CAIRO, Feb. 18 (Aswat Masriya) - The El Nadeem Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture filed a request Thursday to the health ministry to halt the shutdown decision, according to the centre's director Magda Adly.

In the event that the request was not addressed, the centre would appeal the decision in front of the State Council.

On Wednesday, two policemen accompanied by an engineer, came to the office with orders from the health ministry to shut down El Nadeem for "violations", the NGO said.

However, when a doctor inquired about the nature of the alleged "violations", there was no elaboration given, and the doctor was advised to take up the matter with the ministry.

Negotiations ensued until lawyer Taher Aboul Nasr, who works at the centre, was able to postpone the decision until the centre inquires on the reason behind the ministry's decision.  

The NGO also confirmed on Thursday that it has not yet been closed and that a visit to the ministry of health is planned on Sunday.

Adly told Aswat Masriya that the shutdown requires an official inspection in addition to a written report detailing the alleged violations. The law allows for 30 days in order to eliminate the violations, Adly added.

In today's press release, El Nadeem recounted the events that occurred on Wednesday and elaborated on its legal standing with regard to the closure.

The shutdown is based on an order by the director of the private health sector "for breaching license conditions," the NGO said.

However, El Nadeem asserts that law 453/2016 upon which the closure was ordered concerns "industrial and commercial shops" and does not include clinics. Nevertheless, the centre stated that it did not commit any of the breaches mentioned by the law.   

The NGO described the attempt as "part of the security policy, which, according to one official, seeks to close any breathing space for activists." The NGO was referring to a comment made by a security official to Reuters in January.

El Nadeem noted that this was not the first time the centre has been visited by a delegation from the private sector department. In 2004, the centre was inspected by the ministry, which considered the centre not to be a clinic, and then the staff were summoned by the prosecutor. However, the matter was later settled and the case closed.

Three weeks ago, a ministry of health employee visited the centre for inspection upon an order from the minister of health, the NGO added.

Amnesty International condemned the move against El Nadeem centre, saying the NGO gives a lifeline to hundreds of victims of torture and families of people subjected to enforced disappearances.

Several human rights activists including lawyers Gamal Eid and Khaled Ali also condemned the move and expressed their solidarity with El Nadeem.  

Founded in 1993, El Nadeem provides "psychological management and rehabilitation to victims of torture," and has become reputable over the years, especially within the Egyptian civil society. The centre documents torture cases and campaigns against torture, sometimes speaking out about specific cases. 

Last December, El Nadeem and other civil society organisations like the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the Egyptian centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) told a press conference they were able to document 625 torture cases in Egyptian prisons, out of which 51 were cases of collective torture in the period between January and November 2015.

Adly said that the centre provided services for more than 5,000 victims, with a rate of 100 visitors per month.