CAIRO — Five Coptic Christian families consisting of 18 members from the village of Kafr Darwish in al-Fashn, Beni Suef governorate, were forcibly displaced on May 22 after Ayman Youssef Tawfik, a young member of one the displaced families, published in May caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page. A displacement sentence was issued on May 25 during a customary court hearing in Kafr Dahshur.

However, this customary court does not represent the state, as it involves customary arbitrators who derive their legitimacy from tribe members or from being located in a specific residential area. The arbitrators’ sentences are based on customs that are associated with their own culture and their geographic location. Regular courts base their sentences on physical evidence and their judges are graduates of law schools.

The arbitrators listen to both parties, while each side lists the offenses of the other side. The arbitral tribunal subsequently compares the testimonies of each party, evaluates the offenses committed and issues a sentence.

Security leaders and parliamentarians, as well as conservative leaders such as Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abu Taleb, the security director of the Beni Suef governorate, attend these customary courts, especially in murder cases.