Egyptian government further curbs feminist activist's rights

An Egyptian women's rights activist and lawyer has been banned from travelling outside the country, in the latest attempt by Cairo authorities to limit human rights campaigners.

Azza Soliman, from the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), has also had her assets frozen for the past nine months as the Egyptian government continues its clampdown on human rights activists.

Soliman was arrested and interrogated under accusations that she had received foreign funding "with the aim of harming national security, and founding an illegal entity".

She said last week that she had been turned back on 19 November at Cairo airport on her way to Jordan for a training session with other women's groups.

On 7 December, Soliman was arrested and interrogated by the Egyptian authorities and was then reportedly released on bail of 20,000 Egyptian pounds.

Since then, Azza has been banned from traveling and has been prevented from accessing funds to continue her work as a defender of human rights.

CEWLA say that the Egyptian government targeted Soliman unfairly and has violated her rights, saying she had not committed any crime.

Soliman is still waiting for a response about a travel request she submitted to a judge and is also planning to file a complaint against the bank that froze her assets, according to women's rights group Equality Now.

The targeting of activists comes as debate rages on regressing women's rights in Egypt.

An Egyptian MP caused controversy after calling for the legal age for girls to get married to be lowered from 18 to 16 years of age.

A religious cleric last week, took the debate to new paradigms when he said parents should be able to marry girls off as young as one day old.

Cleric Muftah Mohammad Maarouf - also referred to as Abu Yahya - said this during a televised debate on whether the marital age for girls should be so low that it should allow new-born babies to be married off.

He urged that as long as "no harm" is done to the child, there should be no issue with "preventing her from getting married".