Egypt: Oppressive Law to Strangle Civil Society - Joint declaration of 71 Egyptian non-governmental organizations

Cairo - Frankfurt am Main/Germany (19th August 2010) -  71 Egyptian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of human rights and development launched a joint statement to express their dismay over an intended law-amendment in the government of Husni Mubarak. This is reported by the International Society for Human Rights / Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte (ISHR/IGFM) based in Frankfurt/Germany. If the law is passed, it would signify the end of many NGOs and the end of freedom of association and civil society in Egypt.


Full control of all organizations

The new draft of the "civil society law" would give, amongst other things, the right to the government to refuse or withdraw the concession of every organization and even to adopt new articles of association. Moreover, the government could fill boards of directors and committees with its own personal and withdraw elected agencies out of their function against the member's wishes. Above all, the government would be entitled to limit the work scope and abolish or alter decisions of the board, the staff or members meetings. Beyond, government agencies would gain the full control on donations and finances of non governmental organizations.

The draft law also demands capital resources from NGOs in the amount of at least 100.00 Egyptian Pounds, roughly 14.000 Euro. According to IGFM, in Egypt this sum equates to 200 average monthly wages. Because of this obstacle, numerous human rights organizations would be forced to end their work.


In the joint declaration of the 71 NGOs it is said thereto:

"This even more oppressive law clarifies the repressiveness of government declarations when it comes to democratic reforms. Furthermore, it stands to reason that the government does not have the intention to fulfill their promises, which was made clear to the whole world when it accepted several references during the universal circular review practice in front of the human rights council of the United Nations in February [2010]."


Unwarranted voting observation of the upcoming elections

IGFM assumes that a reason for the harsher approach to non governmental organizations are the upcoming elections in Egypt. It has been announced that the Egyptian parliament elections will take place by "the end of the year", though the specific day of the election had not been decided. What is more important are the presidential elections which are scheduled for September 2011. Former air force General Husni Mubarak, ruling with emergency laws since 1981, does not want to run for office again. Many Egyptians fear that the 82-years old is preparing for the enthronement of his son Gamal Mubarak.

IGFM-spokesperson Martin Lessenthin placed the "black list" in this context:
"At the concluded election of the consultative council, the Shoura Council (Majlis ash-Shoura) at 1st June 2010, some of the affected NGOs have already shown that they are willing to follow the accurate course of elections. It seems as if the simultaneous approach against animal rights groups merely conduces to not leaving the sanctions against human rights organizations too obvious."


Money from "Jewish" sources

An Egyptian governmental agency has already compiled a list of at least 23 non-governmental organizations that are alleged of having taken money from "Jewish" sources, namely from the US Congress and the Ford-foundation. Ironically, according to the IGFM, Egyptian government agencies themselves have received funds from the US Congress. Agencies of the administration, who are responsible for the financial inspection of the NGOs, affirm that the registered human rights organizations have collected information for "international Jewish organizations", which is enough to degrade the Egyptian society.


Human rights organizations on the "black list"

The most important Egyptian daily newspaper, the staterun Al-Ahram ("The pyramids") reported on these accusations on the 22nd of May 2010. The relative independent but close to the government weekly magazin Rosa El-Youssif reported on this topic a few days later, on the 29th of May 2010. Not all names of the alleged 30 affected organizations were mentioned. Despite the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, which was signed in 1979, the accusation of working for "international Jewish organizations" is profound in Egypt. Human rights activists on the spot view preliminary steps of the government to close down non-governmental organizations. The public authorities have already started further "investigations" on the suspected NGOs. The allegations are contested resolutely by the indicated NGOs. The monitoring of the finances through the public authorities are already strict, as the acceptance of funds from abroad is impossible without authorization from the government agencies.

The "Militarization" of NGOs: Oppressive Law to Strangle Civil Society
Joint declaration of 71 NGOs

[Arabic Egypt joint statement of 71-NGOs new civil society law, pdf-file 102kB ...]

"The undersigned non-governmental organizations wish to express their extreme dismay at recent news that the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity has completed a draft for a new law concerning NGOs. According to the latest leaked copy, the bill is more restrictive and draconian than the repressive bill already in place. With the approval of the government parliamentary majority, it is expected to be passed into law in the upcoming months.

