Statement
Saturday, February 14, 2026
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) condemns the summons of psychiatrist, feminist, and woman human rights defender (WHRD) Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla, who learned on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, that she had been summoned by the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which was delivered to her by the Dokki Prosecution, in case No. 809 of 2026, requiring her to appear for questioning at the Supreme State Security Prosecution on Sunday, February 15, 2026. The summons did not mention the charges against her (1). The failure to announce the charges against Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla is a clear violation of the Egyptian Code of Criminal Procedures, which stipulates that the charges to be considered and investigated in the summons must be announced, which did not happen in the summons received by Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla.
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders believes that Seif al-Dawla’s summons is part of her long history of defending human rights. She is one of the founders of the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, which has been providing psychological and medical support to victims of torture and women survivors of violence since 1993. Seif al-Dawla also has a long history of defending the rights of women and girls, focusing her work on several issues, including female genital mutilation and violence against women in both the private and public spheres, as well as exposing crimes of torture in places of detention and prisons. The Nadeem Center also continues to publish a monthly media archive that monitors deaths resulting from torture in places of detention and prisons. Seif al-Dawla remains banned from traveling (2), following a decision issued on November 23, 2016, in connection with the case of foreign funding of non-governmental organizations, in which most of the organizations and individuals were acquitted.
The Egyptian authorities are cracking down on women human rights defenders and the human rights community amid the ongoing and worsening economic crisis, with prices continuing to rise, targeting those who express their opinions on social media bein, and police torture continuing in places of detention. Subsequently, the judicial targeting of Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla in this critical context is not an isolated event, and the Egyptian authorities must cease their legal harassment of Seif al-Dawla and women human rights defenders, and direct their efforts and resources towards combating torture, reforming the economic situation, and providing a dignified life for citizens, rather than suppressing freedoms and closing the public sphere. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) stands in full solidarity with Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla and is following the summons and its aftermath with concern.
(1) State Security summons Aida Seif El Dawla in unclear case
(2) Travel ban against Aida Seif El-Dawla
