Geneva-Paris, May 31,2017 - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi officiallyratified the repressive NGO law that Egyptian Parliament approved in November2016. The law handcuffs NGOs with regulations and strangles their fundingmechanisms, essentially eliminating civil society in Egypt, theObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an OMCT-FIDHpartnership) said today. Introduced under the guise of national security,the implementation of this new legislation attempts to eradicate the humanrights movement as a whole.

On May 30, 2017, Egypt’s draconian NGO law was published in theOfficial Gazette after ratification by President Sisi over six months after itwas approved by Parliament, despite global criticism and condemnation. NGOswill now have one year to register with the, yet to be formed, NationalAuthority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations. Norepresentatives from civil society will serve on the organization, instead itwill be composed of representatives from the Defense Ministry, theInterior Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the GeneralIntelligence Directorate, the Administrative Control Authority, theInternational Cooperation Ministry, and the Money Laundering Unit.

Under the law, NGOs will be only allowed to engage in activities that conform tonational development plans while non-compliance will be met with jail terms ofup to five years. Human rights work is banned under this law; similarly NGOsmay not conduct work that harms “national security”, “law and order”, “publicmorals”, or “public health”, terms that are subject to the discretionaryinterpretation of government agencies. Increasing global concern is thenew prohibition banning NGOs from callingfor supporting or financing terrorist organizations or violence. This signalsfuture intentions to associate NGOs with terror organizations, thereforestigmatizing their efforts and providing the government lenity to imposeharsher restrictions and punishments under Egypt’s counterterrorism legalframework.

“The implementation of this law eliminatescivil society in Egypt. Egyptian authorities have insinuated these restrictionsunder the veil of security; a veil which has become a shroud over Egyptiancivil society. The eradication of NGOs leaves hundreds of thousands ofEgyptians without support and services. Egypt’s censored and restrictiveapproach to ‘safety’ will leave thousands in danger”, declared Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General.

Additions to the November 2016 law attack NGO fundingmechanisms, leaving them without adequate means to continue their work. NGOsmust receive advanced approval for all funding they acquire and report allfunding to the government. Further, any fundingtotaling over 10’000 EGP (approx. 510 EUR) must be received via wire transferfrom a bank subject to Egypt’s Central Bank auditing or through a paper check(Article 23).

This new version of the law now into forcefurther attacks the partnering capabilities of NGOs. No Government entities mayenter into agreements with foreign NGOs for civil society work without approvalfrom a council comprised of security agencies (Article 59). Further, theGovernment may now cancel the licenses of foreign NGOs, “for reasons pertaining to threats to thenational security or public safety or undermining public order or according tothe principle of Reciprocity” (Article 68).

“Attacking the autonomy, funding andpartnerships of Egyptian NGOs is a systematic approach to eliminate and isolatethem from their global partners. This creates a dangerous vacuum in light ofthe economic crisis, food and medical shortages plaguing Egypt. Not only doesthis law jeopardize the fundamental human rights of all citizens but also thestability of the entire country”, concluded Dimitris Christopoulos, Presidentof FIDH.

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 byFIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of thisprogramme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression againsthuman rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.