An Egyptian human rights organisation that documents complaints of torture in custody has said it is being shut down by the country’s authorities. Amnesty International said that moves to close down the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence “appear to mark an expansion of the ongoing crackdown on human rights activists in Egypt”.
The centre, headquartered in central Cairo, documents allegations of torture, death and medical negligence inside police stations and prisons.
“Two policemen … turned up today at the centre with an administrative decision from the health ministry to close [it],” said Aida Seif el-Dawla, one of its founders.
“The decision did not give any reasons,” she said. “We managed to persuade them to postpone the closure until we went to the health ministry on Monday to understand the reasons.”
A spokesman for the health ministry said the centre’s closure was due to it holding “activities other than the activity allowed in its permit” but did not specify the nature of these activities.
Said Boumedouha, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and northAfrica, called on Egypt to “freeze the order to close the centre and provide it with a clear explanation of the reasons behind the order”.
No comments:
Post a Comment