Egypt – Continued Charges, Judicial Harassment, of Ms. Mozn Hassan, Director-Nazra for Feminist Studies – Women’s Rights Defender

http://www.siawi.org/article17432.html

Mozn Hassan plays a key role in the work of WHRD’s-Women Human Rights Defenders to improve the situation of women in Egypt and in the region. She and Nazra for Feminist Studies,  have been working on multiple women’s issues since 2001, including violence against women in the public sphere, providing psychological, medical and legal support services for survivors, and supporting the political participation of women in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa. Mozn Hassan is a recipient of the Charlotte Bunch Women Human Rights Defenders Award in 2013, and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (RLA), known as the Alternative Nobel, which she and Nazra for Feminist Studies were awarded with in 2016 for combating violence against women in the public sphere.

http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/egypt/2018/06/d24933/

June 21, 2018 – The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Egypt.

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the release on bail of Ms. Mozn Hassan, woman human rights defender, founder and Executive Director of Nazra for Feminist studies.

According to the information received, on June 20, 2018, Ms. Mozn Hassan was released by the Cairo Court in Fifth Settlement District upon payment of a 30’000 EGP (approximately 1’450 EUR) bail and following two days of arbitrary detention. However, she is still facing charges of “establishing an entity in violation of the law”, “conducting activities that do not abide by the purposes of the organization with the intention of harming national security”, “receiving foreign funding with the intention of harming national security” and tax evasion within the framework of case No. 173/2011 also known as the “NGO Foreign Funding case”[1] (see background information).

The Observatory recalls that Ms. Mozn Hassan was included in case No. 173/2011, which targets numerous civil society organisations and leaders in Egypt, in March 2016 and that her assets as well as the assets of her organization were frozen by the North Cairo Elementary Court on January 11, 2017. Furthermore, Ms. Hassan is subjected to a travel ban since June 2016.

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing judicial harassment against Ms. Mozn Hassan, which only aims at silencing her peaceful and legitimate activities in defense of women rights. The Observatory is particularly concerned as Ms. Mozn Hassan’s summoning and detention come amidst a renewed crackdown on civil society in Egypt, in which three human rights defenders have already been arrested since May 11, 2018[2].

The Observatory urges the Egyptian authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Ms. Mozn Hassan and all human rights defenders in Egypt. The Observatory further urges the Egyptian authorities to lift the travel ban to which Ms. Mozn Hassan is currently subjected.

Background information:

Since 2011, the Egyptian Government has launched a judicial harassment campaign against civil society organisations on the pretext that they received unauthorised foreign funding under criminal case No. 173/2011, known as the “NGO Foreign Funding case”.

The 2011 Government Fact-Finding Committee report, which formed the basis of the first trial in 2012, listed 37 NGOs who could be targeted under this “foreign funding case against NGOs”. That list included ACIJLP, CIHRS, LCHR, the Egyptian Democratic Academy (EDA), HMLC, ANHRI, EIPR, El Nadim Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), the Arab Penal Reform Organization, the Egyptian Center for the Right to Education, El-Haq, the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (ACPE), Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Appropriate Communications Technologies (ACT), among others.

On March 22, 2016, Ms. Mozn Hassan was summoned to appear before New Cairo Court in relation to criminal case No. 173/2011, together with two other members of her association. On March 29, 2016, the judge notified their lawyers that he would have specified an appointment for them to review the case papers and that he would then have summoned Ms. Hassan for another day.

On June 27, 2016 Ms. Mozn Hassan was informed by authorities at the Cairo International Airport that a travel ban had been imposed on her, under the framework of the “NGO Foreign Funding Case”. Ms. Mozn Hassan had attempted to travel to participate in the Executive Committee meeting of the Women Human Right Defenders (WHRD) Regional Coalition for the Middle East and North Africa, taking place during the period of June 27 to July 1, 2016.

On December 12, 2016, the investigative judge requested the North Cairo Court to freeze the assets of Ms. Mozn Hassan, Founder and Executive Director of Nazra for Feminist Studies, as well as the assets of her organisations. On January 11, 2017 the North Cairo Elementary Court accepted his request and froze Ms. Hassan’s personal assets and those of her association.

On June 18, 2018, Ms. Mozn Hassan was summoned by the investigative judge of the Cairo Court in Fifth Settlement District, in relation with criminal case No. 173/2011 on Foreign Funding.

Website Link Above Includes Suggested Follow Up Actions.

————————————————————————————–

Via Nazra for Feminist Studies – Egypt – http://nazra.org/en

Case Background: http://nazra.org/en/2016/03/solidarity-statement-egyptian-feminist-organizations-coalition-nazra-feminist-studies

Egypt – Nazra Leader Banned from Travel to Participate in Women Human Rights Defenders Regional Coalition

The Passport Administration at Cairo International Airport banned this morning feminist activist and woman human rights defender (WHRD) Mozn Hassan from traveling during completion of her departure procedures from Cairo to Beirut to attend and participate in the Executive Committee meeting for the Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) Regional Coalition for the Middle East and North Africa, as a Regional Expert for the coalition, taking place during the period 27 June to 1 July 2016.

Mozn Hassan is a feminist activist and WHRD, and is one of the founders of Nazra for Feminist Studies and its Executive Director. Mozn Hassan works on various feminist issues since 2001 including violence against women in the public space, provision of psychological, medical and legal support for survivors from crimes of sexual violence, and political parliamentary participation of women and inclusion in decision-making positions in Egypt and the Middle East.

The travel ban of Mozn Hassan comes within the context of Case No. 173 for the year 2011 commonly known as the “NGO Foreign Funding Case” that was reopened a few months ago to pursue its investigations, where 3 members from Nazra for Feminist Studies were summoned on 22 March 2016 to appear before the investigative judge, after which Mozn Hassan was summoned to appear before him on 29 March 2016 at New Cairo Court, where the judge notified the attending lawyers that he will specify an appointment for them to review the case papers, and subsequently will summon Mozn Hassan at another time. And the travel ban comes as a third step within the frame of interrogating her and referring her to the judiciary. Mozn Hassan is a board member of Global Fund for Women (GFW), member of the International Planning Committee of the 13th International Forum of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), and recipient of the Charlotte Bunch Women Human Rights Defenders Award in 2013.

Nazra for Feminist Studies condemns this procedure against its Executive Director, and the inclusion of the Association in the Case No. 173 for the year 2011, which comes within the context of steps taken by the Egyptian government for a long time and which escalated in the recent few months to close the public space for civil society organizations. It is worth mentioning that Nazra for Feminist Studies was registered as an association on 28 December 2007 with the number 7184, and Nazra obtained the Economic and Social Special Consultative Status with the UN in January 2014.