The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) expresses its solidarity with Egyptian civil society organizations and human rights defenders.
PHROC is deeply concerned over the issuance of travel bans, asset freezes, and summons for questioning against Egyptian human rights defenders, and the administrative decision to close the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture and Violence.
PHROC hopes that the Egyptian government will reverse such orders, halt the ongoing investigations of human rights organizations, and draft a new associations law that is in line with the Egyptian Constitution and international standards. As noted in Egypt’s Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Egypt should adhere to its international obligations and “refrain from stigmatizing and criminalizing the work of NGOs, human rights defenders and journalists.”[1]
PHROC members have long-valued cooperating and partnering with our Egyptian counterparts and reiterate our support of their work for human rights. PHROC continues to observe the situation in Egypt.
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[1] Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, 24 December 2014, A/HRC/28/16, p.27, available at https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G14/249/45/PDF/G1424945.pdf?OpenElement