It seems that the haste to pass the bill is attributable to a desire to undermine civil society efforts to monitor the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Egypt. Following the abolition of judicial supervision of elections in the last round of constitutional amendments in addition to the government's refusal to allow international monitoring, this law will facilitate further dishonest elections conducted without any effective oversight. Some articles of the new bill aim to limit the activities of human rights organizations or shut them down completely by criminalizing all forms of unregistered civic organization.

This criminalization may have ramifications for some of the most important political reform movements (such as the National Association for Change, Kifaya, April 6th Youth and others), including the threat of imprisonment for their leaders and activists. The bill promises to institute unprecedented control over civil society even more so than the crackdown that followed the July 1952 revolution which nationalized political, partisan, syndicate and civic action. It is clear that goal of the propsed bill is to tighten the stronghold on NGOs and civic organizations.

The authoritarian role of the Ministry of Social Solidarity - and behind it, the Ministry of Interior and various security services - will be strengthened by the bill with the addition of new supervisory bodies: the General Federation of Civic Associations and regional NGO federations. These are semi-governmental bureaucracies included in the bill with an oppressive mandate: to oversee all civic activity by NGOs. In addition to preserving the same prohibitions contained in current law, the new bill now requires NGOs to be members in the regional federations and the General Federation. This proposed requirement mirrors the nationalization of the General Federation of Labor in July 1952 which put labor unions under government custodianship for more than a half a century.

It is also of deep concern that the President of the state appoints one-third of the members of the General Federation, including its chair. It is customary for the chair to come from the ranks of former ministers or army officers - the current chair is a former prime minister who has already boasted that these changes have been supported by the U.S embassy in Cairo and USAID. The new bill would also give the Minister of Social Solidarity the authority to appoint one-third of the members of the board of the regional and activity-specific federations. This is in fact contrary to current law that states that all members should be elected.

The bill establishes the General Federation and the regional federations as fallacious civic fronts through which various arbitrary interventions can be taken against civic organisations by the government's administrative body and security services. Those seeking to establish NGOs under this bill must submit their papers to the appropriate regional federation for approval before being referred to the administrative body, which, after consulting with the security apparatus, can refuse to register the NGO.

The bill also preserves the hegemony of the executive authority (through the Ministry of Social Solidarity) over civic activity. Under the bill, the ministry maintains the legal right to prohibit or withdraw the license from any association, to usurp the initiatives of the association's founders, members and its elected boards, to establish or change the articles of incorporation, and to determine the administration of its daily affairs and meeting forms. The law also includes provisions that give the executive authority control over NGOs collection of donations and their receipts from any foreign funding. Furthermore, it restricts the right of associations to voluntarily participate in coalitions, federations or networks on the national, regional or international level. The administrative body would have the right to challenge associations' activities or decisions and to take various punitive measures, including suspending particular activities, dismissing elected board members or suspending and dissolving the association entirely.

The bill prohibits NGOs from working in more than two fields; human rights advocacy is not one of the two specified fields. Under the bill, the regional federations, like the administrative body, have the right to intervene in the elections of leadership boards within NGOs and disqualify candidates for membership in these bodies. The bill contains an additional authoritarian aspect insofar as it allows the government to convene a general assembly in any NGO against the wishes of its members. These assemblies would be created in order to determine the structure of general assemblies and the conditions for convening them and to circumscribe the right of any member of any NGO to withdraw membership. All of these initiatives constitute an attack on the basic rights of NGO founders and the members of their general assemblies to formulate the internal bylaws that govern relations between the NGO and its members.

The bill strictly bans all NGOs that take legal forms other than associations (such as civil companies) despite Egyptian civil law currently allowing such formations; according to the new bill, the Minister of Social Solidarity has the right to suspend the activities of NGOs that do not comply. In addition, it is prohibited for the authorities that grant such licenses to issue permits to engage in any kind of civic work, and these permits are considered null from the time that they are issued.

Given this context, the undersigned organizations reiterate that compulsory membership in the General Federation of Civic Associations through the regional federations, as well as the blatant interventions by the legislature in determining the initiatives and authority of these organisations and their leadership boards, constitute a flagrant violation of international standards that guarantee the right of NGOs to voluntarily join or establish federations, networks or coalitions in pursuit of their common interests or goals. NGOs have the basic right to formulate their own articles of incorporation that specify the roles and responsibilities of member parties in these federations or networks. These interventions are also a flagrant violation of constitutional provisions that uphold the freedom to democratically establish federations. The General Federation of Civic Associations - which is, in fact, a semi-governmental body - is being set up as a cover through which the administrative body - or more precisely, the security apparatus, which has the first and last word in the fate of NGOs - can impose punitive, arbitrary decisions to freeze or suspend any NGO, dismiss its administrative board or even take legal measures to dissolve the NGO entirely.

