Ongoing judicial harassment against several human rights defenders and organisations

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a jointprogramme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) andthe World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information andrequests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Egypt.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoingjudicial harassment and restrictions to freedom of association faced by severalEgyptian human rights defenders and organisations, including the CairoInstitute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and theEgyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR),two member organisations of FIDH, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information(ANHRI), the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC), theArab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, Nazra for Feminist Studies,as well as the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) and the Land Center for Human Rights(LCHR), two member organisations of OMCT.

According to information received, on April 20, 2016, the Cairo CriminalCourt in Zeinhom added seven defendants from three additional NGOs to the“asset freeze trial” against Mr. Hossam Bahgat,founder of EIPR, and Mr. Gamal Eid, Director of ANHRI. The “asset freeze trial” is held within the framework of criminal case No. 173/2011, known as the “foreignfunding case against NGOs” (see backgroundinformation).

The additional defendants are Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan, CIHRSDirector, Mr. Moustafa El Hassan, HMLC Director,Mr. Abdel Hafiz Tayel, Executive Director of the Egyptian Center for theRight to Education, two staff members of CIHRS, as well as of Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan'swife and daughter and Mr. Gamal Eid's wife and daughter[1].

The next hearing against the eleven defendants was scheduled for May 23,2016, as the prosecutors once again requested an adjournment to review theevidence and formally summon the new defendants.

These developments are the latest escalation in a campaign of judicialharassment launched by the authorities in 2011 targeting civil societyorganisations and human rights defenders in Egypt[2].The “asset freeze case” started on March 17, 2016, when 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 subsequently adjournedto April 20, 2016, upon request from the Public Prosecutor.

On April 19, Mr. Bahey eldin Hassan, the two above-mentioned staffmembers of CIHRS, as well as Mr. Moustafa El Hassan were informed at 9pmthrough a phone call from the Egyptian police that they were summoned to appearbefore the Cairo Criminal Court in Zeinhom on April 20, along with Messrs.Bahgat and Eid.

The Observatory recalls that a number of other human rights have beenrecently harassed within the framework of the same judicial case: on March 22,2016, Ms. Mozn Hassan, Executive Director of Nazra for Feminist Studies,was formally accused of receiving foreign funds without authorisation, andthroughout the month of March 2016, a number of NGO staff members were summonedto appear before the Investigating Judge (see background information).

The Observatory urges the Egyptianauthorities to immediately cease all acts of harassment against theabove-mentioned human rights defenders, relatives, and NGOs, and to comply withits Constitution (in particular Article 78 and Article 93, which respectivelyrecognise freedom of association and Egypt's compliancewith international human rights conventions 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)[3].

The Observatory reminds inparticular the Egyptian authorities of their pledges made during the UPR duringwhich they “affirmed that civil society is an essential partner to the Governmentin strengthening human rights”[4].

Background information:

Since2011, the Egyptian Government has launched a judicial harassment campaignagainst civil society organisations on the pretext that they receivedunauthorised foreign funding under criminal case No. 173/2011,known as the “foreign funding case against NGOs”.

The 2011 Government Fact-Finding Committee report, which formed thebasis of the first trial in 2012, listed 37 NGOs who could be targeted underthis “foreign funding case against NGOs”. Thatlist included ACIJLP, CIHRS, LCHR, theEgyptian Democratic Academy (EDA), HMLC, ANHRI, EIPR, El Nadim Center for theManagement and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, the Egyptian Center forEconomic and Social Rights (ECESR), the Arab Penal Reform Organization, theEgyptian Center for the Right to Education, El-Haq, the Egyptian Associationfor Community Participation Enhancement (ACPE), Nazra for Feminist Studies, theAppropriate Communications Technologies (ACT), among others.

Thefirst set of investigations targeted international and foreign NGOs. On June 4,2013, the North Cairo Criminal Court sentenced 43 Egyptian and foreign staffmembers of five foreign civil society organisations to imprisonment rangingfrom one (suspended) to five years of prison for “managing unlicensed branches”of their organisations, “conducting research, political training, surveys, andworkshops without licenses”, “training political parties and groups” and“illegally receiving foreign funding”. Though none of the defendants wereforced to serve their sentences either because they were abroad or in the caseof the junior staff had their sentences suspended, the court ordered theconfiscation of their funds and the closure of Egypt-based branches of FreedomHouse, the International Republican Institute, the National DemocraticInstitute, the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ), and Konrad AdenauerFoundation.

