After a long and arduous battle, the Baha’is of Egypt were finally accorded the justice they deserve. Bilo, from the “Baha’i Faith in Egypt” blog informs us that the Egyptian Supreme Court has rejected the appeal launched by Islamist lawyers against the the ruling which permitted Baha’is to obtain official documents with a dash (-) listed under the mandatory “Religion” field.

With this ruling, all legal challenges and appeals, brought by those extremists who oppose the Baha’is in Egypt, have been defeated in court. The Ministry of Interior, the principal party to the lawsuits, has never challenged or appealed the ruling that favored the Baha’is.

With this final verdict, there are no legal or administrative obstacles left that could prevent the Baha’is of Egypt from obtaining ID cards or birth certificates in their homeland.

Without ID cards, Egyptian Baha’is were denied access to basic civil rights and faced the following problems:

• They couldn’t move freely within Egypt [as those found without ID cards are subject to imprisonment]
• They couldn’t certify their marriage certificates
• They couldn’t obtain passports
• They couldn’t perform any bank transactions
• They couldn’t carry out transactions in traffic departments
• They couldn’t enrol their children in schools or universities
• Their children couldn’t clarify their position concerning conscription
• They couldn’t apply for jobs or obtain work permits
• They were denied health care
• They couldn’t buy, sell, or own property

We will be brining you more coverage and reactions to the ruling within Egypt as the news comes in.

But in this joyous day, let us not forget the Baha’is in Iran, who continue to face severe violations against their rights.