Egypt: Address Recurring Sectarian Violence

Ensure Effective Investigation, Amend Discriminatory Laws

"(New York) – Egyptian authorities should bring to justice those responsible for the sectarian violence that left five Christians and one Muslim dead on April 5, 2013, in the town of Khosus, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should also investigate police failure to intervene effectively to prevent an escalation of violence outside the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo on April 7, after a funeral service for the Christians killed at Khosus.

Clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians, Egypt’s largest religious minority, are rarely properly investigated and punished.

“President Mohamed Morsy needs to acknowledge the deep and longstanding problem of sectarian violence in Egypt and take decisive steps to address it before it escalates further,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “For years people have been getting away with sectarian murder and he should break that cycle of impunity. Then he should reform laws that discriminate against Christians’ right to worship.”......."