CAIRO: The Association for Human Rights and Legal Aid (AHRLA) has received notice that the governor of Cairo is weighing a decision to close the organization and try its members on corruption charges. The group's director says these allegations are fabricated. The decision appears to have come directly from the desk of Cairo Governor Abdel Azim Wazir, who claims that since its foundation in 1999 AHRLA has illegally raised funds both domestically and abroad without seeking prior approval from the Ministry of Social Solidarity. The Ministry of Social Solidarity maintains that it is within neither their mandate nor the power of the governor to shut down NGOs, and told Daily News Egypt that this authority rests with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Representatives from the office of Governor Wazir, on the other hand, say that a decision is still pending and that they cannot comment on the case until it has been reached. Tareq Khater, director of AHRLA, says he learned that a decision on the future of his NGO was pending after reading about it in Al Masry Al Youm last week. He rejects the accusations of corruption and says this is a politically motivated attack. "The government wants to close AHRLA because this association works on torture cases, Khater told Daily News Egypt. "If the governor of Cairo decides to close us down we will continue our work. The government has declared war on NGOs, but they cannot stop us. To combat the corruption charges, Khater says that AHRLA will publish a detailed financial statement next week outlining its fund-raising activities and expenditures over the past eight years. "Since AHRLA was founded in 1999 we have raised around LE 1.3 million, which we have used to fund programs here in Cairo and out of three branch offices in Alexandria, Tanta and Minya, said Khater. The potential shut down of AHRLA follows in the footsteps of the closure last winter of the Center for Trade Union and Worker Services (CTUWS), an independent labor rights group that the government claimed was a threat to national security. Activists say it is more likely that the government felt threatened by the Center's support of striking workers, many of whom forced state-owned industries to compromise on wages and benefits and called for the resignation of pro-government union officials. "If you are very active in your field, then the government will come after you, said Rahma Refaat, the program coordinator at CTUWS. "They are coming after AHRLA now because this organization has been very active against torture, and they came after us last year because we were very active in workers' rights. Members of AHRLA are nervous about the future, and worry that if the state does shut their organization then it will follow through on its threat to open criminal proceedings against them individually on charges of corruption. But they say that the possible closure of another human right rights organization only means that rights activists must work together more closely to fend off state accusations. At the end of the day, they say they believe they are doing the right thing. "My colleagues and I may not know exactly what to do against the state, but we are confident that we have international law and all of Egypt's international conventions on our side, said Khater. "We will complete our work. Additional reporting by Khadiga Samir
