In response to the Egyptian government’s order closing the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture on Friday, as part of the tightening restrictions on civil society, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world has cried out on how the country is crippling civil society.
In a press release, Freedom House senior program manager for Middle East and North Africa programs, Dokhi Fassihian, said “By physically sealing the doorway of the Nadeem Center, Egyptian authorities are preventing victims of torture from accessing the essential medical and psychological support that the Centre has provided for 20 years”.
Egyptian civil society has faced increasing restrictions on its work, including a law passed by Parliament in November eliminating the ability for non-governmental organizations to operate without close government oversight.
The forced closure of the Nadeem Centre is coming a year after the organization was first ordered closed for violations of unspecified laws. This time around, the Egyptian government has forced the closure despite a pending court appeal.
“With tens of thousands of people now jailed on the flimsiest of charges for alleged threats to the government, authorities are demonstrating the lengths they will go to cripple civil society,” decried the Freedom House program manager.
Egypt has been rated ‘not free’ in a Freedom in the World 2017 report, ‘not free’ in Freedom of the Press 2016, and ‘not free’ in Freedom on the Net 2016.