[7] The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) was founded in 1985 by Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Hani Shukrallah.

An attempt to start a theater company to tour villages with plays improvised on human rights topics was scrapped after the organizer was arrested by state security forces.

[11] During the last decade of the Mubarak dictatorship the EOHR was represented, while maintaining its independence, on the state sponsored Supreme Council of Human Rights.

This consultative status enables EOHR to enjoy closer interaction with the United Nations by participating in the activities of the International Council for Human Rights, according to ECOSOC decision 31/1996.

These include visits to prisons in order to collect testimonies, and to obtain document information about human rights violations.

It also Issues urgent appeals, press releases, reports and publications on human rights violations.

Furthermore, the EOHR tries to raise awareness on human rights issues among individuals and groups through publications, conferences, seminars and studies.

A General Assembly meeting is convened once every other year to review and evaluate the organization's progress and to elect the board of trustees.

It is made up of fifteen elected members, and up to four other prominent figures in the field of human rights can be invited by the board of trustees to join.

Much of their work takes place in the field, on the ground, in prisons, in court, in detention centers, in homes, anywhere information can be found.

Appeals and requests for information may be made to competent authorities and complainants may receive free legal counsel so that they can pursue a formal suit.