A/HRC/34/54/Add.3 JAL 23/02/2016 Case No. EGY 3/2016 State Reply 23/02/2016 Allegations concerning the closure of the human rights organization “Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture” pursuant to an administrative closing order issued in accordance with NGO Law (84/2002). 111. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the Republic of Egypt for its reply, dated 23 February 2016, to the present communication, available via the link above. 112. The Special Rapporteur takes note with serious concern of the information provided by the Government that the order of administrative closure for the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture was issued pursuant to the Medical Establishments Act No. 51/1981, on the grounds that the Center engaged in “unlicensed activities” by having “published reports through an international information network concerning alleged cases of torture and victims of violence against women.” 113. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his concern that the closure amounts to an attempt to restrict the human rights work of the organization, and especially the documentation and reporting of human rights violations such as torture and other forms of ill-treatment, as well as to restrain the legitimate exercise of the rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression of its members, and that the closure will have a “chilling effect” on civil society and human rights defenders exercising their rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression as a whole, and particularly on those with dissenting opinions. 114. The Special Rapporteur reminds the Government of the Republic of Egypt of its obligation to provide victims of torture with an enforceable right to repaations and rehabilitation, as specified in Article 14 of the Convention against Torture, and further calls on the Government to take steps to ensure that human rights defenders and associations are able to carry out their legitimate work in Egypt in a safe and enabling environment without fear of retaliation, intimidation or harassment of any sort. JAL 29/07/2016 Case No. EGY 7/2016 State reply: None to date Allegations concerning widespread arbitrary arrests and detentions, including incommunicado detentions; lack of access to legal counsel and violations of fair trial and due process of law guarantees; the imposition of death penalty following unfair trials; torture, ill-treatment, and the coerced extraction of confessions; lack of access to adequate health care during detention; the use of prolonged solitary confinement; and targeting of human rights defenders and civil society organisations (including travel bans and freezing of assets), since 2011. 115. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of the Republic of Egypt has not replied to the present communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. 116. In the absence of information to the contrary, the Special Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, available via the link above, and is therefore of the view that the Government of the Egypt, by engaging in widespread arbitrary arrests and detentions, including incommunicado detentions; lack of access to legal counsel and violations of fair trial and due process of law guarantees; the imposition of death penalty following unfair trials; torture, illtreatment, and the coerced extraction of confessions; lack of access to adequate health care during detention; the use of prolonged solitary confinement; and targeting of human rights defenders and civil society organisations (including travel bans and 24