Source: Scores arrested following sectarian clashes in Minya

Up to 140 people have been arrested after sectarian violence erupted in Deir al-Bersha, a village in Minya, over the last few days, according to a well-informed source who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. The clashes broke out after a young Coptic resident of the village reportedly shared content online that Muslim residents of the village perceived as offensive to Islam.

According to several news outlets and sources who spoke to Mada Masr, angry residents besieged the village’s Church of Abu Seifei while clashes broke out in the streets. Videos circulating on social media showed a barn owned by some of the residents being set ablaze, while other clips showed a group of angry residents throwing Molotov cocktails at a number of homes. Mada Masr was unable to verify the authenticity of the videos.

A security clampdown ensued, with police arresting between 130 to 140 people, including the young man who allegedly posted the content as well as his father, the source said. The detainees were taken to the Mallawy police station where they were interrogated. A number of the detainees were released while others were referred to the Public Prosecution, the source said, without specifying the numbers.

Earlier on Thursday, the Diocese of Mallawy issued a statement, which Mada Masr obtained, making reference to the clashes after “the spread of a social media post insulting the prophet of Islam from a stolen account that originally belonged to one of the village residents.” The statement said that cattle were stolen and shops belonging to Christian villagers were looted in the aftermath of the clashes. The statement was removed shortly after it was posted due to pressure from the authorities, a source told Mada Masr. 

On Friday, authorities held a customary reconciliation session between village residents to resolve the dispute. The session took place amid a heightened security presence and included the governor of Minya, village leaders, the Family House (an initiative launched by Al-Azhar in 2011 to contain sectarian differences), the reconciliation committee, a number of members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and representatives from the Coptic Church, Al-Azhar and the Endowments Ministry.

In response, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights issued a statement on Friday criticizing customary reconciliation sessions and calling for more attention to be paid to the root causes of repeated incidents of sectarian violence. “The response of the security and judicial bodies was typical,” EIPR said. “They arrested the young man and a number of people in the crowd and held a public meeting in one of the village schools … in which the usual discourse of the need for the rule of law and preserving coexistence among residents of the local community were repeated without addressing the roots of the problem of systematic discrimination against Egyptian Christians, and the economic and social marginalization of areas known for sectarian violence, such as in Minya Governorate.”

In 2015, EIPR issued a study tracking and analyzing the use of customary reconciliation sessions following incidents of sectarian violence and concluded that the practice has “resulted in significant violations against Egyptian Christians, and indirectly led to the reproduction of the same roots of sectarian violence.” The study recommended that customary sessions be incorporated into the official institutional, legal framework in order to properly address the issue.