Mr Omar Metwally,

Ambassador,

Arab Republic of Egypt,

Perth Avenue,

Yarralumla,

ACT 2600                                                                                                                                                            date

 

Your Excellency,

 

 

Monitored and verified by international Christian and secular human rights agencies, these violations include murder and assault, imprisonment without charge, destruction of property, vilification and discrimination. Christian Solidarity International and other human rights advocates have documented evidence of an increasing number of Christian girls being kidnapped, sexually assaulted, forced to convert to Islam and married to Muslim men against their will. Complaints from distraught families are often met with indifference or threats from authorities which indicate official collusion. Failure to halt crimes which target Christians specifically, and to prosecute those responsible, has been noted by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. There is growing concern that Islamic extremism continues to advance, especially in the areas of public education and the media, to the detriment of the rights of women and religious minorities. The plight of Christians who have converted from Islam is causing very grave concern.

 

I respectfully request that the growing concern of Australian Christians of all denominations be conveyed to the Egyptian government and that every effort will be made to uphold religious freedoms guaranteed in the Egyptian Constitution and the international human rights conventions to which Egypt is a signatory.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

_______________________

Your Signature

 

_______________________

Your Name

 

Cc

The Hon Stephen Smith MP,

Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Parliament House,

Canberra, ACT 2600