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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Supplement Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters ... but provokes NGO wrath
By Mariz Tadros
There were plenty of surprises in store for NGOs. Most of them had hoped that Law 32 for 1964 would be replaced by a truly liberal bill. But the draft, prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs, was a blow to the NGOs because, in their view, it continued to infringe on their autonomy.
Ali Salem
Hafez Abu-Se'eda
An NGO Forum for Civil Action was formed in the summer of 1998 to defend the rights of NGOs and follow up on the bill. Consultations were made with the ministry and several meetings, attended by hundreds of NGO activists, were organised by the Forum. By the fifth draft, compromises had been made on both sides.
Amir Salem, head of the Legal Research Centre for Human Rights, was a member of a committee that held consultations on the bill with the Minister of Social Affairs Mervat Tellawi. Salem contends that the draft sent to the People's Assembly is "scandalously" different from what was agreed by both sides.
"What they want to pass through the People's Assembly basically obliterates all the rights that NGOs had sought to secure in the fifth draft, which was reached after a whole year's work with the ministry. The proposed law contradicts all the statements that the government has made about its respect for human rights," said Salem. The bill, he asserted, denies NGOs the rights they had secured in the final draft regarding the setting up and liquidating of an organisation, and the degree of administrative intervention.
Salem said that under the bill, NGOs will be "prohibited from exercising any kind of political activity that is exercised by political parties and syndicates." He said many NGOs engage in advocacy and development work and provide services, such as legal aid, but the provision in the bill will restrict their activities greatly.
"We have, for instance, been working in the field of human rights, but this type of activity is also exercised by political parties. It is likely that if we wanted to be registered with the ministry, our request would be denied. If we continue to operate without registration within a grace period, we will face three months in prison. Either way, we would be prevented from working."
A dispirited Salem said that if the bill is passed by the Assembly, he will liquidate his organisation and apply for a licence to form a political party. If his request is rejected, he will take the matter to court.
Suzanne Fayyad and Magda Adli of the Nadim Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, also feel that all the preliminary work carried out before the draft was drawn up has been a waste. But their disappointment goes further. "We [NGOs] were left out from the outset," Fayyad says. "We did not receive a draft of the bill, it was leaked to us. It was only after a lot of noise was made that the Ministry of Social Affairs invited us for talks. This shows a lack of good will on the part of the government."
Both Fayyad and Adli argue that the draft contains a number of minor improvements, such as the scrapping of the requirement that founding members obtain a certificate proving they don't have a criminal record. "But, rather than specifying the activities that are permissible, the bill outlines those that are prohibited. These measures are no more than window dressing," said Fayyad.
Essentially, however, the NGOs argue that their most important demands -- such as the regulations regarding the setting up and liquidation of an organisation and the scope of acceptable administrative intervention -- were ignored.
Fayyad and Adli pointed to the contradiction in the government's policy. "While businessmen's associations have a lot of autonomy, volunteers are treated like criminals," said Adli. Their interpretation of the bill is that anyone who exercises any developmental activities without registering with, and receiving permission from, the Ministry of Social Affairs could face up to two years in prison or a maximum fine of LE10,000.
"Anyone who wants to carry out good works can be put on trial like a criminal," said Fayyad.
Gasser Abdel-Razek, head of the Centre for Human Rights Legal Aid, said the bill must be viewed in the political context that "many democratic gains and rights have been sacrificed". A statement recently issued by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) stated that the bill is the latest in a series of restrictive measures carried out by the government that have left most professional syndicates paralysed, confined political parties to their premises and sought to curb press freedom.
"The bill, when placed in the current political context, is merely a reflection of the government's general intention to further restrict any form of independent association, be it in political parties, unions, professional syndicates, or NGOs," said the statement. It appealed to the president of the republic "to start his fourth term in office with a declaration of democratic reforms".
According to Abdel-Razek, the restrictions imposed by the bill on NGO activity are an attempt by the government to avoid any problems resulting from NGO advocacy and lobbying, which could affect the country's image at a time when it is trying to attract greater foreign investments. "Under global pressure which gives NGOs greater prominence, the government has to claim that NGOs are partners in development, but evidently the grounds for a true and equal partnership are missing as long as their autonomy is being compromised," said Abdel-Razek.
He affirmed that it is not just human rights organisations that are targeted by the bill, and was sceptical about how it would affect the non-governmental sector once it was implemented.
Lobbying for human rights, children's rights or environmental preservation could be banned because it is the type of work that is done by political parties and syndicates, he said. The same applies for women's advocacy and rights, which could be potentially curbed, since some women-based NGOs recognise the need to empower women, rather than provide them with charity handouts by, for example, encouraging them to participate in general elections and obtain ID cards. The scope of control this provision would give to the government, according to Abdel-Razek, would be boundless.
"For instance, environmental NGOs are playing an increasingly important role. Lobbying for a better and cleaner environment could be interpreted as a form of political activity. The same goes for NGOs working in the field of education. For example, a demand for the educational policy to be reformed could be interpreted as political activity. This means that only welfare-providing organisations would be left in peace," he said.
Abdel-Razek fears that if the bill becomes law, many organisations will have to cooperate or close down. "If the bill is passed in its current form and we find ourselves unable to do our work freely, we will not compromise and may be forced to consider closing down," he said.
Hafez Abu-Se'eda, EOHR secretary-general, believes that the bill is an attempt to control the human rights movement. "The human rights organisations that are registered as civil companies form an important sector which has not been under the administrative control of the government. Therefore, it wants to extend its authority over this sector as well, so that it can have full control over all of the bodies working in civil society."
Under the bill, NGOs registered as civil companies will have to apply to the Ministry of Social Affairs for registration within six months. If they fail to do so, their activities will be immediately liquidated; if they continue to work after their application has been denied, they may face imprisonment.
Abu-Se'eda said EOHR, which has been involved in a legal battle to gain registration -- a request continuously denied by the ministry -- will apply for registration once the bill takes effect. But he said he was worried that the application could be rejected.
The government's move to dominate human rights organisations, contends Abu-Se'eda, has been influenced by many factors. One such factor is the proliferation of human rights groups involved in many different causes, including the prevention of torture, women's rights and cultural enlightenment. "The high profile of these organisations in the local and international press and media and their effective advocacy also prompted the government to take action," he added. "They want human rights organisations that are government-run, like the Egyptian Association for Human Rights, which was formed and registered in three days in Sohag after the Kosheh incident to defend the government's position. At the same time, a government campaign was launched to undermine the legitimacy and loyalty of Egyptian human rights organisations, and this is just the end of it."
The worst thing, lamented Suzanne Fayyad, is that the bill is being presented to the public "as if it were liberating, removing all the shackles restricting NGO activity, when it does the exact opposite, and is driven by the same philosophy and purpose behind Law 32. When we complained about the old law, we could live with the hope that one day we would see it changed for the better, now these dreams are over."
