Psychiatrist and human rights defender Aida Seif El-Dawla, co-founder of the El Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture, announced on Monday, November 2, 2026, that she had received a summons from the Cairo Appeals Prosecution in Al-Rehab for questioning in Case No. 30 of 2026, Cairo Appeals Prosecution investigation registry. She said in a post on her page that the prosecution agreed to postpone the questioning, for health reasons, from Sunday, November 1, to Monday, November 9. Seif El-Dawla did not mention the charges against her or the subject of the case.
The new summons comes about nine months after she was questioned by the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Case No. 809 of 2026. On Sunday, February 15, 2026, the prosecution charged her with broadcasting false news with the aim of disturbing public peace, and ordered her release on bail of EGP 100,000 ($2,070.39). Lawyer Mahienour El-Massry, who attended the questioning, said the investigator asked about the sources of a report the center issued on February 3, 2026, on torture and ill-treatment in places of detention, which documented 188 news items and appeals for help during 2025 and addressed the so-called “black hole” in Sector 2 of Badr 3 prison, and about why it was published.
This was not the first measure against the center and its director. On February 17, 2016, the center was served with a decision from the Health Ministry to close it, citing violations of licensing conditions, and the center challenged it in court. On November 10, 2016, the center learned that its assets had been frozen on instructions from the Central Bank, and on November 23 of the same year, Cairo airport authorities banned Seif El-Dawla from travelling to Tunisia to attend a conference on the rehabilitation of torture victims in North Africa. On February 9, 2017, police closed the center’s headquarters before a ruling on its challenge to the closure decision. The International Federation for Human Rights said 15 officers in civilian clothes sealed the premises in downtown Cairo with red wax.
El Nadeem Center was founded in 1993. It provides psychological rehabilitation for victims of torture and violence and issues periodic reports documenting complaints of torture and ill-treatment in prisons and police stations.
