Egypt: Rehabilitation centre for torture survivors shut down

February 9, 2017

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On February 9th, the El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence was raided by police and shut down. According to Amnesty International, the centre had suffered from harassment by the authorities for a full year before it was closed by the police.

 In response, Najia Bounaim, from Amnesty International’s Tunis regional office, said: 

“This is a blatant attempt by the authorities to punish the El Nadeem Center for its work supporting victims of torture and other ill-treatment and families of people subjected to enforced disappearances. The Egyptian authorities have made it increasingly clear that anyone who stands up for human rights in Egypt today is perceived as a threat. They should be providing redress to victims of torture and offering support to organizations such as El Nadeem, not storming their offices and preventing them from carrying out their valuable work.”

In February 2016 security forces entered El Nadeem’s premises and presented staff with an order to shut down operations without providing an explanation. The centre filed a judicial appeal against the decision before an Egyptian court the same month. However, police carried out the latest raid without waiting for the outcome of this appeal. In November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt also issued an order to freeze the organization’s bank account.  


Source: Shutdown of renowned torture rehabilitation centre in Egypt. Website Amnesty International, 9 February 2017