Life in the “Tribulations Sector”

Hassan Mohammad Ismail, 21, was arrested by the Egyptian Mubahith (state security apparatus) in October 1990. Two of his friends, Mustafa Mohammad Said al-Sharqawi, an engineer, and Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Selam, an accountant, had been arrested 11 days before. The three had converted to Christianity and had been sharing their faith at a youth meeting.

While in prison, according to an Egyptian human-rights organization, they were tortured with electric shocks, beaten, and threatened with rape. They were reportedly detained in squalid cells without proper food and subjected to verbal abuse, suspension by the arms, and cigarette burns.

The three were twice declared innocent by judges at hearings in November and December but were nonetheless re-arrested by the Ministry of the Interior and the Secret Police. The police filed new charges, including contempt of Islam and threatening the unity of the country, punishable by three and five years respectively. Later, a Cairo court also introduced charges of forgery (an offense that carries a possible ten-year sentence).

A number of human-rights organizations, including Christian Solidarity International and the London-based Jubilee Campaign, pressed for their release. Senators Richard Lugar and Jesse Helms also coordinated advocacy efforts by a number of U.S. legislators and Vice-president Dan Quayle.

The Egyptian ambassador to Great Britain, Mohamed I. Shaker, claimed, as evidence of the alleged guilt of all three prisoners, that “some of them made full confessions admitting the charges made against them.” Selam and el-Sharqawi may have recanted their faith—under duress—as early as December 1990. Hassan, on the other hand, reportedly said at one point, “I will never deny Christ,” and was then sent to a special wing, the so-called Tribulations Sector of the prison. There, lawyers report, he was deprived of food and sleep, and confined to an unlit, severely cramped cell. Hassan reportedly recanted his faith in February.

According to News Network International, it is difficult to prove that the government always tries to force Christians to revert to Islam or recant their Christianity. Also, Ambassador Shaker categorically denied that the three were ever tortured. But three independent sources claimed the contrary.

After ten months in prison, the three were released in July 1991—as Muslims.

Profiles by Thomas Giles.

The Cornerstone Of Human Rights

The twentieth century has truly been an era of persecution, and the violence is not over. As terrible as the death toll of twentieth-century wars between nations has been, vastly more people have been slaughtered by their own totalitarian governments, many for directly religious reasons. How can understanding the “whys” of persecution help us confront the challenges of a century marked by unprecedented religious persecution?

Recent history teaches us that democratic forms of governance best protect human rights, and especially religious liberty. They guard against the twin temptations of prejudice and the drive for unrestrained power. This means our work on behalf of those who are persecuted must include vigorous support for democratic institutions and habits around the world.

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