Egypt bans prominent rights information website

For the first time, Egyptian authorities have blocked the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) website, joining a series of blockades that have been carried out against dozens of websites over the last three months.

The network founder, Gamal Eid, told Quds Press that the banning came due to the site’s continuation to publish reports on the human rights violations taking place in Egypt, most recently a report named “The Democratic Path in Egypt during July 2017,” which has monitored 95 executions and 77 trials, 20 violations on freedom of expression and 34 protests during March 2017.

The site’s closure, Eid added, is a “serious development,” noting that ANHRI is the first rights website to be blocked.

The rights activist stressed that ANHRI “will continue to defend human rights and detect violations and crimes carried out in the Arab world.”

Read: Egypt took down 164 websites in 2017

Eid pointed out that, the blockade measure violates Article 57 of the constitution, which stipulates the freedom of media and public’s right to know and to access information.

Since 24 May, several websites that are licensed to work in Egypt have been blocked. According to the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), a total of 133 websites, including VPN sites, has been banned.

ANHRI is a leading website in the Arab world that covers human rights issues and violations in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Through a vast network of rights lawyers and researchers, the website publishes regular reports on freedom of expression and press.