IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 200 
Calling on the Egyptian Government to respect human rights and freedoms 
of religion and expression in Egypt. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2009 
Mr. WOLF (for himself, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. PITTS, Mr. KIRK, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. 
DOGGETT, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. 
MCCOTTER, Mr. SOUDER, and Ms. ESHOO) submitted the following reso-
lution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling on the Egyptian Government to respect human rights 
and freedoms of religion and expression in Egypt. 
Whereas the promotion of respect for democracy, human 
rights, and civil liberties are fundamental principles and 
aims of the United States; 
Whereas the United States attaches great importance to rela-
tions with Egypt and considers fair and transparent elec-
tions as the only way to make progress towards a more 
democratic society; 
Whereas Egypt plays a significant role in the Middle East 
peace process and in the fight against international ter-
rorism and fundamentalism; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
•HRES 200 IH 
Whereas the Egyptian authorities have promised to put an 
end to the imprisonment of journalists and bloggers, but 
this promise has so far gone unfulfilled; 
Whereas in its 2008 annual international religious freedom 
report, the United States Department of State concluded 
that religious freedom conditions declined in Egypt and 
the United States Commission on International Religious 
Freedom continues to place Egypt on its watch list due 
to serious problems of discrimination and intolerance; 
Whereas the independence of the judiciary continues to be 
undermined through exceptional parallel court systems, 
executive administrative orders overriding judicial deci-
sions, and politically motivated lawsuits; 
Whereas Shiites, Koranists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other 
religious minorities are harassed, arrested, and impris-
oned by security services; 
Whereas all Baha’i institutions and community activities have 
been banned in Egypt since 1960, and members of the 
Baha’i faith continue to face discrimination when apply-
ing for government issued documents; 
Whereas material vilifying Jews appears regularly in the 
state controlled and semi official media; 
Whereas the Copts, Egypt’s largest religious minority group 
and the largest Christian population in the Middle East, 
suffer from many forms of discrimination, including— 
(1) a lack of employment in higher positions of the 
public sector, universities, army, and the security service; 
(2) disproportional representation in Parliament and 
Shura Council; 
(3) difficulty in building and repairing churches; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
•HRES 200 IH 
(4) lack of protection and lack of prosecution of per-
petrators in cases of sectarian violence; 
(5) government harassment of converts to Christi-
anity while the government encourages conversion to 
Islam; 
(6) the inability to obtain government issued identi-
fication cards which reflect conversion to Christianity; 
and 
(7) prejudice against Christian guardians in child 
custody cases which involve parents of both Muslim and 
Christian faith; 
Whereas blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman is still serving a 
four-year prison sentence for the peaceful expression of 
his views and is the first Egyptian blogger to be charged 
and convicted for blaspheming Islam, inciting sectarian 
strife, and criticizing President Hosni Mubarak; 
Whereas Egyptian authorities continue to apply the law on 
nongovernmental organizations in an arbitrary and dis-
cretionary manner, dissolving and harassing Egyptian 
human rights and political advocacy organizations; 
Whereas the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies 
and its founder, Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, have been 
threatened for their work to promote democratic reforms; 
Whereas Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim has been convicted in 
absentia on politically motivated charges; 
Whereas other civil society development organizations, includ-
ing the International Republican Institute and the Na-
tional Democratic Institute, have also been restricted in 
their work; 
Whereas excessive use of force by Egyptian security, includ-
ing against African migrants at the Egypt-Israel border, 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
•HRES 200 IH 
is occurring in violation of Egypt’s obligations to protect 
fundamental human rights; and 
Whereas the recent arrests and action against nongovern-
mental organizations and human rights defenders under-
mines the commitments entered into by the Egyptian 
Government concerning fundamental rights and freedoms 
and the democratic process in the country: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes that respect for human rights is 
a fundamental value, and the bilateral relationship 
between the United States and Egypt should be a 
platform for promoting the rule of law and funda-
mental freedoms; 
(2) calls on the Egyptian Government to end all 
forms of harassment, including judicial measures, 
the detention of media professionals and, more gen-
erally, human rights defenders and activists calling 
for reforms and to fully respect freedom of expres-
sion, in conformity with article 19 of the United Na-
tions International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights; 
(3) encourages the Egyptian Government to 
honor its commitment to repeal the state of emer-
gency in order to allow for the full consolidation of 
the rule of law in Egypt; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
•HRES 200 IH 
(4) encourages the Egyptian Government to 
take the steps necessary to fully implement and pro-
tect the rights of religious minorities as full citizens; 
(5) strongly supports measures to guarantee 
academic freedom, freedom of the media, and free-
dom of religion or belief in Egypt, including by end-
ing arbitrary administrative measures, such as those 
taken against the Centre for Trade Union and 
Workers’ Services; 
(6) urges the Egyptian Government not to im-
pose arbitrary restrictions on the peaceful activities 
of civil society organizations; 
(7) calls on the Egyptian Government for— 
(A) the immediate and unconditional re-
lease of Abdel Karim Suleiman and all other 
political prisoners and democracy activists; 
(B) an end to the harassment of the 
Koranists; and 
(C) a repeal of the 1960 presidential de-
cree banning members of the Baha’i community 
from practicing their faith; 
(8) welcomes the Egyptian Government’s deci-
sion to pardon opposition political leader Ayman 
Nour for medical reasons after he served three of his 
five-year prison sentence; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
•HRES 200 IH 
(9) stresses the need to fully implement the 
principles of the 1969 Organization of African Unity 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Ref-
ugee Problems in Africa and the 1993 International 
Convention concerning the rights and the protection 
of migrant workers and their families; 
(10) supports the concluding observations of 
the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers 
of May 2007, which called for the re-opening of the 
investigations into the killing of 27 Sudanese asy-
lum-seekers in December 2005; 
(11) calls for an immediate end to Egypt’s 
‘‘shoot to stop’’ border policy which has left at least 
32 African migrants, including women and children, 
dead; 
(12) calls for an end to all forms of torture and 
ill treatment and calls for investigations when there 
is reasonable suspicion that acts of torture have oc-
curred; 
(13) calls on the Egyptian Government to 
allow— 
(A) a visit by the United Nations Special 
Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhu-
man, or degrading treatment or punishment; 
and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
•HRES 200 IH 
(B) a visit by the United Nations Special 
Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; 
(14) emphasizes the importance of ensuring and 
strengthening the independence of the judiciary by 
amending or repealing all legal provisions that in-
fringe or do not sufficiently guarantee its independ-
ence; 
(15) stresses the need for respect and protec-
tion of the freedoms of thought, conscience, and reli-
gion as ensured in article 18 of the Universal Dec-
laration of Human Rights, article 18 of the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and 
the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimi-
nation of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimi-
nation based on Religion and Belief; 
(16) encourages Egypt and all other parties 
concerned to redouble efforts to fight smuggling 
through tunnels into the Gaza strip; and 
(17) urges the President and the Secretary of 
State to put human rights and religious freedom de-
velopments in Egypt very high on the United States 
Government’s agenda during meetings with Egyp-
tian officials. 
Æ 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
01:30 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR200.IH
HR200
rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS