The Court of Administrative Justine in Cairo has rejected a motion by the Egyptian Ministry of Defense (MoD) that sought to suspend the implementation of an earlier decision issued in favor of a Baha’i college student allowing him to continue his studies, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said in a statement.
The ruling of February 17 upheld a ruling made in 2007 ordering the MoD to issue the student, Nayer Nabil Al-Hamamsi, his military deferment card even though he did not have a national identity card.
Military service is compulsory for Egyptian male youths, and in order to study at university they need to be able to present a deferment card, otherwise the university is required by law to suspend the student.
This is what happened to Al-Hamamsi in 2006 when Suez Canal’s College of Physical Education suspended him since the MoD insisted that they could not grant him the deferment card unless he first presented a new, computerized identity card.
Due to a decision in 2004, the Interior Ministry only issues a new card and other identification papers to people belonging to one of the three recognized religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
The problem of not having an identity card extends to several other fields such as employment; according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), employers, both public and private, cannot by law hire someone without an ID. Obtaining a marriage license or a passport requires a birth certificate: inheritance, pensions, and death benefits are contingent on death certificates.
The Ministry of Health has even refused to provide immunizations to some Baha’i children because the Interior Ministry would not issue them birth certificates listing their Baha’i religion, the HRW report said.