disappeared, been placed under house arrest, been tortured, or subjected to forced renunciation of faith for their religious 

activity or religious freedom advocacy by the government of a foreign country that the Commission recommends for 

designation as a country of particular concern [CPC]...or by a nonstate actor that the Commission recommends for 

designation as an entity of particular concern [EPC]. 

USCIRF developed the Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Victims List—an online public database—to implement this 

provision for countries USCIRF recommends for Country of Particular Concern (CPC) or Special Watch List (SWL) status. The list also 

includes such victims located in the de facto territories of nonstate actors that USCIRF recommends for Entity of Particular Concern (EPC) 

status, according to the same criteria.

Due to limited resources, USCIRF is unable to identify and document all victims that meet the statutory requirement to be included on 

the FoRB Victims List and generally relies on receiving submissions from outside individuals and organizations. As such, the information 

contained in the database does not reflect country, regional, or global trends. Furthermore, percentages highlighted in this section should 

not be used for extrapolation purposes nor interpreted as a particular group experiencing greater violations than another or a particular 

country committing violations at a greater rate than others. To support this project, USCIRF invites those with credible information on 

victims to submit information using the Victims List Intake Form at www.uscirf.gov/form/uscirf-victims-list-intake-form. 

FoRB Victims List Stats Overall

Perpetrator Victims Documented

Algeria 5 

Azerbaijan 11 

Burma 5 

China 798 

Cuba 11 

Egypt 18 

Eritrea 61

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) 2 

Houthis 3 

India 55 

Indonesia 9 

Iran 351 

Iraq 2 

Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) 1 

Kazakhstan 16 

Malaysia 4 

Nicaragua 68 

Nigeria 9 

North Korea 11 

Pakistan 87 

Russia 488 

Saudi Arabia 50 

Sri Lanka 1 

Tajikistan 16 

Turkmenistan 31 

Uzbekistan 88 

Vietnam 81 

Total 2,282 

Religion or Belief Victims Documented

Adivasi 1 

Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light 3

Baha’i 169 

Bon 1 

Buddhist – Hoa Hao 6 

Buddhist – Theravada 3 

Buddhist – Tibetan 93 

Buddhist – Unspecified/Other 32 

Christian – Catholic 79 

Christian – Church of Almighty God 240 

Christian – Jehovah’s Witness 283

Christian – Orthodox 21 

Christian – Protestant 150 

Christian – Unspecified/Other 65 

Duong Van Minh 4 

ECKist (Eckankar) 1 

Erfan-e Halgheh Practitioner 3 

Falun Gong 217

Hindu 10 

Humanist 1 

Jewish 1 

Muslim – Ahmadiyya 20

Muslim – Qur’anist 1 

Muslim – Shi’a 40 

Muslim – Sufi 64 

Muslim – Sunni 412 

Muslim – Unspecified/Other 233

Santeria 5 

Scientologist 1 

Shaman 1 

Sikh 1 

Yarsani 38 

Unknown/Unspecified 83

Total 2,282
Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Egypt

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Special Watch List

Egypt

Updated March 2024

Not Released

Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo

Ahmed Mohamed

Nour Fayez

Marco Girgis

Released

Abanoub Magdy Semaan

Girgis Samir Girgis

Hani Gibran

Jayid Saad Zekry

Milad Mahrous Tawfik

Milad Reda Tawfik Ayyad

Mina Salib Hosni

Mounir Samir Mounir

Ramy Kamel

Raymond Mamdouh William

Reda Abdel Rahman

Shenouda Salib Hosni

Patrick George Zaki

Unknown

Anas Hassan