The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) — are being targeted by the operation, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch and judicial sources said. AL ARABIYA – AGENCIES Egyptian justice officials and police raided offices of 17 civil society organizations on Thursday as part of an investigation into foreign funding of such groups in Egypt, a security source said. At least two U.S. rights groups — The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) — are being targeted by the operation, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch and judicial sources said. An AFP journalist saw access to the Cairo offices of the NDI being prohibited by members of the security forces, while men were also seen carrying out boxes full of documents. The operation is targeting the U.S. group National Democratic Institute, according to Heba Morayef of the global rights group HRW, and the Arab Center for the Independence of Justice, its head Nasser Amin told AFP. “Security forces who said they were from the public prosecutor are raiding our offices as we speak. They are grabbing all the papers and laptops as well,” one person working at NDI, who gave her name as Rawda, told Reuters. The security source said employees at the offices were not allowed to leave while the searches continued. The Arab Center for the Independence of Justice (ACIJ) was also being investigated, its head Nasser Amin told AFP, as was the Egyptian Budgetary and Human Rights Organization, according to another judicial source. “Members of the police force and the army entered our organization’s headquarters accompanied by members of the prosecution,” ACIJ’s Amin said. The head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Gamal Eid, says an employee trapped inside one of the NGO’s called him to say security forces are removing laptop computers. The search operations were ordered by the prosecution service “following complaints of the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) receiving foreign support,” a court official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Egypt’s military has vowed to investigate how pro-democracy and human rights organizations are funded and has said repeatedly it will not tolerate foreign interference in the country’s affairs. Some Egyptian human rights groups have been at the vanguard of protests demanding that the army, in power since February when President Hosni Mubarak was ousted, hand power swiftly to elected civilians. Clashes between protesters and soldiers in Cairo this month left 17 people dead. The army has pledged to step aside by mid-2012. Political experts said the groups raided on Thursday have taken a neutral political stance, focusing on fostering democracy in Egypt by training members of nascent parties. “The National Democratic Institute has been training new parties … in how to participate in elections,” a leading member of a liberal party said on condition of anonymity. “This has been with the full knowledge of authorities and was not clandestine.”
