Egypt closes offices of key anti-torture organization

Shuttering of El-Nadeem Center in Cairo seen as part of government’s effort to silence critical groups

By AFP 9 February 2017, 4:51 pm

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In this February 21, 2016 file photo, Aida Seif el-Dawla, Suzan Fayyad, center, and Magda Adly, right, co-founder of El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, hold a press conference in Cairo. (AP Photo/Mohamed el Raai, File)

CAIRO — Egyptian authorities on Thursday closed the offices of a prominent human rights group that helps victims of violence and torture, the organization and a police official said.

El Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture and Violence in Cairo offers psychological rehabilitation to victims of abuses including sexual assault.

“About 15 policemen in official uniform with a group of civilians sealed three apartments in the building belonging to El Nadeem,” co-founder Aida Seif Elldawla told AFP by phone.

“We didn’t violate any rules and the government has not provided any reasons for its closure decision,” said Seif Elldawla, adding that the center had filed a lawsuit against the order.

A policeman said the center had been closed for violating the terms of its licence, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi listens to US Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting at the presidential palace in Cairo on May 18, 2016. (Amr Nabil/Pool/AFP)

Authorities have tried on two separate occasions to shut down El Nadeem Center amid accusations by human rights groups that the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi is stifling civil society groups.

Rights campaigners accuse the authorities of human rights violations, including forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions.

Seif Elldawla was banned from travel to Tunisia on November 23, along with several other rights activists and lawyers who are not allowed to leave the country.

Egyptian and foreign NGOs operating in the country are governed by a strict law which allows the government to supervise their activities and finances.

In November, authorities froze El Nadeem’s assets for a week before the organization submitted a document “proving” the center is not subject to the law, El Nadeem said.

Egyptian police deploy in the Egyptian capital Cairo during a demonstration, December 5, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED) — Egyptian police deploy in the Egyptian capital Cairo during a demonstration, December 5, 2014. (AFP/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED)

The organization was registered with the health ministry and the doctors’ union as a “medical clinic,” El Nadeem co-founder Suzanne Fayad said.

Egypt’s parliament approved in November a new law to regulate the activities of non-governmental organizations, in a move that triggered fears of an intensified crackdown on civil society.