Egypt’s Troubled Relationship with NGOs

By: Dina Eid
@TheRealDinaEid

The Ministry of Health (MoH) is expected to release a technical report detailing its reasons for ordering the closure of the Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, as confirmed by assistant spokesperson Mohamed El-Touny.

On February 9, police officers officially shut down Al-Nadeem’s downtown offices and clinic.

The statement made said that they were enforcing the MoH’s closure order, which was issued last February.

The Ministry of Interior has not issued a follow-up statement on the closure and were unavailable for comment to The Caravan.

Questions regarding the legality of the closure in the absence of a stipulated reason have been raised.

“This reflects the insistence of the ruling powers to violate the rights of Egyptians, as stipulated in the Constitution, and international conventions signed by Egypt,” Co-founder of the Nadeem Center Magda Aly told The Caravan.

Taher Abu al-Nasr, the attorney representing Al- Nadeem, said that Al-Nadeem appealed the order as soon as it was issued.

“Al-Nadeem clinic’s license is issued from the Ministry of Health’s Free Treatment Directorate and the Doctors Syndicate,” he told The Caravan.

Abu al-Nasr, however, also said that they are pursuing two legal tracks: one through the State Council to reopen the clinic and the other through the General Prosecution Office to reopen the two offices.

While Al-Nadeem clinic does fall under the jurisdiction of the MoH, its two offices do not operate under the Ministry and so, the closure order should not apply to them.

The MoH had previously cited violations for the closure but did not provide details.

He also said that they are pursuing two legal tracks: one through the State Council to reopen the clinic and the other through the General Prosecution Office to reopen the two offices.

“The government is not necessarily a unified entity, and if the judicial system is more sympathetic to the claims of NGOs, then they will secure some space for NGOs to operate in,” said Jason Beckett, assistant professor at the Department of Law.

The Mubarak regime, he added, had an unarticulated agreement with these NGOs under which it tolerated their existence but did not formally recognize them.

That way, if the state feels that NGOs stray too much, it can shut them down without having to go through any formal channels.

“The current government has simply revoked that consensus,” he said.

Shortly after the order, a travel ban was imposed on Aida Seif al- Dawla, Al-Nadeem’s co-founder, in conjunction with a temporary freeze on the Center’s assets.

“It is no surprise that this last [order] came after a few days of their last report on torture cases in Egypt in 2015,” said Mai Taha, assistant professor of law.

The Center’s statistical report Taha referred to was published in January 2016, around two weeks before the closure order was issued.

The report included figures regarding possible human rights abuses committed by the security forces during the past year.

This would be in potential violation of the United Nation’s Convention against Torture, which Egypt signed and ratified in 1986.

Human rights activists raised concerns about the implications of these actions on the NGO community.

“The Egyptian state does not necessarily have the resources to adequately look after its population … It is very difficult for NGOs to operate in any environment where the government is both strong and hostile,” Beckett said.