Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

Cases
Case status
Unknown
Location of case in SG report
2023-041-001
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2023
Country Geolocation

Latitude: 26.820553

Longitude: 30.802498

Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
Egypt
From Region
Type of record
Named organization
Was the victim a foreign national?
No
Was the victim a minor?
No
Type of rights defended
  • Unclear in SG Report
Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal
  1. According to information received by OHCHR, on 23 January 2023, the website of the NGO Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) came under a Domain Name System (DNS) poisoning cyber-attack33 hours after the Institute published a joint report to the Human Rights Council as part of its contribution to the mid-term Universal Periodic Review process. During the attack, the website of CIHRS was reportedly inaccessible to users in Egypt and, once access was restored, the CIHRS found out that it has been blocked by the authorities,34 in what was reported as an act of reprisals for their engagement in the UPR process.35
Engagement with UN body
  • UN Human Rights Council: UPR
Dates of engagement
23 January 2023
Type of attempted engagement
  • Submission of information to UN
Dates of mentioned reprisals
23 January 2023
Location of mentioned reprisals
ONline
Reprisal information
  1. According to information received by OHCHR, on 23 January 2023, the website of the NGO Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) came under a Domain Name System (DNS) poisoning cyber-attack33 hours after the Institute published a joint report to the Human Rights Council as part of its contribution to the mid-term Universal Periodic Review process. During the attack, the website of CIHRS was reportedly inaccessible to users in Egypt and, once access was restored, the CIHRS found out that it has been blocked by the authorities,34 in what was reported as an act of reprisals for their engagement in the UPR process.35
Types of reprisals suffered
  • Other
Alleged/likely perpetrators
State actors
Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
No
Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
No
Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
No
Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
No
Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
No
Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
No
How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
1
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
2024
Follow up information provided in SG report 0
  1. The case of the cyber-attack against and blockage of the website of the NGO Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) following its publication of a joint report to the Human Rights Council as its contribution to the mid-term Universal Periodic Review of Egypt was included in the 2023 report of the Secretary-General. According to information received by OHCHR, access to the website was restored in March 2024.
  2. Allegations of asset freezes and travel ban against CIHRS and its staff were included in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 reports of the Secretary-General. According to information received by OHCHR, on 20 March 2024 the investigative judge in case 173/2011 (known as the “foreign funding case”) closed the investigation against CIHRS, dismissed charges on grounds of insufficient evidence and lifted the travel ban and asset freezes imposed on Mr. Mohamed Zaree, Director of the Egypt Office at CIHRS (EGY 16/2017).
Followup Trends 0
Improvement
Did the government respond? 0
No