Egypt bans women's rights leader from travel

Egypt bans women's rights leader from travel
Mozn Hassan has become the fourth director of a human rights group to be banned from travel since Egyptian judges reopened an investigation into the foreign funding of non-governmental organisations.
2 min read
28 June, 2016
Mozn Hassan, director of Nazra for Feminist Studies [Twitter]

A prominent women's rights leader has become the latest Egyptian to be banned from travelling outside the country.

Mozn Hassan, Director of Nazra for Feminist Studies, was stopped by Interior Ministry Passport control officers at Cairo International Airport from boarding a flight to Beirut on June 27, where she was due to attend a meeting of regional women and activists.

Hassan became the fourth director of a human rights group to be banned from travel since Egyptian judges reopened an investigation into the foreign funding of non-governmental organisations in 2014. This has intensified since 2016, with authorities increasingly pursuing bans and asset freezes.

"A travel ban on a women's rights leader heading for a conference only makes it more likely that the world will hear about Egypt’s persecution of activists," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch.

"Egypt's allies around the world should make it clear that harassment and other abuses against human rights defenders will significantly harm relations and should cease."

Hassan was informed by airport officers that the prosecutor general had issued an order banning her from travel at the request of an investigating judge.

Her colleagues were then sent to the ministry's National Security Agency, which has undertaken the investigation of NGOs.

After invoking her right to have a lawyer present, Hassan's interrogation did not go ahead and she was released an hour or so later.

Prior to the ban, Hassan was summoned for interrogation by one of the judges handling the investigation of NGOs. The questioning was postponed from its initial date of March 29 after Hassan arrived with lawyers.

On June 21, authorities in Cairo airport also stopped Hoda Abd al-Wahab, Executive Director of the Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession, from travelling under similar circumstances.

Article 62 of Egypt's constitution guarantees freedom of movement and states that "no citizen may be prevented from leaving the state territory… except by a reasoned judicial order for a specified period of time and in the cases defined by the law."

Furthermore, Article 54 states that anyone "whose freedom is restricted shall have the right to file grievance before the court against this action."

Egypt has no laws that specifically regulate travel bans. But a number of decisions by the interior minister – some of which have been ruled unconstitutional – give security agencies unbridled powers to stop citizens from travelling.