Mohamed Zaree, Egypt Director (CIHRS) summoned to appear before the investigative judge in the NGO Funding Case

EGY004 / 0616 / OBS 049.10

Judicial harassment

Egypt

May 17, 2017



The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Egypt.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed byreliable sources about the continued judicial harassment and the restrictionsto freedom of association faced by several Egyptian human rights organisations,as well as their staff and members, in the framework of the so-called case No.173/2011, also know as the “NGO foreign funding case” (see backgroundinformation).

According to the information received, Mr.Mohamed Zaree , Egypt Director ofthe Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) was summoned to appear onMay 15, 2017, before the investigative judge within the framework of the “NGOForeign Funding” case.

On that day, the judge agreed to a requestfrom Mohamed Zaree and his defence lawyers to view his case file, which nolawyer has ever been able to access in its entirety within the framework ofcase No. 173/2011. The interrogation session was adjourned to May 24, 2017, toallow the defendant and his lawyers to review some of the case papers.

The Observatory recalls that CIHRS wasamongst the 37 NGOs listed in the 2011 Government Fact-Finding Committee reportthat could be targeted under the case No. 173/2011. On September 17, 2016, theCairo Criminal Court in Zeinhom ordered the freezing of CIHRS’s assets andthose of its Director, Mr. Bahey el din Hassan, as well as those of severalother defenders and NGOs. Several CIHRS members have also experienced variousacts of harassment and threats. One year ago, in May 2016, Mr. Mohamed Zareewas informed by the authorities at the Cairo International Airport that atravel ban had been imposed on him by order of an investigative judge (seebackground information).

The Observatory strongly condemns theongoing judicial harassment against all human rights defenders and human rightsorganisations targeted within the framework of case No. 173/2011 and allsubsequent violations of their right to a fair trial, including their inabilityto access the case’s file, as well as the right to freedom of movement.

Consequently, the Observatory urges theEgyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally put an end to all formsof harassment against them as they only aim at sanctioning their legitimatehuman rights activities.

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 “foreign funding case against NGOs”.

The 2011 Government Fact-Finding Committeereport, which formed the basis of the first trial in 2012, listed 37 NGOs whocould be targeted under this “foreign funding case against NGOs”. That listincluded ACIJLP, CIHRS, LCHR, the Egyptian Democratic Academy (EDA), HMLC,ANHRI, EIPR, El Nadim Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victimsof

Violence and Torture, the Egyptian Centerfor Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), the Arab Penal Reform Organization, theEgyptian Center for the Right to Education, , the Egyptian Association forCommunity Participation Enhancement (ACPE), Nazra for Feminist Studies, theAppropriate 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”, “trainingpolitical parties and groups” and “illegally receiving foreign funding”. Thoughnone of the defendants were forced to serve their sentences either because theywere abroad or in the case of the junior staff had their sentences suspended,the court ordered the confiscation of their funds and the closure ofEgypt-based branches of Freedom House, the International Republican Institute,the National Democratic Institute, the International Centre for Journalists(ICFJ), and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

The second case targets Egyptian civilsociety organisations that have received foreign or international funding. Itstarted with the ultimatum made by the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS)1 for Egyptian human rights organisations to register by late 2014 underLaw 84/2002 or face closure. One month later, a new wave of harassmenttargeting human rights NGOs began.

In September 2014, President Al-Sisisigned into law amendments to Article 78 of the Penal Code. These amendmentsinclude the provision that receiving foreign funding for the purpose of “harmingnational security” is punishable by life imprisonment.

In late 2014, the Investigating Judge incharge of the case appointed a technical committee from the MoSS2 to determine whether Egyptian organisations under review operate ascivic associations without being registered as such under Law 84/2002, and toexamine documents related to their sources of funding. The committee firstexamined the EDA. It is noteworthy to note that despite the EDA's registrationin compliance with the ultimatum3, they arestill being investigated. In January 2015, the judge issued travel bans againstMessrs. Hossam al-Din Ali, Chairmanof the EDA, Ahmed Ghoneim, Deputy,as well as Ms. Israa Abdel Fattah and Bassem Samir, who previously worked inthe same organisation.

In June 2015, Mr. Negad El Borai, the Director of United Group, was interrogated bythe Investigating Judge about its sources of funding and legal status4. In March 2016, the United Group was summonsed for the fourth time. OnMay 17, 2016, he was summoned for the fifth hearing session5, but at the very last minute it was postponed to an undetermined date.

On June 9, 2015, the Investigating Judgemandated the technical committee to visit the Cairo office of the CIHRS inorder to examine whether the CIHRS engages in activities of civic associationsunder the provisions of Law 84/2002. The committee requested the staff presentin the office to provide documentation relating to the administration of theNGO, such as its registration, founding contract and statute, as well as thebudgets, 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.

On June 16, 2015, the CIHRS was presentedwith a summons letter to appear on June 17, before the Investigating Judgewithin the framework of the case No. 173/2011. However, the CIHRS refused toaccept the summons letter as it failed to comply with the legal requirements inforce and subsequently submitted its arguments in writing to the representativeof the Investigating Judge. Since then, CIHRS and its members had not receivedany further summons, until those of March 13 and 14, 2016 (see below).

InJuly 2015, the HMLC was also subjected 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 ANHRI’s Director, Mr. Gamal Eid, the visit was postponed and eventually did not takeplace.

In December 2015, the Egyptian Center forthe Right to Education was summoned by the Investigating Judge for questioning.

