NGOs law: between the objections and support of activists

CAIRO – 12 September 2017: The recently promulgated law regulating the operation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Egypt and consisting of 89 articles has stirred a lot of debate as a number of activists object to certain articles while others view it as ideal.

“The new law will confront illegal activities used to be practiced by outlawed groups because it legalizes the status of all patriotic organizations,” head of the Parliament’s Social Solidarity Committee Abdel Hady al-Qasaby said.

Qasaby, demonstrated that the new law differentiates between legitimate patriotic groups from the ones that are not.

The new law is a real democratic step that shall maintain the relationship between the state and the civil society, said activist Dalia Zeyada. She welcomed the approval of the new NGO law, approved by President Sisi in May 2017.

“Non-governmental organizations that have not legalized their status should register themselves according to the new law’s executive regulation within one year,” Zeyada added.

According to the ministry of social solidarity, there are 48,000 NGOs operating in Egypt. Most of them are not registered.

The Chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Hafez Abu Seada said that the law endorsed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in May and approved by the parliament in 2016 interferes with the work of NGOs in the country.

Abu Seada, who is also a member of the National Council for Human Rights, said that that the law requires NGOs to obtain the approval of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) first before conducting field studies, which is the “core of NGOs’ work to face issues like terrorism and sexual harassment.”

Abu Seada claims that the law restricts the fields of NGOs’ work to the state’s sustainable development plan. However, there are no articles in the law clearly stating or implying that NGOs’ work should be confined to developmental fields exclusively.

He also objects to Article 70 which necessitates the founding of a national council regulating the work of foreign NGOs. He also claimed that the law requires founding members to present their criminal record. However, there is no mention of such requirements in the law.
Human rights lawyer Mohamed Zaree, said to Al-Masry Al-Youm that the new law imposes restrictions on the NGOs operations, funding and establishment. He added that the law also “allows the government to confiscate the NGOs assets and ban its leaders from traveling abroad.”

However, after reviewing the law, the government could only confiscate any assets owned by an NGO have to come through a judicial order.

Heba Hagras, member of the Parliament’s Social Solidarity Committee, asserted that the Parliament took a long time for studying and discussing the NGO law due to many procedural considerations. She denied that the President had modified any of the law’s articles ratified by the Parliament last November.

Hagras told local media outlets that the new law did not hinder foreign funds given to social groups, but it regulates and legalizes the way these groups receive the funds.

the Liberal Democracy Institute (LDI) in Egypt appraised the law in a situation report titled “The Future of Civil Society under the New NGO Law” released in January and updated in May.
That support of the law stems from abolishing any required approvals for establishing NGOs or receiving funds, which was necessitated in the former law issued in 2002.

The LDI considers Article 25 –which was objected to by certain activists for no precise reasons– as a guarantee for transparency and an impediment against fraud and embezzlement.

That article urges NGOs to publicly announce the donations and funding they receive along with the donors on their websites and the website of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, and in their headquarters, as well.

Most of the criticism of the new NGO Law revolved around a particular point. Under the old NGO Law no. 84/2002, Egyptian NGOs had [a difficult] experience with filing an infinite number of governmental documents to acquire legal registration. In some cases, the government bureaus took (several) months, if not years, to respond to the NGOs regarding the status of their registration.

“As a result, a provision in the new NGO law to provide documents upon establishment to the respective government authority raised concerns. . . . However, the provision in the new NGO Law to submit documents to the government upon establishment, does not contradict with the constitutional right of the association to acquire legal personality upon notification,” said the LDI report.

Rather, it is a routine procedure that shall follow the acquirement of the legal personality, with the purpose to establish a clear relationship between the government and the new association.

In addition, the new NGO law states that “the government authority has to complete the documentation procedure with the new association within a maximum period of sixteen days,” LDI continued.

The second controversial point is new regulation imposed by the law on foreign funding of local NGOs. The new law makes it obligatory to make foreign funding for any Egyptian NGOs a transparent process and subject to government approval.

The new law establishes a new body called "The National Authority to regulate NGOs Operations."
Furthermore, the report showcases the benefits indicated in Article 10 exempting NGOs from taxes and tariffs on any imported products, and which was never granted by any law previously.

Advantages of the new NGO, according to Article 16, include:

• Exemption from paying registration fees of contracts of all kinds, such as property contracts and mortgage, where the association is a party, as well as all pertaining ratification fees.

• Exemption from taxes and stamp duties, whether they are currently imposed or shall be imposed in the future, on all kinds of contracts, authorizations, written and printed forms, official records, and other similar documents.

• Exemption from all property taxes for all buildings owned by the association, provided that the association uses these buildings for achieving its stated purpose, and the association may not change the nature of the activity without acquiring the approval of the relevant minister.

• Acquiring a discount of 30 percent on rail transport fees of equipment and machines related to the association’s activities.

• Exemption from taxes and fees due to custom authorities, imposed on exported equipment, machines, tools, production utilities, and vehicles related to the association’s activities, as well as the gifts and aids the association receives from abroad, upon a decree by the competent prime minister, based on a recommendation from the relevant minister and a review by the Minister of Finance, provided that the exported utilities are necessary for the main activity of the association.

The association may not dispose of utilities, before five years after their export, without a prior decree from the relevant minister in agreement with the Minister of Finance, unless the association has paid the due custom fees and taxes.

The new NGO Law encourages foreign NGOs to work in Egypt. Unlike the old NGO Law no. 84/2002, it has devoted two full sections to explain the fine details of how a foreign NGO or its representative office may register, operate, and receive funds for its projects.

The new NGO Law also allows foreign communities living in Egypt to establish their own bond or association as a foreign NGO, to defend the community’s interests and offer not-for-profit services to the members of the community.

The new NGO Law has resolved the problem of approving foreign funds that local NGOs suffered under the old law and creates a new mechanism for the new law governing the establishment, operation and funding of NGOs under one umbrella instead of different entities and ministries.