CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A recent hearing in the nation's capital drew attention to the growing accounts of Coptic women in Egypt being kidnapped and forced to marry and convert to Islam against their will. \u00a0<\/p>\n\tNearly a year and half since the country's revolution, Egypt remains in the \u201cfires of transition,\u201d where \u201corder seems to hang by a thread,\u201d said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J), chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.<\/p>\n
\tOn July 18, the commission \u2013 also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission \u2013 held a hearing on increasing accounts of abduction, forced conversion and coerced marriage among young Coptic women in Egypt.<\/p>\n
\tWitnesses warned that the violent actions, as well as the government\u2019s failure to acknowledge and address them, could have grave consequences on the future of democracy and human rights in the country.<\/p>\n
\tThe urged the U.S. and the entire international community to stand up on behalf of the Coptic women who are victims of these crimes.<\/p>\n
\tMichele Clark, adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, testified at the hearing, presenting the findings of a new report that she co-authored on the subject.<\/p>\n
\tWhile exact numbers are difficult to pinpoint, attorneys interviewed for the report said that disappearance and abductions cases have been increasing in recent months, with one attorney referring to nearly 1,000 women petitioning in recent years to have their Christian identities restored.<\/p>\n
\tAs the number of abdications seems to be rising, it appears that fewer young women are returning to their families, the attorneys added. While there is speculation that they may be trafficked overseas, this possibility has not yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n
\tThe individuals interviewed also said that the disappearances are the result of \u201corganized and systematic planning.\u201d They often involve attempts to befriend victims, or else use force and fraud.<\/p>\n
\tAbductors target vulnerable young Coptic women, members of a religious minority who come from \u201cclosed, insular communities,\u201d Clark said. They physically separate these women from their families and proceed to abuse, threaten and brainwash them.<\/p>\n
\tClark called for local police in Egypt to investigate and report all disappearance claims and for the national government to keep a registry documenting disappearances.<\/p>\n
\tFurthermore, she said, children of parents who convert should retain their birth religion until age 18, which is the legal age of consent in Egypt.<\/p>\n
\tShe asked the Coptic Church to maintain a registry documenting disappearances, abductions, forced marriages and conversions among Coptic women, as well as to educate its members about these threats.<\/p>\n
\tClark recommended that a legal defense fund be established to help Coptic families in need of an attorney. She also called on international organizations to acknowledge the significance of the problem and stop referring to the disappearances as mere \u201callegations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tDr. Katrina Lantos Swett, who chairs the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, also testified at the hearing, discussing the commission\u2019s ongoing concerns about the state of religious freedom within the country.<\/p>\n
\tFor years, religious freedom conditions in Egypt \u201chave been extremely problematic,\u201d she said, explaining that the nation\u2019s transitional government \u201ccontinues to engage in and tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tDespite some \u201chopeful developments\u201d in recent months, \u201cCopts and other religious minorities aren\u2019t being sufficiently protected,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n
\tIn the last year alone, sectarian violence has left some 100 people dead, she observed.<\/p>\n
\tOn behalf of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Lantos Swett recommend that the U.S. government \u201ctake strong action in support of religious freedom\u201d by working to urge Egypt to include \u201crobust\u201d constitutional protections for religious freedom, to remove discriminatory decrees and to prosecute crimes against religious minorities.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cCopts must be protected \u2013 along with every other member of Egyptian society \u2013 from attacks on their right to order their lives and practice their beliefs in dignity and peace,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n
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Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2012 \/ 04:45 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A recent hearing in the nation's capital drew attention to the growing accounts of Coptic women in Egypt being kidnapped and forced to marry and convert to Islam against their will.
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