Seventeen Egyptian rights organizations have released a joint statement condemning what they described as “an orchestrated, escalating assault on Egyptian civil society” organizations in recent weeks.

The statement, published on the official website of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies on March 21, added that recent measures adopted by the authorities against a number of rights organizations — including travel bans, summons for questioning and the freezing of assets of two prominent rights defenders — were an attempt “to entirely eliminate rights organizations” and use the judiciary as a political tool to silence dissidents.

Indeed, independent civil society organizations are the latest target of a widening security crackdown on dissent that has seen thousands of opposition members, secular activists, journalists and intellectuals imprisoned since the military takeover of the country in July 2013.

The imposition of travel bans on rights activists Hossam Bahgat and Gamal Eid and the freezing of their assets (along with the assets of Eid’s family members) on charges they received a total of $1.5 million in “illegal funds from foreign entities” has raised fears among rights groups of increased repression and a diminishing space for freedom of association in Egypt.