A group of five civil society organisations (CSOs) has called for the effective closure of Case 173 of 2011, also known as the ‘NGO Foreign Funding Case’, in Egypt.
The rights organisations lamented that despite the Egyptian authorities’ issuance of decisions to suspend investigations or lift the travel ban on some human rights defenders in the case, the government had yet to close the case.
The CSOs, which included Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, Committee for Justice, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights and the Freedom Initiative, claimed that the North African country uses abusive practices aimed at intimidating human rights defenders.
Case 173 dates back to shortly after the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian authorities in December 2011 raided the headquarters of multiple NGOs, including Freedom House, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, accusing them of illegally receiving foreign funds and involvement in a foreign plot to destabilise the Maghreb country.
Although an Egyptian appeals court ordered the close of the case in 2020, the CSOs argued that the case has not actually been closed in practice.
‘Several organisations remain under investigation in Case 173 of 2011 against the backdrop of baseless charges that carry a potential sentence of life imprisonment’, they said in a statement.
‘In addition, decisions to seize the assets and prevent the travel of some human rights defenders charged in the case remain in effect, even though investigations were closed against a number of these defenders.
‘Of the 32 human rights defenders banned from traveling under the case, until now, only four have been able to travel despite the decision to close investigations against most of them’.
Data from Human Rights Watch (HRW) suggests that Egypt has been experiencing its worst human rights crisis in many decades under Al-Sisi’s government, with tens of thousands of government critics imprisoned on politically motivated charges.
Freedom House rated the country as ‘not free’ in its 2021 Freedom in the World study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide, with the country earning 18 points out of a possible 100.
Source: AfricanDefenders
Photo source: Dan H
