Student jailed for three years for being atheist in Egypt's crackdown on atheism
21 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Egypt's Constitution states that "freedom of belief is absolute," yet it says nothing about those who don't believe.
Watchdog groups are asking the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation to reconsider its stance toward atheists after authorities arrested a student and sentenced him to three years in prison for Facebook posts that insulted Islam.
Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna was arrested with a group of people at a cafe in November, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression. An Egyptian minor offenses court sentenced him on blasphemy charges Saturday in what Human Rights Watch called "part of a wider government push to combat atheism and other forms of dissent."
"Atheists are one of Egypt's least-protected minorities, although the constitution ostensibly guarantees freedom of belief and expression," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director. "Egyptian authorities need to be guided by the constitution and stop persecuting people for atheism."
While Article 64 of Egypt's Constitution says freedom of belief is absolute, it also says freedom to practice religious rituals or establish houses of worship is exclusive to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Baha'i faith and other Abrahamic religions.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/13/us/egypt-student-atheist-jailed/"]CNN[/URL]
[QUOTE]It is dangerous in Egypt nowadays not to conform. If you support the Muslim Brotherhood you could end up joining many hundreds of Islamists in jail.
If you are a journalist, as the al-Jazeera staff know well, jail is a real possibility. Now it appears that if you are an atheist, you could well be jailed too.
A student has been sentenced to three years in prison for announcing on Facebook that he was an atheist and thereby “insulting Islam”. Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna, aged 21, was arrested in November 2014 with a group of other people at a cafe in Cairo.
Police then closed down the so-called “atheists cafe” in what is being viewed as a coordinated government crackdown on atheists. A local administrator told a news website that the coffee shop was “known as a place for satan worship, rituals and dances”.
AFP was told by al-Banna’s lawyer, Ahmed Abdel Nabi, that al-Banna’s father testified against him on the grounds that he “was embracing extremist ideas against Islam”. He was bailed until his appeal is heard in March.
The authorities under Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s regime have stepped up measures to counter atheism, blasphemy and other forms of so-called dissent.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]In December 2012, a 27-year-old blogger, Alber Saber, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of blasphemy for creating a web page called “Egyptian atheists”.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2015/jan/13/egyptian-student-jailed-for-proclaiming-that-he-is-an-atheist"]theguardian[/URL]
Why did we give these people guns and vehicles when theyre just gonna use them to skirt their own constitution and deny the rights of minorities
Is this dumb rating supposed to imply that im wrong for saying the US shouldnt provide support to the Egyptian govt when they abuse the rights of their people
Does "I believe I am god" count?
[QUOTE=Coolboy;46937729]Does "I believe I am god" count?[/QUOTE]
only if you're pharaoh
I thought Egypt was a little more progressive than this? Guess I was Ill informed.
What a shithole, no one should be jailed for this.
Egyptian prison's are one of the worst that exist, neither yet the inmates might takes some certain opportunity of his situation as an "Atheism".
Even if there was a law in Australia stating you cannot be a atheist, because... Well, reasons; I'd still be a atheist because I believe in the freedom to believe whatever the fuck you want without others bashing your beliefs with their own stick of "justice" which is, frankly, the one of so many categories of people on the internet.
[QUOTE=CubicMonster;46937805]Egyptian prison's are one of the worst that exist, neither [B]yet the inmates might takes some certain opportunity of his situation as an "Atheism"[/B].[/QUOTE]
especially considering they probably end up in the same prison (cells) as the Islamists (Muslim fundamentalists)
[quote]Police then closed down the so-called “atheists cafe” in what is being viewed as a coordinated government crackdown on atheists. A local administrator told a news website that the coffee shop was “known as a place for satan worship, rituals and dances”.[/quote]
Lol they pulled out all the stereotypes for this one. I'm surprised there was no mention of baby eating.
I can't see the logic in this. Is being jailed supposed to turn you into a religious person? Like, lets say he gets out of prison and it's discovered he still doesn't believe in god. And how do you even prove that?
What a complete waste of time and resources, literally nothing good will come from this.
