WASHINGTON, June 5, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ — Coptic Solidarity will host its 11th Annual Conference The Indigenous Copts: Past Denied and Future Unknown in Washington, DC June 15-16. This leading annual policy event in Washington D.C. brings together top legislators, academics, and policy experts to share their views and recommendations to provide greater protection and equality for the Copts of Egypt. Throughout the event, Members of Congress will stop by the event to discuss the situation of Copts in Egypt.

Confirmed speakers include:

Habib Afram – President of the Syriac League

Ahed Al Hendi – Founder, Syrian Youth for Justice

Nathan J. Brown, Ph.D. – Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Georgetown University

Ann Buwalda, J.D. – Executive Director, Jubilee Campaign USA

Robert A. Destro, J.D. – Professor of Law – Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America

Caroline Doss, J.D..- President, Coptic Solidarity

Amy Hawthorne – Deputy Director for Research, Project on Middle East Democracy

Mariam Ibraheem – Co-Founder & Director of Global Mobilization, Tahrir Alnisa Foundation; Former Sudanese prisoner of conscience

Rymond Ibrahim R- Author, Public Speaker, and Middle East and Islam specialist

Bashar Jarrar – Political Analyst, Commentator, & Media Consultant

Sherif Mansour – Middle East Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists

Paul Marshall, Ph.D. – Senior Fellow Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom

Sean Nelson, J.D. -Legal Counsel Global Religious Freedom, ADF International

Lindsay Rodriguez – Director of Development & Advocacy, Coptic Solidarity

David Schenker: – Director, Program on Arab Politics, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Gregory Stanton, Ph.D. – Founder & President, Genocide Watch

Frank Wolf – Commissioner, US Commission on International Religious Freedom

Raouf Zaki – Writer, Producer, Director at RA Vision Productions, Inc

The Policy Day will be hosted on Thursday, June 15, in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Room 201. The conference will continue on June 16th at the Marriott by Courtyard Pentagon South Hotel and lunch will be provided during both days of the conference.

Coptic Solidarity recently published a new report titled The Coptic Identity: Recognizing the Coptic Indigenous Peoples Status for Protection from State-Sponsored Discrimination, which was presented to the UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to 8 United Nations Country Missions in New York City during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Rights.

The report explains why Copts qualify and should be recognized as an indigenous minority and contends that Egypt’s Copts merit additional protection for their persons, and for cultural, linguistic, and historical protection beneath a variety of United Nations Charters and Agreements.

This annual conference (which comes after three years during which only virtual events were held) will serve as a continuation of this discussion, exploring a variety of relevant themes. Both days of the conference are open to the media and public, but advance registration is required. Individuals can register for one or both days of the conference.

SOURCE Coptic Solidarity