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Case history: WCGLA

Status: 
Judicial harassment
About the situation

In the early morning of 15 July 2016, Reda El Danbouki - Executive director of WCGLA - was prevented from travelling from Borg El Arab Airport in Alexandria to Uganda to carry-out his human rights work. Airport security officers questioned him for three hours about the reason for his travel and then advised him that a travel ban had been imposed against him. In the previous months, Reda was subject to two other travel bans.

About the WCGLA

WCGLAThe Women's Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness (WCGLA) is an Egyptian NGO that works to promote women's rights, enhance the participation of women in society, and combat violence against women.

23 October 2015
Security bans event on women's rights

On 20 October 2015, State security agents prevented the Women's Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness (WCGLA) from holding a training on gender equality. The activity was organised in collaboration with Equal Rights Trust.

The WCGLA works to promote women's rights, enhance the participation of women in society, and combat violence against women.

Early in the morning on 20 October 2015, the manager of the hotel where the training activity was due to take place called the WCGLA's Executive Director. He explained to him that the training activity was cancelled, but he was reluctant to say who ordered its cancellation. The Centre's Executive Director as well as trainers from different Egyptian governorates were denied entrance into the conference hall upon arrival at the hotel. Employees of the hotel stated that state security had ordered them to cancel the event.

One day before the scheduled activity, on 19 October 2015, the trainers from Equal Rights Trust were denied entry into Egypt upon their arrival at Cairo International Airport, and interrogated by state security.

The ban on the WCGLA's training activity comes one day after security forces prevented the Egyptian Centre for Public Policy Studies - ECPPS from holding a workshop on freedom of association with parliamentary candidates.

Front Line Defenders expresses its grave concern at the ban on the training activity organised by the WCGLA and at the increased restrictions on the right to free association in Egypt.