In the Islamic faith one of the greatest sins you can do is convert from being a muslim. The persons family and friends will desert them, you can loose your job and any extremists will try to have you killed. Being jailed is actually merciful compared to what happens in other islamic countries.
[QUOTE=Warship;46938932]I can't see the logic in this. Is being jailed supposed to turn you into a religious person? Like, lets say he gets out of prison and it's discovered he still doesn't believe in god. And how do you even prove that?
What a complete waste of time and resources, literally nothing good will come from this.[/QUOTE]
You assume they want to convert people as the end goal, it's not, it's literally just to fulfill the rules in the book.
[Quote] in 2011, 20 countries – most of them Islamic states -- still had laws that prohibited apostasy. In these countries, it is a criminal offense for a person to abandon his faith to convert to a different religion or declare himself an atheist. In Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Qatar and Yemen, there are still laws that punish apostasy with capital punishment, although in many countries it is rarely applied. In some nations, the accused are offered a chance to repent and accept Islam rather than face death. Other punishments imposed for apostasy include imprisonment, flogging and fines.[/quote]
[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;46939054]You assume they want to convert people as the end goal, it's not, it's literally just to fulfill the rules in the book.[/QUOTE]
I also guess it's more about forcing conformity, but you never know, there might be "re-education" programs at play as well. [URL="http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Persecution_of_Ex-Muslims_(Egypt)"]Wouldn't be unheard of.[/URL]
It would be interesting to know what happens to atheists in prison (how they are treated by the guards and administration and also the other inmates) and what happens after they are released.
I guess the first one to openly tell us about it will be Alber Saber in about a years time.
[QUOTE=CubicMonster;46937805]Egyptian prison's are one of the worst that exist, neither yet the inmates might takes some certain opportunity of his situation as an "Atheism".[/QUOTE]
I'm having some trouble understaing this post beyond "Egypts prisons suck."
[QUOTE=SgtTupelo;46945780]I'm having some trouble understaing this post beyond "Egypts prisons suck."[/QUOTE]
Well these guys are regular innocent people (who happen to not believe in a god) who will end up in the same prison as actual criminals and also religious extremists. And seeing as Atheism is something that in some parts of the world (like Egypt in this case) even non-radical people have a hard time wrapping their head around, it's not far fetched to think they might get abused and mistreated in prison because of their non-belief.
Did they arrest an atheist or a Satan worshiper? Those are two completely different things.
As a matter of fact how do you claim you can arrest him for atheism because atheism isn't a religion, and the constitution only protects religion, and then claim that atheists worship Satan. If atheists worship Satan, then the police's definition of a religion has been met, meaning that under their interpretation of the constitution, atheism is a religion that is legally protected.
It really rustles my jimmies when people fail to follow their own made up rules.
[QUOTE=Comrade_Eko;46946392]Did they arrest an atheist or a Satan worshiper? Those are two completely different things.
As a matter of fact how do you claim you can arrest him for atheism because atheism isn't a religion, and the constitution only protects religion, and then claim that atheists worship Satan. If atheists worship Satan, then the police's definition of a religion has been met, meaning that under their interpretation of the constitution, atheism is a religion that is legally protected.
It really rustles my jimmies when people fail to follow their own made up rules.[/QUOTE]
actually the answer is in the CNN article:
[QUOTE]
While Article 64 of Egypt's Constitution says freedom of belief is absolute, it also says freedom to practice religious rituals or establish houses of worship is exclusive to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Baha'i faith and other Abrahamic religions.[/QUOTE]
Satanism is not covered. Meaning that "satan worship, rituals and dances" are not protected by their constitution.
That being said, of course it's preposterous to assume that atheists do any of those things.
They were arrested for atheism, not satanism. (Even if some of the involved seem to equate those two, since [I]obviously[/I] if you don't worship the one true god and not even the wrong god, you must be worshiping satan himself)
I don't know about you guys but I'd love to see a Satan dance.
[QUOTE=Blooper Reel;46946681]I don't know about you guys but I'd love to see a Satan dance.[/QUOTE]
I take it you've never seen Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny?
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/p4wY5CY.gif[/IMG]
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