Human Rights Organizations condemn the targeting of ElMaraya for Culture and Arts and call for the protection of cultural institutions in Egypt

The signatories of this statement condemn the Egyptian security forces' raid on the headquarters of ElMaraya for Culture and Arts, where they searched it and seized some of its contents, including computers, dozens of books and cultural publications, a number of files and financial documents. The forces also arrested one of the company's administrative employees, who was alone at the headquarters at the time of the raid. The signatories call on the Egyptian authorities to stop targeting independent cultural organizations in the country and to close investigations into the accusations levelled against them.

A security force that included officers from the Abdeen police station, the Censorship of Artistic Works police, and the Anti-Tax Evasion police raided the headquarters of ElMaraya on 27 July, after the conclusion of a seminar organized by the company and the departure of all those present except for one of the administrative assistants, who was arrested. The force searched the place for at least five hours, and seized 217 books, a computer, and four boxes containing financial documents.

Two reports were filed against the company, accusing it of tax evasion, issuing books without obtaining deposit numbers or contracts with authors, possessing books that do not belong to the company, in addition to using non-original software on the company’s computers. The arrested administrative assistant was released pending investigation.

This security move against ElMaraya comes a few days after the company cancelled a seminar and a signing ceremony for the poet and political activist Ahmed Douma’s collection of poems titled “Curly”. The company had cancelled the ceremony after pro-government preachers launched a campaign against Douma, accusing him of infidelity. The company, however, said it had cancelled the ceremony for out-of-hand reasons.

The recent security moves against ElMaraya come in line with the security policies that restrict freedom of creativity and artistic expression. These policies impose restrictions on independent cultural organizations by terrorizing them in several ways, especially through security crackdown and the use of artwork violation and tax evasion as pretexts to avoid suspicions about the political motives behind targeting these organizations. For example, ElMaraya was subjected in late September 2022 to some of these accusations after its headquarters was raided and its founder was arrested. This came a day after the company held a seminar to discuss the book "The Ghost of Spring", authored by imprisoned political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. The company’s founder was released the next day.

In 2021, the National Library and Archives refused to grant a deposit number to “Maraya 25”, a rich and diverse cultural publication launched by ElMaraya in 2017 in cooperation with many writers, politicians and economists.

Cultural institutions and creative people in Egypt face serious violations for publishing creative works that do not comply with the orientations of the political system, in violation of Article 67 of the Constitution, which protects freedom of creativity. Poet Galal al-Beheiry is still held in pretrial detention after being recycled into a new case after he served the prison sentence issued against him by a military court over his poetry collection "The Best Women on Earth". Also, Tanmia Publishing House is still banned from participating in the book fair for the fourth year in a row, after its founder Khaled Lotfy spent five years in prison after his arrest in 2018 on charges of revealing military secrets. This came after he distributed the Arabic edition of the book "The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel". Moreover, a large number of cultural organizations and creative people have been exposed to many violations over their creative works during the last decade.

The signatories of this statement condemn the political regime's continued use of security services to intimidate society in order to maintain its narrative, which over the past ten years has led to the violation of the rights and freedoms of all citizens. The signatories reiterate their call on the Egyptian authorities to stop targeting ElMaraya and other independent cultural organizations, and to respect freedom of creativity and artistic expression.

Signatories:

1. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)

2. Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)

3. ​​Cairo Institute For Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

4. Sinai for Human Rights

5. ​​Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)

6. Freemuse

7. International Federation for Human Rights

8. Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)

9. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

10. PEN America