On February 4, 2016, Mr. Gamal Eid wasinformed of a travel ban as he was attempting to travel outside Egypt. Mr. Hossam Bahgat, founder of EIPR, wasinformed of a similar ban on February 23, 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, 2016, Messrs. Hossam Bahgatand Gamal Eid were informed that the Investigative Judge had ordered thefreezing of their assets and that their case would be reviewed by the CairoCriminal Court in Zeinhom on March 24, 2016. The case was subsequentlyadjourned to April 20, 2016, upon request from the Public Prosecutor.

On March 22, 2016, Ms. Mozn Hassan was formally accused ofreceiving foreign funds without authorisation, and throughout the month ofMarch 2016, several NGO staff members were summoned to appear before theInvestigating Judge.

On April 19, 2016, Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan, CIHRS Director, 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 were Mr. Baheyeldin Hassan, Mr. Moustafa El Hassan, Mr. AbdelHafiz Tayel, Executive Director ofthe Egyptian Center for the Right to Education, two staffmembers of CIHRS, as well as of Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan's wife anddaughter and Mr. Gamal Eid's wife and daughter6.

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

Addresses:new defendants. It was adjourned to May23, 2016, July 17, 2016, August 15, 2016 and September 17, 2016.

On May 27, Mr. Mohamed Zaree, CIHRS EgyptDirector, was informed by the authorities at Cairo International Airport that atravel ban had been imposed on him based on an order by an investigative judge.We believe this travel ban was ordered within the framework of the “foreignfunding case against NGOs”.

On June 27, 2016 Ms. Mozn Hassan wasinformed by authorities at the Cairo International Airport that a travel banhad been imposed on her, under the framework of the “NGO Foreign Funding Case” 7. Ms. Mozn Hassan had attempted to travel to participate in theExecutive Committee meeting of the Women Human Right Defenders (WHRD) RegionalCoalition for the Middle East and North Africa, taking place during the periodof June 27 to July 1, 2016.

On September 17, 2016, the Cairo CriminalCourt in Zeinhom ordered the freezing of the assets of Messrs. Gamal Eid, Director of ANHRI, Hossam Bahgat, founder of EIPR, Abdel Hafiz Tayel, Executive Director of CRE, Moustafa El Hassan, Director of HMLC, and Bahey Eldin Hassan, Director of the CIHRS, as well as those of threehuman rights NGOs, the CRE, the CIHRS and the HMLC. The Court however refused to freeze the assets of somerelatives of the accused also targetedby the asset freeze request.

In September 2016, Ms. Mozn Hassan andNazra received the “Right Livelihood” Award 2016, a prize known as theAlternative Nobel Prize, for their activities in defence of women’s humanrights.

On December 12, 2016, during a courthearing regarding the freezing of assets belonging to human rights lawyer Ms. Azza Soliman8, confirmed in an hearing on December 149, the investigative judge requested the North Cairo Court to freeze theassets of Ms. Mozn Hassan, Founder and Executive Directorof Nazra for Feminist Studies, Mr.Mohamed Zarea, head of Arab Penal Reform Organization (APRO), as well asthe assets of the twoorganisations.The court adjourned the session until January 11, 2017.

On January 11, 2017, a Court decided tofreeze the assets of Ms. Mozn Hassan, Founder and Executive Director of Nazrafor Feminist Studies (Nazra), Mr. Mohamed Zarea, Director of the Arab PenalReform Organization (APRO), Mr. AtefHafez, former legal researcher at APRO as well as those held by the twoafore-mentioned organisations.

Actions requested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities of Egypt asking them to:

i. Immediatelyand unconditionally put an end to the judicial harassment of Mohamed Zaree andother human rights defenders, lift the assets freezes and travel bans imposedagainst them, as well as against all the other human rights defenders andorganisations in Egypt, within the case No. 173/2011;

ii. Conformwith the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted bythe General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especiallyArticles 1 and 12.2; and

iii. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Egypt.
Addresses:

· Presidentof the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 2391 1441Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

· PrimeMinister, Mr. Sherif Ismail. Fax: + 202 2735 6449 / 27958016.

· Ministerof the Interior, Mr. Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar, Fax: +202 2579 2031 / 2794 5529

· Minister of Justice,Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103

·

Minister

ofSocial

Solidarity,

Ghada

Waly,

Fax:

+202

3337

5390

·

Public

Prosecutor,

Counsellor

Nabeel

Sadek,

Fax:

+202

2577

4716

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

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

· Embassy of Egypt inBrussels, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomaticmissions or embassies of Egypt in your respective country.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu , the European Union HumanRights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

[1] The ultimatum was made public in July 2014, and in September 2014, the deadline was pushed back to November 10, 2014.

[2] The committee is composed of Ministry of Social Solidarity officials but they report to the Investigating Judge.

[3] The EDA has been registered under the Associations Law No. 84/2002 since September 2014.

[4] The United Group is a law firm established 50 years ago, and headed by Mr. Negad El Borai, one of Egypt’s most influential human rights defenders and lawyers.

[5] See Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 002 / 0516 / OBS 042, issued on May 17, 2016.

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

[7] See Observatory Urgent appeal EGY 004 / 0616 / OBS 049.5 issued on June 28, 2016.

[8] See Observatory Urgent appeal EGY 004 / 1116 / OBS 101.2 issued on December 15, 2016. Ms. Azza Soliman is a human rights lawyer and founder of the Centre for Egyptian Women Legal Aid (CEWLA), an NGO that provides free legal, social, and psychological services to women and marginalized groups, and advocates for improved protections of their rights, and member of the Executive Committee of the WHRD MENA Coalition.

[9] See the Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 004 / 1116 / OBS 101.2, issued on December 15, 2016.