Honourable senators, I would like to talk about the alarming events affecting our Christian brothers in Egypt. I am referring to the Copts who have been in Egypt since the dawn of time, at least since the birth of Christianity.

According to the information I have received from friends living in Canada and around the world, since the Arab Spring, Salafists have continuously tortured Copts, sometimes to the point of death. The number of cases is staggering. Although Christians have always experienced persecution in that part of the world, never has it been as horrific as in the past year or so.

One of the first incidents I heard about had to do with a Salafist who cut off a Christian’s ear because the Christian had supposedly rented an apartment to a morally corrupt woman. The incident ended with what is called a “reconciliation meeting” that takes place under the auspices of state security, in front of members of the majority community, during which the victim was forced to forgive his aggressor. No trial, no justice. With this kind of community justice system, the aggressor — supported by the majority — becomes the judge, imposes conditions and pronounces the verdict.

This first incident served as an example and we could list dozens more of the same nature, with the same outcome, all over Upper Egypt, in Cairo and now in Alexandria.

Thus, the Assyrian International News Agency reported recently that a series of so-called mediation meetings had been organized by radical Muslims to decide the fate of some Coptic Christians in a village near Alexandria. It was decided that the entire Coptic population — 62 families in that small village — be expelled because of one unfounded accusation against one, individual Coptic Christian.

In the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat in the El-Amerya region near Alexandria, the news agency also reported that Copts were attacked on January 27 by a crowd of some 3,000 Muslims, led by Salafist leaders, who pillaged and set fire to the houses and shops owned by Copts. The violence was sparked by allegations that a Coptic man had photos of a Muslim woman on his cell phone. That man is now in prison and of course the photos were never found.

Are we about to witness an ethnic cleansing on religious grounds?

Honourable senators, we who enjoy watching democracy appear in that country, via Facebook and other social media, know what will happen if nothing is done to prevent this.

We in the West can no longer close our eyes to such inhumane behaviour. I urge everyone here and every Canadian to join your voices to mine to call on the Government of Canada to intervene to put an end to these persecutions so that Egypt, a country we admire for its culture, can be a country with real legal rights and a free and independent justice system that serves all its citizens, and so that the hope for democracy can finally see the light of day with the support and protection of a new Egyptian government whose elected members will be called upon to draft a constitution.