ICC Note: Egyptian Christians joined in a rare protest this Saturday in downtown Cairo to demand equal rights as Egyptian citizens. This comes after a summer full of sectarian attacks against Egyptian Christians. Many of these attacks never saw proper justice as matters were settled by extra-judicial council, otherwise known as reconciliatory meetings. The dispersion eventually came with roadblocks and police shutting down the event.

08/15/2016 Egypt (Haaretz): Egyptian Christians staged a rare protest in downtown Cairo on Saturday to demand the government uphold their rights, saying they are being treated as second-class citizens in the Muslim-majority country.

Standing on the steps of a courthouse in the capital, some three dozen demonstrators braved Egypt’s draconian protest ban to hold signs aloft, calling for their legal rights to be upheld in disputes between Muslims and Christians.

“I am an Egyptian citizen above all,” said Michael Armanious, a Christian demonstrator. “We pay taxes, we serve in the army, we are dealing with all the same economic problems in Egypt with the rest of our countrymen, why should we have fewer rights?” he said, flanked by roadblocks and equal numbers of police, who forced the crowd to disperse after an hour.

Christians make up some ten percent of Egypt’s 91 million people. They sided overwhelmingly with Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi when he overthrew an Islamist president in 2013, paving his way to the presidency. But some have recently voiced concerns that their lot has not improved under the former general, despite his promises.

Interfaith disputes are common in the countryside. Most often they arise over mixed-faith love affairs or the building of churches. Many confrontations result in violence perpetrated against Christians or their property, and are resolved by extra-judicial councils of local elders that favor the Muslim side.

The Christians demonstrating Saturday oppose such councils and are insisting such cases be brought to court.

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