[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 123 (Thursday, October 5, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S9965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 367--URGING THE GOVERNMENT OF EGYPT TO PROVIDE A 
 TIMELY AND OPEN APPEAL FOR SHAIBOUB WILLIAM ARSEL AND TO COMPLETE AN 
       INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF POLICE BRUTALITY IN AL-KOSHEH

  Mr. MACK submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 367

       Whereas on Friday August 14, 1998, two Coptic Christians, 
     Samir Oweida Hakim and Karam Tamer Arsal, were murdered in 
     Al-Kosheh, Egypt;
       Whereas, according to a report from the Egyptian 
     Organization for Human Rights that was translated by the 
     United States Embassy in Cairo, up to 1,200 Coptic 
     Christians, including women and children, were subsequently 
     detained and interrogated without sufficient evidence;
       Whereas it is reported that the police tortured the 
     detained Coptic Christians over a period of days and even 
     weeks and that the detainees suffered abuses that included 
     beatings, administration of electric shock to all parts of 
     the body, including sensitive areas, and being bound in 
     painful positions for hours at a time;
       Whereas Egypt is a party to the Convention against Torture 
     and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or 
     Punishment;
       Whereas the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, 
     Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment prohibits 
     torture to obtain information and confessions such as the 
     torture that reportedly took place in Al-Kosheh;
       Whereas Egypt is party to the International Covenant on 
     Civil and Political Rights;
       Whereas Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil 
     and Political Rights states that ``(1) Everyone shall have 
     the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. 
     This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a 
     religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either 
     individually or in community with others and in public or in 
     private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, 
     observance, practice and teaching. (2) No one shall be 
     subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or 
     adopt a religion or belief of his choice.'';
       Whereas some of the 1,200 detained Coptic Christians 
     reported that the police chief made derogatory remarks about 
     their religion and stated that the detainees were being 
     targeted because of their religious beliefs;
       Whereas the summary report of the Egyptian Organization for 
     Human Rights states that, as a result of the massive roundup 
     and torture of the Coptic Christian community, a prosecution 
     proceeded using confessions obtained under duress;
       Whereas, according to the report, as translated by the 
     United States Embassy in Cairo, one of the confessors ``was 
     detained for 18 days, beaten constantly, was not allowed food 
     or water, and prevented from relieving himself'' and 
     ``confessed only when they threatened to rape his two 
     sisters'' who ``were brought to the police station, tortured 
     and threatened with rape in front of him'', and the detainee 
     identified Shaiboub William Arsel as the murderer;
       Whereas Shaiboub William Arsel, a Coptic Christian, was 
     charged with the murders of Samir Oweida Hakim and Karam 
     Tamer Arsal, was found guilty, and was sentenced on June 5, 
     2000, to 15 years of hard labor;
       Whereas, according to the Associated Press story describing 
     Shaiboub William Arsel's trial, ``[t]he court based its 
     guilty verdict on evidence and testimony provided by police, 
     said the officials on condition of anonymity'' and ``gave no 
     further details'';
       Whereas no known international observers were present at 
     Shaiboub William Arsel's trial;
       Whereas, on January 2, 2000, a mob of nearly 3,000 Muslims 
     killed 21 Christians and destroyed and looted dozens of 
     Christian homes and businesses in the village of Al-Kosheh; 
     and
       Whereas local Egyptian security forces failed to stop the 
     massacre of Coptic Christians, and according to Coptic leader 
     Pope Shenouda III, ``responsibility falls first on security 
     forces . . . the problem lies among the authorities in the 
     area where the incident occurred'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE APPEAL OF SHAIBOUB 
                   WILLIAM ARSEL AND THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT'S 
                   INVESTIGATION OF POLICE BRUTALITY IN AL-KOSHEH.

       The Senate hereby urges the President and the Secretary of 
     State to encourage officials of the Government of Egypt to--
       (1) allow for a timely and open appeal for Shaiboub William 
     Arsel that includes international observers; and
       (2) complete an independent investigation of the police 
     brutality in Al-Kosheh.

     SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.

       The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
     resolution to the President and the Secretary of State, with 
     the request that the President or the Secretary further 
     transmit such copy to the Government of Egypt.

                  RESOLUTION ON SHAIBOUB WILLIAM ARSEL

  Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on behalf of Coptic 
Christians in Egypt who have been persecuted because of their religious 
beliefs. According to reports by both the Egyptian Organization for 
Human Rights and Freedom House in the United States, up to 1,200 Coptic 
Christians in Al-Kosheh, Egypt, were detained, interrogated, and 
subjected to police brutality in relation to the murders of two other 
Coptic Christians in 1998. After weeks of reported torture, these 
accounts suggest that confessions were obtained under duress that 
identified Shaiboub William Arsel as the murderer. Mr. Arsel was 
subsequently sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
  Over the last two years I have met with officials from the Egyptian 
government, including President Hosni Mubarak on several occasions in 
an attempt to address this issue quietly. Unfortunately, these 
discussions have failed to produce sufficient action on the part of the 
government of Egypt. As a result, I rise today to submit a resolution 
urging the President to encourage the Egyptian government to provide 
Shaiboub William Arsel with a timely and open appeal that would include 
international observers, and furthermore to complete an independent 
investigation of the police brutality in Al-Kosheh.

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