Despite the order last month by Egyptian authorities to shut down the NGO Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, the Center published a new report on Monday documenting human rights violations carried out by the Interior Ministry throughout February.
The report, which is based on social media posts and media reports, highlights cases of killings by security forces, the police and the army, as well as torture, deaths in detention centers and enforced disappearances.
In February alone, 111 people were killed, including 65 extrajudicial killings, 35 aerial bombardments, eight quarrels between citizens and low-ranking policemen and one case of torture, in addition to one death caused by the victim being thrown off a building.
Also, the report registered 155 cases of enforced disappearances – including the widely reported case of Italian student Guilio Regeni – and 44 cases of medical negligence in detention centers.
Amid conflicting reports about whether the Nadeem Center were to be shut down, Egypt’s Ministry of Health said on 22 February in a statement that the decision to close the NGO is “final.”
Aida Seif el-Dawla, director of the center, told Reuters that the move should be seen in the context of the government’s recent crackdown on civil society organizations and domestic opposition generally.
Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation for Victims of Violence and Torture is an independent NGO established in 1993 that initially aimed to provide psychological rehabilitation to victims of torture and produce sporadic medico-legal reports. It went on to organize public campaigns and has mobilized societal support against the authorities’ practice of torture and other human rights violations.
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