WHRDIC Statement: Une éminente organisation de défense des droits humains lancée par des défenseuses des droits humains fait face à une menace de fermeture
The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC), of which OMCT is a member, is a resource and advocacy network supporting women human rights defenders worldwide.
El Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation for Victims ofViolence and Torture is a prominent human rights organization which, since 1993, is providingsupport to torture victims and families of those who were subject to enforceddisappearances in Egypt. Since 17th of February authorities in Egyptdelivered a closure order based on “breaching license conditions” and have launched a smear campaign against theorganization which has supported thousands of individuals and family membersconfronting immeasurably traumatic experiences.
On 17th ofFebruary 2016, three men, an architect and two policemen, entered the premisesof El Nadeem Center and unduly and arbitrarily requested from Dr. Mona Hamed,an Egyptian WHRD and the Director of the Clinic, to leave the office. Thelawyers negotiated the closure order and have extended it until 22 February2016 to investigate the allegations brought against El Nadeem Center andprovide justifications to the Ministry of Health.
The authorities in Egyptfurther escalated the aggression towards the organization via disseminatingmisleading information in an attempt to libel their meaningful contributions tothe advancement of human rights in Egypt for more than two decades. On 24thof February 2016 the Ministry of Health released a statement discrediting theorganization, which was published in Shorouk newspaper aswell as in English on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). El Nadeem respondedto all false accusations via an announcement.
El Nadeem Center has notonly supported victims of torture and families of those who were subject toenforced disappearances. The center is at the heart of the women’s rightsstruggle in Egypt and is critical to fostering women’s rights in Egypt and the wider region. The center was instrumental indrafting a law to prevent and protect women from domestic violence and havebeen advocating for its acceptance by the Parliament. El Nadeem has also issuedimportant publications on sexual violence in Egypt in an attempt to raiseawareness on gender-based violence in the country.
The WHRDMena Coalitionhas warned that the closure threat brought against the Center has widerimplications for WHRDs in the region. The Coalition has stressed that “As El Nadeem center is mostly run by pioneering WHRDs of Egypt who havebeen on the frontline of pushing the gender agenda in the country, they haveinspired their fellow activists in the region. The closure of the center willcertainly send a message to the women rights movement in the region ofpotential implications they might face by their government if they continuetheir committed advocacy.”
The WHRDIC strongly urges the government of Egypt to cease all acts ofharassment against the El NadeemCenter for the Rehabilitation for Victims of Violence and Torture. The WHRD-IC stands in solidaritywith women human rights defenders in Egypt and the wider region, who continuetheir meaningful human rights advocacy at the face of such gruesome threats andrestrictions.
Notes
The Women Human Rights Defender InternationalCoalition is a resource and advocacy network supporting women human rightsdefenders worldwide. We have 32 members including:
AmnestyInternational (AI)
AsiaPacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
AsianForum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM ASIA)
TheAssociation for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme(APC WNSP)
Associationfor Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
BAOBABfor Women’s Human Rights (BAOBAB)
Centerfor Reproductive Rights (CRR)
Centerfor Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL)
Coalitionof African Lesbians (CAL)
Fridathe Young Feminist Fund
FrontLine Defenders
HumanRights First Information Monitor (INFORM)
InternationalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH)
InternationalService for Human Rights (ISHR)
InternationalWomen’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP)
IsisInternational ISIS Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange (ISIS-WICCE)
JustAssociates (JASS)
TheLatin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights(CLADEM)
MADRE
Nazrafor Feminist Studies
NobelWomen’s Initiative (NWI)
PeaceBrigades International Rainbow Rights Project (R-Rights)
Inc. Societyfor Appraisal & Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA)
UrgentAction Fund for Women’s Human Rights (UAF)
WomenLiving under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
Women’sGlobal Network for Reproductive Rights Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice(WIGJ)
Women’sRehabilitation Centre (WOREC)
WorldOrganisation against Torture (OMCT)