We also note that the bill implements further restrictions and interferences on the work of NGOs and civic institutions and thus limits their activities. Under the bill, local NGOs that work beyond the government level must be licensed by a decree from the Minister of Social Solidarity. The bill requires funds of no less than LE 100,000 to establish an NGO, whereas the current law sets no minimum. This required monetary amount will most certainly prove an obstacle for dozens of already registered NGOs, which, if the bill passes, will be required to meet these new requirements or suspend their activities. Development and advocacy groups in various areas around the country asked the Speaker of the Parliament and the Minister of Social Solidarity to meet with NGOs that have already drafted a NGOs bill that meets international standards and upholds the freedom to organize. However, this request remains unanswered.

This repressive bill illustrates the emptiness and insincerity of government claims of democratic reform. It also suggests that the government has no intention of keeping the promises it made to the entire world when it accepted several recommendations in the Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council in February. Among these pledges was a vow to protect human rights defenders and amend the NGO law to facilitate civil society activities and the ability of NGOs to act freely. We, the undersigned organizations, reiterate that we shall continue our campaign to defend the innate right of citizens to organize independently. We shall use all peaceful means possible, including recourse to international assistance and advocacy, in order to uphold the independence of civic action and confront interventions designed to undermine freedom of action. NGOs have the right to determine their internal policies, priorities and organizational structures, to choose their founders, members and leaders, and to manage their own activities and affairs without government or security interference.

Signatory organizations in alphabetical order:

Andalus Center for Tolerance and Non-Violence Studies
Arab Council for the Promotion of Fair Trial
Arab Foundation "Adala"
Arab Foundation for Support of Civil Society and Human Rights
Arab Network for Human Rights Information
Arab Organization for Criminological Reform
Arab Program for Human Rights Activists
Arab Union for Human Rights Defenders
Arab Women Association for Development Ismailia
Association of Citizen for Development and Human Rights
Association of Civil Monitor for Human Rights
Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression
Association of Human Rights Legal Aid
Association of Women and Development, Alexandria
Association of Women and Society
Baby and Family Care Society Portfouad
Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Center for Appropriate Communication Techniques in Development
Center for Egyptian Women
Center of United Journalists
Democratic Forum Suez
Egyptian Association for Participation and Sustainable Development
Egyptian Association for the Promotion of Community Participation
Egyptian Association for the Promotion of Democratic Development
Egyptian Center for Cognitive Development, Alexandria
Egyptian Center for Development and Democracy Studies
Egyptian Center for Development and Human Rights
Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
Egyptian Center for Human Rights
Egyptian Center for Women's Rights
Egyptian Democratic Institute
Egyptian Foundation for Advancement of Childhood Conditions
Egyptian Foundation for Family Development
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination Group
El Montaza Association for Cultural Development, Alexandria
El Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence
Eshraka Association, Alexandria
Etlakat El Ghad Association, Alexandria
Forum for Dialogue on Development and Human Rights
Freedom Center for Human Rights (Port Said)
Friends of the Environment Association, Alexandria
Group for Democratic Development
Group for Human Rights Legal Aid
Habi Center for Environmental Rights
Hemaya Center for the Support of Human Rights Defenders
Hisham Mubarak Law Center
Human Rights Association for Assistance of Prisoners
Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies
Ismailia Suez-Canal for Human Rights, Port Said
Land Center for Human Rights
Legal Aid Center for Trade Union and Workers Service
Lovers of Science and Scientists Association, Alexandria
Ma'akom Association for Social Assistance
Mobaderon for Support of Development and Civil Education
Mogtamana Association for Development and Human Rights, Port Said
Mosawat Association for Human Rights, Port Said
New Woman Foundation
Ommi Association for Rights and Development
Researchers Union in Egypt
Sahm El-Theqa Foundation for Social Development
Sons of the Land Foundation for Human Rights
South Center for Human Rights
Tadamon Association for Development and Human Rights
Thoti group for Egyptian Studies, Alexandria
Women and Memory Forum
Women Development Forum
Women's Group for Human Rights Sinai
Women's Rights Association"

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