Court confirms asset freeze against 5 human rights defenders and 3 NGOs

New information:

The Observatory has been informed byreliable sources about the sentencing against five leading human rightsdefenders and three non-governmental organisations in the framework of theongoing judicial harassment and the restrictions to freedom of associationfaced by at least 37 Egyptian human rights defenders and organisations, includingthe Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and the EgyptianInitiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), two member organisations of FIDH, theArab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Hisham Mubarak LawCenter (HMLC), Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Egyptian Centre for the Right toEducation (CRE), as well as the Arab Center for the Independence of theJudiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) and the Land Center for HumanRights (LCHR), two member organisations of OMCT.

According to the information received, onSeptember 17, 2016, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the freezing of the assetsof Messrs. Gamal Eid, Director ofANHRI, Hossam Bahgat, founder ofEIPR, Abdel Hafiz Tayel, ExecutiveDirector of CRE, Moustafa El Hassan,Director of HMLC, and Bahey Eldin Hassan,Director of the CIHRS, as well as those of three human rights NGOs, the CRE, the CIHRS and the HMLC[1].

This decision by the Cairo Criminal Courtwas handed out within the framework of criminal case No. 173/2011, known as“the civil society case” (see background information)[2].

The Observatory firmly condemns theabove-mentioned Court decision, which is the latest evidence of an increasingpattern of judicial harassment launched by the authorities in 2011 targetingcivil society organisations and human rights defenders in Egypt[3].

TheObservatory urges the Egyptian authorities to immediately cease all acts ofharassment against human rights organisations in Egypt, and to comply with itsConstitution (in particular Article 78 and Article 93 which respectivelyrecognise freedom of association and Egypt's compliance with international human rightsconventions ratified by Egypt) as well as its international legalobligations (in particular Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights (ICCPR)) and its international commitment to respectfreedom of association in the framework of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR)[4].

Background Information:

Since 2011, the Egyptian Government haslaunched a judicial harassment campaign against civil society organisations onthe pretext that they received unauthorised foreign funding under criminal caseNo. 173/2011, known as the “civil society case”.

The 2011 Government Fact-Finding Committeereport, which formed the basis of the first trial in 2012, listed 37 NGOs whocould be targeted under this “civil society case”. That list included ACIJLP,CIHRS, LCHR, the Egyptian Democratic Academy (EDA), HMLC, ANHRI, EIPR, El NadimCenter for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence andTorture, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), the ArabPenal Reform Organization, the Egyptian Center for the Right to Education,El-Haq, the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (ACPE),Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Appropriate Communications Technologies (ACT),among others.

The first set of investigations targetedinternational and foreign NGOs. On June 4, 2013, the North Cairo Criminal Courtsentenced 43 Egyptian and foreign staff members of five foreign civil societyorganisations to imprisonment ranging from one (suspended) to five years ofprison for “managing unlicensed branches” of their organisations, “conductingresearch, political training, surveys, and workshops without licenses”,“training political parties and groups” and “illegally receiving foreignfunding”. Though none of the defendants were forced to serve their sentenceseither because they were abroad or in the case of the junior staff had theirsentences suspended, the court ordered the confiscation of their funds and theclosure of Egypt-based branches of Freedom House, the International RepublicanInstitute, the National Democratic Institute, the International Centre forJournalists (ICFJ), and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

The second part of the case targets Egyptian civilsociety organisations that have received foreign or international funding. InJuly 2014, the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) issued an ultimatum forEgyptian human rights organisations to register by late 2014 under Law 84/2002or face closure[5].

In September 2014, President Al-Sisi signed into lawamendments to Article 78 of the Penal Code. These amendments include theprovision that receiving foreign funding for the purpose of “harming nationalsecurity” is punishable by life imprisonment.

In late 2014, the Investigating Judge in charge of thecase appointed a technical committee from the MoSS[6] to determinewhether Egyptian organisations under review operate as civic associations withoutbeing registered as such under Law 84/2002, and to examine documents related totheir sources of funding. The committee first examined the EDA. It is noteworthy to note that despite the EDA'sregistration in compliance with the ultimatum[7], they are still beinginvestigated. In January 2015, the judge issued travel bans againstMessrs. Hossam al-Din Ali, Chairman of the EDA, Ahmed Ghoneim,Deputy, as well as Ms. Israa Abdel Fattah and Bassem Samir, whopreviously worked in the same organisation.

On June 9, 2015, the Investigating Judge mandated thetechnical committee to visit the Cairo office of the CIHRS in order to examinewhether the CIHRS engages in activities of civic associations under theprovisions of Law 84/2002. The committee requested the staff present in theoffice to provide documentation relating to the administration of the NGO, suchas its registration, founding contract and statute, as well as the budgets,financial accounts, and funding contracts for the past four years. Oneadditional demand the staff were instructed to comply with was to providedocumentation that proved that the CIHRS was not conducting NGO work.

In July 2015, the HMLC was alsosubjected to the same review.

In December 2015, the ANHRI received aphone call from the technical committee, which asked to conduct an inspection,but due to the absence of Mr. Gamal Eid, the visit was postponed and eventuallydid not take place.

In December 2015, the Egyptian Centerfor the Right to Education was summoned by the Investigating Judge forquestioning.

On February 4, 2016, Mr. Gamal Eid was informed of a travel banas he was attempting to travel outside Egypt. Mr. HossamBahgat was informed of a similar ban on February 23, 2016; Mr. MohamedZaree, CIHRS Egypt Director, on May 27, 2016; Ms. Hoda Abdel Wahab, ACIJLPExecutive Director, and Mr. Nasser Amin, ACIJLP President, onJune 20, 2016 and July 14, 2016 respectively; and Ms. Mozn Hassan, Founder and Executive Director of Nazra for FeministStudies, on June 27, 2016.

