10/17/2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: International Coptic Conference Coptic Assembly of America, a non-profit organization dedicating to protecting human rights and religious freedoms in Egypt, is organizing an international conference to be held on Oct. 19th-20th, 2007, from 9:00am - 4:00pm. The conference is being held in the Martinique room at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1000 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. On each day of the conference, there will be 3 panels of 4-6 speakers. These speakers include human rights activists, government officials, and Coptic leaders from all around the world, and they will be speaking on a variety of topics that address the discrimination faced by religious minorities in Egypt. Freedom of belief is a fundamental human right recognized by both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Egyptian constitution, but many religious minorities in Egypt are blatantly denied the right to express and practice their faith. The Coptic Christians of Egypt, the largest Christian population left in the Middle East, comprise approximately 12% of the population of Egypt and suffer from religious-based discrimination at the hands of a repressive regime. Copts face both institutional and personal discrimination simply because they are Christian. Examples include but are not limited to discrimination in employment, a large discrepancy in both written law and the practice of laws regarding the building of places of worship, exclusion in publicly funded institutions, and exclusion in high ranking government positions. If you have any questions, please contact Cameel Halim at 847-212-8525.