CAIRO, Nov 16 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt’s El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence said on Wednesday that the freeze order on its bank account has been lifted a week after the central bank made the move.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) ordered the freezing of El Nadeem Center’s bank account last Thursday.

Nadeem’s lawyer Taher Abu al-Nasr told Reuters that an employee was not allowed to cash a check for the center and was told by a bank manager that the central bank had ordered its account suspended until it registers as a non-governmental organization with the social solidarity ministry.

However, El Nadeem clarified that it is not registered under the controversial law 84/ 2002 since it is registered as a clinic with the health ministry.

Amnesty international condemned the move, saying that El Nadeem was not informed about the decision in advance as is required under Egyptian law "undermining their ability to correct errors or prepare their legal defence."

Amnesty also called on the Egyptian authorities to "immediately" retract the order to freeze El Nadeem’s bank account.

"Instead of lashing out at El Nadeem Center, the Egyptian authorities should be implementing safeguards to prevent torture in custody and end enforced disappearances," Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said.

Founded in 1993, El Nadeem provides "psychological management and rehabilitation to victims of torture," and has become reputable over the years, especially within Egypt's civil society.

Last February, the health ministry threatened to close El Nadeem for "violations", that were not specified at the time. The move caused public outcry and criticism with rights groups and defenders locally and internationally condemning the attempt.

The Egyptian parliament approved on Tuesday a draft NGO law and sent it to the State Council for review.

The law comes amid growing restrictions on civil society organizations in Egypt, namely in light of an ongoing case against several of the undersigned groups.

In September, the Cairo Criminal Court accepted the prosecution's request to freeze the assets of a number of human rights defenders and organizations in connection with case No. 173 (2011), in which several rights defenders are accused of operating organisations and receiving foreign funds without a license.