Hanan Badr El-Din Othman
Hanan Badr El-Din Othman is a human rights defender and co-founder of the Association of the Families of the Disappeared group, a network of individuals whose loved ones have been subjected to enforced disappearances. Hanan Badr El-Din became an active human rights defender working on the issue of enforced disappearances after the disappearance of her husband, Khalid Mohamed Hafez Ezz el-Din, who went missing on 27 July 2013 following his participation in a demonstration.
A significant crackdown on civil society in Egypt has been taking place since 2014. HRDs face an extremely challenging situation due to restrictions imposed on civil society and peaceful public gatherings and protests, travel bans, the arrest and sentencing of HRDs, bloggers, journalists and protesters, as well as an ongoing smear campaign against human rights groups.
Law 84 of 2002 regulates the establishment and functioning of NGOs. The law provides the Executive with several means and venues to exercise political control over the work of NGOs, including restricting their access to foreign funding and their ability to join international associations. It also provides the government with wide powers of dissolution. Human rights organisations are being subjected to judicial investigations by a committee of experts to assess whether they comply with Association Law 84/2002. Bans on their events have also been taking place.
