Human rights defender, Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil, head of the National Right to Health Committee (NRHC), has been subjected to ongoing workplace intimidation by the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), Egypt's public authority for health insurance, where he works as a consultant cardiologist. The NRHC is an Egyptian coalition formed by twenty organisations with the aim of defending universal and equitable access to healthcare services.

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Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil is openly opposed to current Egyptian healthcare policies and a new draft health insurance law, which he said “destroys equity between people through depriving the majority of the poor from many health services by forcing people to pay a co-payment which amounts to one-quarter or one-third of treatment, investigations, drugs and surgical operations”. The NRHC opposes these policies as unconstitutional and as infringing upon the right of all people to equal health opportunities.

On 4 September 2008, the Egyptian Administrative Court in case no. 21665/61 ruled against the Egyptian Prime Minister’s Decree, Number 637. This decree would have turned the non-profit HIO into a commercial holding company, capable of outsourcing and selling the facilities of the HIO. Following this decision, Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil was demoted from carrying out duties in the hospital, resulting in a loss of 80% of his income. This decision has been renewed every six months.

In addition, Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil was removed from his supervisory role in the Egyptian Fellowship of Cardiology. On 5 June 2007, a decree was passed to remove Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil from his position as head of the cardiology department, the same day that the NRHC staged a picket in front of parliament. The HIO has not given Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil any written explanation for these measures.

Furthermore, Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil's daughter, Mai Mohamed Khalil, a doctor with the HIO, reported that she has come under pressure to resign on several occasions. In July 2009, Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil's wife, Zeinab Refaie, a consultant of clinical pathology in Nasr City health insurance hospital, was refused a renewal of an annual employment contract for the first time since she began her work with the hospital in 1989. No written explanation was given, but it is believed that the measure was related solely to her relationship with Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil.

Front Line believes that the measures taken against Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil, his wife and daughter, are related to his activities in defence of human rights, particularly the right to healthcare, and is deeply concerned about the ongoing intimidation of human rights defenders in Egypt.

Front Line calls on the authorities in Egypt to:

1. Take measures to ensure that all forms of intimidation and harassment of Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil, and his family members, cease immediately;

2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the intimidation of Dr Mohammad Hassan Khalil, and members of his family, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

3. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Egypt as well as that of their families.