CAIRO, Feb 17 (Aswat Masriya) - The El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence was able to hold back a decision by the health ministry to shut down its office in Downtown Cairo, it said on Wednesday.

The NGO said in statements posted on Facebook that a policeman, accompanied by an engineer, came to the office with orders from the health ministry to shut down El Nadeem for "violations".

When a doctor working at El Nadeem requested to know what the violations were, she was told "we do not understand these matters" and was asked to take this up with the ministry.

Negotiations ensued until lawyer Taher Aboul Nasr, who works at the centre, was able to postpone the decision until the centre inquires on the reason behind the ministry's decision on Monday.    

The health ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.   

Founded in 1993, El Nadeem provides "psychological management and rehabilitation to victims of torture," and has become reputable over the years, especially within the Egyptian civil society. The centre documents torture cases and campaigns against torture, sometimes speaking out about specific cases. 

Last December, El Nadeem and other civil society organisations like the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) told a press conference they were able to document 625 torture cases in Egyptian prisons, out of which 51 were cases of collective torture in the period between January and November 2015.