Thesecond case targets Egyptian civil society organisations that have receivedforeign or international funding. It started with the ultimatum made by theMinistry of Social Solidarity (MoSS)[5]for Egyptian human rights organisations to register by late 2014 under Law84/2002 or face closure. One month later, a new wave of harassment targetinghuman rights NGOs began.

InSeptember 2014, President Al-Sisi signed into law amendments to Article 78 ofthe Penal Code. These amendments include the provision that receiving foreignfunding for the purpose of “harming national security” is punishable by lifeimprisonment.

Inlate 2014, the Investigating Judge in charge of the case appointed a technicalcommittee from the MoSS[6]to determine whether Egyptian organisations under review operate as civicassociations without being registered as such under Law 84/2002, and to examinedocuments related to their sources of funding. The committee first examined theEDA. It is noteworthy to note that despite theEDA's registration in compliance with the ultimatum[7],they are still being investigated. In January 2015, the judge issuedtravel bans against four staff members and founders of the organisation[8].

InJune 2015, Mr. Negad El Borai, theDirector of the human rights organisation United Group, was interrogated by the Investigating Judge about its sources offunding and legal status[9]. In March 2016, the United Group was summonsed for thefourth time.

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 presented with a summons letter toappear on June 17, before the Investigating Judge within the framework of thecase No. 173/2011. However, the CIHRS refused to accept the summons letter asit failed to comply with the legal requirements in force and subsequently submitted its arguments in writing to therepresentative of the Investigating Judge. Since then, CIHRS and its membershad not received any further summons, until those of March 13 and 14, 2016 (seebelow).

In July 2015, the HMLC was also subjected to the same review.

In December 2015, the ANHRI received a phone call from the technicalcommittee, which asked to conduct an inspection, but due to the absence ofANHRI’s Director, Mr. Gamal Eid, the visit was postponed and eventually did nottake place. On February 4, 2016, Mr. GamalEid was informed of a travel ban as he was attempting to travel outsideEgypt. Mr. HossamBahgat was informed of a similar ban on February 23, 2016.

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

On March 13 and 14, 2016, two staff members of CIHRS and three staffmembers of Nazra for Feminist Studies were notified by telephone of a summonsto appear on March 16 before the Investigating Judge in Cairo within theframework of criminal case No. 173/2011. However, the two staff members ofCIHRS refused to appear, as they had not been properly notified in person inaccordance with the law in force[10].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.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Egypt asking them to:

i. Immediately put an end to investigations and criminal cases targetingNGOs as well as human rights defenders and their relatives;

ii. Put an end to all forms of harassment against all human rightsorganisations and defenders in Egypt;

iii. Revise the Law on Associations to comply with international humanrights standards and the UPR commitments made by Egypt, while ensuring thatindependent civil society organisations are meaningfully consulted in thedrafting process;

iv. Comply withall the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,in particular with:

- its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for theprotection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”;

- its Article 5(a): “For the purpose of promoting and protecting humanrights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and inassociation with others, at the national and international levels (a) To meetor assemble peacefully”

- its Article 6(a), which foresees that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to participate in peacefulactivities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms”;

- its Article 12.2, which providesthat “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection bythe competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association withothers, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or dejure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as aconsequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in thepresent Declaration”;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

· President of the Arab Republic of 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 of Egypt, Mr. Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, E-mail: moi1@idsc.gov.eg, Fax: +202 2579 2031 / 27945529

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

· Public Prosecutor, Fax: +202 2577 4716

· President of the National Council 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 Egypt in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

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

[1] Mr. Bahgat attended the April-20hearing, while the other defendants were represented by their lawyers. Noformal charges were confirmed on that occasion.

[2] 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

[3]At the occasion of the UPR of Egypt in November 2014, the Egyptian authoritiesaccepted at least five recommendations on the protection of human rightsdefenders, including a commitment to reforming the current NGO law with a wideconsultation of NGOs, and a commitment to guarantee the right to freedom ofassociation in accordance with international standards.

[4] See Oral statement by the Egyptian Delegation, http://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/egypt/session_20_-_october_2014/egypt_upr_egy_42.pdf

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

[6] The committee is composed of Ministry of Social Solidarity officialsbut they report to the Investigating Judge.

[7] The EDA has been registered under the AssociationsLaw No. 84/2002 since September 2014.

[8] These are Messrs. Hossam al-DinAli, Chairman of the EDA, Ahmed Ghoneim, Deputy, as well as Ms. IsraaAbdel Fattah and Bassem Samir, who previously worked in the sameorganisation. For more information, see http://www.cihrs.org/?p=10572&lang=en

[9] The UnitedGroup 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.

[10] The three staff members of Nazra will be represented by a lawyer.