•HRES 1303 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 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 are denied government required identifica-
tion cards solely due to their religious affiliation; 
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; 
(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; and 
(6) the inability to obtain government issued identi-
fication cards which reflect conversion to Christianity; 
Whereas the opposition presidential candidate Ayman Nour is 
still serving a five-year prison sentence following an un-
fair trial in 2005 on politically motivated charges; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:07 Jun 25, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1303.IH
HR1303
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
•HRES 1303 IH 
Whereas his health is deteriorating as a consequence of this 
imprisonment; 
Whereas his numerous appeals for release on the grounds of 
his medical conditions and his request for a presidential 
pardon in March of 2008 have all been rejected; 
Whereas Egyptian authorities closed the Centre for Trade 
Union and Workers’ Services and its branches, this being 
the first closure of a nongovernmental advocacy organiza-
tion by an executive decision; 
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 other civil society development organizations, includ-
ing the International Republican Institute and the Na-
tional Democratic Institute, have also been restricted in 
their work; 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; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:07 Jun 25, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1303.IH
HR1303
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
•HRES 1303 IH 
(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; 
(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 and the Association for Human 
Rights Legal Aid; 
(6) urges the Egyptian Government not to im-
pose arbitrary restrictions on the peaceful activities 
of civil society organizations; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:07 Jun 25, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1303.IH
HR1303
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
•HRES 1303 IH 
(7) calls on the Egyptian Government for— 
(A) the immediate release of Ayman Nour, 
in light of reports of his deteriorating state of 
health, and calls for an immediate welfare visit, 
including a visit by qualified medical personnel; 
(B) the release of all political prisoners 
and other activists; and 
(C) an end to the harassment of the 
Koranists; 
(8) 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; 
(9) supports the concluding observations of the 
United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers of 
May 2007, which called for the re-opening of the in-
vestigations into the killing of 27 Sudanese asylum- 
seekers in December 2005; 
(10) 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; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:07 Jun 25, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1303.IH
HR1303
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
•HRES 1303 IH 
(11) 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 
(B) a visit by the the United Nations Spe-
cial Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; 
(12) 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; 
(13) 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; 
(14) welcomes the efforts made by Egypt to se-
cure the border with Gaza and encourages all parties 
concerned to redouble efforts to fight smuggling 
through tunnels into the Gaza strip; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:07 Jun 25, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1303.IH
HR1303
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
•HRES 1303 IH 
(15) 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 Aug 31 2005 
06:07 Jun 25, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR1303.IH
HR1303
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS