Pre-2004 ID card with "other" on it

Today, a Cairo court (Administrative Court, First Degree, District-7) heard a challenge to the court ruling of 29 January 2008 allowing the Baha'is of Egypt to obtain ID cards and birth certificate with dashes "--" or "other" entered for religious classification in these documents.

CAIRO, April 30 (Reuters) - Official foot-dragging means Egypt's Baha'i religious minority is still struggling to get identity papers, despite a landmark court ruling seen as a challenge to the Muslim religious establishment, a rights group says.

Since the 29 January 2008 court ruling and its subsequent acceptance by the Ministry of Interior, no Baha'i in Egypt has been able to receive an ID card or a birth certificate.

The Ministry, through the media, has declared its decision not to appeal the ruling and its intention of allowing dashes "--" in place of "Baha'i" in the religion field of these official documents.

Baha'is in Egypt continue to face a variety of hardships on a regular basis because of being deprived of holding these important official documents that are required for their daily living.

Egypt's Ministry of Interior has announced, through its sources, that it will not appeal the 29 January 2008 administrative court ruling that allowed the Baha'is of Egypt the issue of ID cards and birth certificates.

Based on its interview with sources in the Ministry of Interior, an article in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper revealed the news today. It states that the Ministry has approved the ruling and decided not to appeal even though the law permits it to do so.