On March 13 and 14, 2016, two staffmembers of CIHRS and three staff members of Nazra for Feminist Studies werenotified by telephone of a summons to appear on March 16 before theInvestigating Judge in Cairo within the framework of criminal case No.173/2011. However, the two staff members of CIHRS refused to appear, as theyhad not been properly notified in person in accordance with the law in force.Two former staff members of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance andAnti-Violence Studies and one accountant from the United Group were alsosummoned within the same context.

On March 17, Messrs. Hossam Bahgat andGamal Eid were informed that the Investigative Judge had ordered the freezingof their assets and that their case would be reviewed by the Cairo Criminal Courtin Zeinhom on March 24, 2016. The case was subsequently adjourned to April 20,2016, upon request from the Public Prosecutor.

On April 19, Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan, twostaff members of CIHRS, as well as Mr. MoustafaEl Hassan, HMLC Director, were informed at 9pm through a phone call fromthe Egyptian police that they were summoned to appear before the Cairo CriminalCourt in Zeinhom on April 20, along with Messrs. Bahgat and Eid.

On April 20, the Cairo Criminal Court inZeinhom added seven defendants from three additional NGOs to the “asset freezeorder” initially targeting Messrs. Hossam Bahgat and Gamal Eid. The additional defendants are Mr. Baheyeldin Hassan, Mr. Moustafa El Hassan, Mr. Abdel Hafiz Tayel, two staff members of CIHRS, as well as of Mr.Bahey eldin Hassan's wife and daughter and Mr. Gamal Eid's wife and daughter[8].

The hearing by the Cairo Criminal Court inZeinhom regarding the asset freeze order was postponed several times by theprosecutors to review the evidence and formally summon the new defendants. OnMay 23, 2016, it was again adjourned to July 17, 2016, and then to August 15.

On August 15, 2016, the Cairo CriminalCourt in Zeinhom decided to postpone to September 17 the ruling on theasset-freeze order targeting 11 human rights defenders and family members. Thedefendants included seven human rights defenders: Mr. Hossam Bahgat, founder of EIPR, Mr. Gamal Eid, Director of ANHRI, Mr. Moustafa El Hassan, Director of HMLC, Mr. Abdel Hafiz Tayel, Executive Director of CRE, Mr. Bahey Eldin Hassan, Director of CIHRS,two other CIHRS employees, as well as Mr. Bahey Eldin Hassan and Mr. GamalEid’s respective wives and daughters.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Egyptasking them to:

i. Overturn the decision issued by theCairo Criminal Court on September 17, 2016, within the framework of a judicialprocess in appeal which shall conform with fair trial standards and otherinternational human rights norms;

ii. Immediately put an end toinvestigations and criminal cases targeting NGOs as well as human rightsdefenders and their relatives;

iii. Put an end to all forms of harassmentagainst all human rights organisations and defenders in Egypt, including travelbans;

iv. Revise the Law on Associations tocomply with international human rights standards and the UPR commitments madeby Egypt, while ensuring that independent civil society organisations aremeaningfully consulted in the drafting process;

v. Comply with allthe provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, inparticular with itsArticles 1, 5(a), 6(a), and 12.2;

vi. Ensure in all circumstances respectfor human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with internationalhuman rights standards and international instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

· President of the Arab Republicof Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 23901998

· Prime Minister of Egypt, Mr.Sherif Ismail, Fax: + 202 2735 6449 / 27958016. Email: primemin@idsc.gov.eg

· Minister of the Interior ofEgypt, Mr. Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, E-mail: moi1@idsc.gov.eg, Fax: +202 2579 2031 / 2794 5529

· Minister of Justice of Egypt,Mr. Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rehim, E-mail: mojeb@idsc.gov.eg, Fax: +202 2795 8103

· Public Prosecutor, Fax: +2022577 4716

· President of the NationalCouncil For Human Rights, Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670.Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

· H.E. Ms. Wafaa Bassim, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the UnitedNations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.egypt@ties.itu.int, Fax: +41 22 738 44 15

· Embassy of Egyptin Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Egypt inyour respective country.

[1] The Court howeverrefused to freeze the assets of some relatives of the accused.

[2] For more information on thatcase, see also EIPR, “Further background on Case No. 173 – the case againsthuman rights NGOs”, available at: http://eipr.org/en/pressrelease/2016/09/15/2661.

[3] The investigation started inSeptember 2011, and the raid on NGOs took place in December 2011. As theinvestigation has been ongoing for nearly five years, the scope of the caseremains unknown. For more information, please see: http://www.cihrs.org/?p=720&lang=en

&http://www.cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/The-Complaint.pdf

[4] At the occasion of the UPR ofEgypt in November 2014, the Egyptian authorities accepted at least fiverecommendations on the protection of human rights defenders, including acommitment to reforming the current NGO law with a wide consultation of NGOs,and a commitment to guarantee the right to freedom of association in accordancewith international standards.

[5] The ultimatum was made publicin July 2014, and in September 2014, the deadline was pushed back to November10, 2014.

[6] The committee is composed ofMinistry of Social Solidarity officials but they report to the InvestigatingJudge.

[7] The EDA has been registeredunder the Associations Law No. 84/2002 sinceSeptember 2014.

[8] Mr. Bahgat attended theApril-20 hearing, while the other defendants were represented by their lawyers.No formal charges were confirmed on that occasion.