Press Releases

RELEASE: Rep. Hill Statement on the Release of Coptic Rights Activist Ramy Kamel

Washington, D.C. - Rep. French Hill (AR-02) today issued the following statement regarding the release of Coptic rights activist and researcher, Ramy Kamel:

“The release of Ramy Kamel is welcome, but long overdue. Kamel, a Coptic activist and researcher, was unjustifiably detained and imprisoned in Egypt under false terrorism charges. When I met with senior officials from the Egyptian government in June, I expressed my concerns with the nation’s unjust detainment and imprisonment of journalists, and religious and civil activists, such as Ramy Kamel, who is just one of thousands Coptic Christians in Egypt deserving of the basic right to worship freely without threat of persecution.” said Rep. Hill.

“Kamel’s release is a step in the right direction, but the fact that he was held in pre-trial detention for more than two years shows there is still more work to be done. It is the responsibility of the Egyptian government to ensure that Coptic Christians are given the same rights and justice under the law as all other Egyptians, and I am hopeful that other Copts will not face the same treatment as Kamel. As I have since entering Congress in 2015, I call on the Egyptian government to continue moving towards religious freedom for all, including Coptic Christians in the nation.”

Further Background:

• Last February, Rep. Hill introduced H.R. 117, Supporting Coptic Christians in Egypt.
• This resolution calls on the Egyptian government to take further action to promote religious tolerance and end religious discrimination against the nation’s Christian population.
• More about this resolution can be read here.
• In April 2021, Rep. Hill joined U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioner Dr. Jim Carr in an op-ed for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette in support of the Copts.

To read the op-ed, click here.