Egyptian woman human rights defender Mozn Hassan banned from travel to feminist meeting
27/06/2016
On 27 June, feminist activist and woman human rights defender Mozn Hassan was banned from travelling from Cairo to Beirut to participate in a meeting of the Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) Regional Coalition for the Middle East and North Africa, on 27 June to 1 July 2016, according to Nazra for Feminist Studies.
Hassan, who is a founder and Executive Director of Nazra, is involved in a case launched by the Egyptian government to crack down on NGOs, commonly known as the “NGO Foreign Funding Case”. The case was reopened in March and Hassan was among Nazra staff members summoned to appear in court. See more at:http://nazra.org/en/2016/06/feminist-activist-and-woman-human-rights-defender-mozn-hassan-banned-travel
Hassan is a friend and colleague of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). The GCHR has worked with Nazra on various actions. The two NGOs belong to the Women’s Human Rights Defenders Network Regional Coalition for MENA and work together in the Women’s Network.
The GCHR expresses solidarity with Mozn Hassan and Nazra and strongly condemns the judicial harassment of NGOs, including other partner NGOs which have been affected by the NGO crackdown such as the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and El Nadeem Centre for Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence.
The GCHR calls on the government in Egypt to:
- Immediately revoke arbitrary measures such as the travel ban on Mozn Hassan and other human rights defenders, and to drop all charges against Nazra and its staff members;
- Ensure that Egyptian NGOs are allowed to carry out their important work in a safe environment;
- Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights organisations in Egypt are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.
