Egypt has launched a new crackdown on human rights groups, questioning staff and ordering asset freezes over accusations they took foreign funding to destabilize the country after the 2011 uprising that ended former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
Egyptian rights activists said they are facing the worst assault in their history in a wider campaign to erase the freedoms won in the 18-day revolt that began on Jan. 25, 2011.
Some said they are working from home in anticipation of arrests as the noose tightens on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that have faced growing pressure since the burst of activism that accompanied the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled autocrats from Tunisia to Yemen.
It is not clear how many groups will be investigated in the case that has so far affected staff or management from at least six of Egypt’s best-known rights groups.
They include Hossam Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and Gamal Eid, founder of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information.
An investigating magistrate has banned both men from traveling abroad and ordered their assets frozen pending an April 20 court decision.
EIPR associate director Heba Morayef expects that freeze to be extended to the group as a whole, potentially forcing its office to close.
“I think some in the security agencies see human rights organizations as part of this global conspiracy to sow chaos, and that is actually in the asset freeze order,” Morayef told reporters. “This would be the biggest blow to human rights organizations in 30 years.”
Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali, who oversees the NGO sector in Egypt, did not respond to a written request for comment this week. There was also no comment from Egypt’s prosecutors, who have banned reporting of the legal details of the case.
Since toppling then-Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has overseen a crackdown on opposition in which hundreds of Brotherhood supporters were killed and thousands jailed.
The net has widened to include liberal and secular activists at the forefront of the 2011 revolt. Many are behind bars, charged with violating a 2013 law that prevents a repeat of the protests that helped unseat two presidents in three years.
Al-Sisi portrays himself as a bulwark of stability in a region that has slipped into chaos since the 2011 revolts, prioritizing security over civil rights.
NGOs have felt exposed since late 2011, when authorities raided 17 pro-democracy and rights groups, accusing them of joining a foreign conspiracy against Egypt.
In 2013, a court ordered the closure of several foreign pro-democracy groups, including US-based Freedom House, and gave jail sentences to 43 NGO staff, including 15 US citizens who had fled the country.
A case against dozens more Egyptian NGOs and lawyers was never closed, but remained largely dormant until this year.
None of the NGO staff summoned for questioning have been formally charged.
Egyptian law allows prosecutors to freeze assets, ban travel and remand suspects in custody for extended periods without charge.
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