An investigation has been launched into the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and other organisations for reasons that remain unclear, the director of CIHRS’ Egypt bureau said on Wednesday. A committee from the Ministry of Social Solidarity visited CIHRS’ office on Tuesday to “inspect the centre” including its “activities”, Egypt bureau director Mohamed Zare’ told Aswat Masriya. Zare’ said that the only paperwork presented by the three-member committee was a copy of the decision to launch the investigation and it showed that it included the names of other organisations. He could not name the other organisations but said they are “well known”. This comes after CIHRS moved its regional and international programmes abroad, keeping only its Egypt programme here, in the light of what it described as “ongoing threats to human rights organisations and the declaration of war on civil society” in December 2014. “There is no specific accusation” for which CIHRS is being investigated, Zare’ said, although the committee was delegated by a judge who investigates “foreign funding”. “Yes, it could be a problem” if the investigation is being launched for foreign funding, Zare’ said. He made a…
Egyptian NGO Under Investigations After Exposing Human Rights Violations
June 11, 2015
