Tuesday, February 17, 2026
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) condemns the decision of the Supreme State Security Prosecution to compel Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla, woman human rights defender, feminist, psychiatrist, and co-founder and director of the El-Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, to pay bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately USD 2100) in order to be released from the Supreme State Security Prosecution’s office, after she was accused of spreading false news with the aim of disturbing public peace. She was questioned on Sunday, February 15, 2026, based on a summons handed to her by the Dokki Prosecution Office in case No. 809 of 2026. It is worth noting that the investigation focused on questioning her about the publication of the El-Nadeem Center’s 2025 media archive on torture in places of detention by the Egyptian police, and focused on distress calls from Section 2 of Badr 3 Prison and what it called “the black hole” (1).
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) believes that this decision is not only based on the media archive in question, but is also part of the Egyptian authorities’ systematic pattern of targeting women human rights defenders legally, based on their challenge to the societal and patriarchal roles imposed on women, and especially their violation of these roles by exposing security and police violations and demanding accountability. It should be noted that the bail imposed on Seif al-Dawla is the highest bail imposed on a woman human rights defender to date.
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) stands in full solidarity with woman human rights defender Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla and appreciates her important role in highlighting the issues of detainees, among whom are translator and woman human rights defender Marwa Arafa and lawyer and woman human rights defender Hoda Abdel Moneim, who are suffering from serious health conditions and remain in detention despite these circumstances and their innocence of the charges and fabricated cases against them.
(1) State Security releases Aida Seif El Dawla on 100,000-pound bail
