NGOs, Ministry of Social Solidarity to Hold Dialogue on NGO Law

The draft law has received criticism for it’s over regulation of NGOs

 

By Yosra El Gendi 

  In mid-July, Egypt’s civic associations raised concerns following demands from the Ministry of Social Solidarity that all unregistered civil society groups register in accordance with Law 84/2002. Civil society groups have argued that they need legislation guaranteeing certain freedoms and non-intervention at the hands of the government in order to operate independently. The Egyptian government, on the other hand, holds that regulating civic associations is necessary in order to ensure that their activities remain within the confines of the law and do not endanger national security. Despite this disparity, both sides have highlighted the importance of conducting further dialogue as the affair unfolds.   The rift began when, on July 18, the Ministry of Social Solidarity published an announcement in the state-run newspaper, Al-Ahram, stating that civil society groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must register as per Law 84/2002 within a period of 45 days “to avoid […] / accountability issues in accordance with relevant laws in force.” The ministry justified the statement as part of its “efforts to ease obstacles faced by the conduct of civil society participation.” Furthermore, the statement emphasized the Ministry’s need for all “entities operating in Egypt” to respect laws that are currently in force.   In contradiction to this statement, many argue that the proliferation of informal and unregistered civil society organizations occurred due to the difficulties inherent in operating according to Law 84/2002. According to this law, the ministry may interfere in the internal affairs of any registered organization. It also does not allow groups to seek goals that "threaten national unity" or that are "violating public order and morals" or engage in “political activities.” These legal confines are not specifically defined, and, thus, this gap provides the ministry with the scope to selectively apply the law in cases considered a threat to public order. According to Mr. Negad El Borei, who is an expert on NGO laws, this application depends on the "level to which the Ministry of Social Solidarity is content with the association [NGO] itself." Therefore, many movements that are strongly connected to civil society are forced to work without any official registration, or alternatively, register themselves as civil companies. Thus, forcing them to register under Law 84/2002 is perceived as a threat. The timing of this announcement is indicative, as it was issued just before the ministry announced that it would be modifying the former NGO draft law of 2013. Mohammad Zaree’, head of the Egypt Road-Map Program in the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, recalls that in July 2013, Dr. Ahmad Borei, Minister of Social Solidarity at that time, issued a decree to form a committee, whose purpose was to amend the NGO law. The drafting of this new law included a number of civil society activists and was conducted through a number of social dialogues. In December 2013, a draft law was submitted by the committee to the minister who then referred it to the cabinet. Mr. Zaree’ argues that the law “was considered to be the best draft law of the government so far.” This process, however, was summarily interrupted by the new Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly who, just ten days after assuming her post, withdrew the draft law from the cabinet for further modifications. The draft that appeared thereafter was met with outrage by many civic associations. The new, amended version has also been met with outrage. On July 9, 29 human rights organizations issued a joint statement arguing that the Ministry of Social Solidarity has not proposed an NGO law “this repressive for almost half a century.” They further argued that the “law, if adopted, will criminalize the operation of NGOs and subordinate them to the security establishment, shutting down the public sphere in Egypt to all but regime supporters.” Opposition to this law comes on various grounds. First, human rights NGOs deem the new law unconstitutional and in contradiction to article 75 of the 2014 Constitution, which guarantees citizens the freedom to form associations, and ability to acquire legal personas by submitting a notice. However, the new draft law extends this formation to 60 days following the submission of a notice. Opponents, in particular, argue against the establishment of a “Coordinating Committee,” which will comprise of eight government bodies, including representatives from the Interior Ministry and Intelligence Services. This committee will be “given broad authority to regulate the activities of civic associations by controlling their funding [either by authorizing or rejecting funds] granting or denying permits for international organizations to operate in Egypt.” In addition to this, the draft law includes harsh penalties, and a EGP 100,000 fine for a range of violations. The NGOs further state that independent human rights activists would be jailed for up to 15 years for violations under the new law. Thus, they called upon President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi to reject the law. So far, this call has been met with a meeting between NGO representatives and Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab in addition to the issuance of a memo to both the prime minister and President El-Sisi. The Ministry of Social Solidarity responded on August 14, 2014 with a statement that clarified its stance. Due to the complications of having had three different draft laws prepared in the last few years with various groups and people involved in each drafting process, the ministry requested the General Federation of NGOs to conduct a societal dialogue with consultation sessions in different governorates to discuss the three drafts. The statement assured that the ministry would uphold its commitment to come up with a final draft of the law in accordance to Article 75 of the constitution, and furthermore assured that NGOs can be formed by notification and that a court notice is required for an NGO to be disbanded. However, until the new law is passed, a July 18Al-Ahram announcement states that “Law 84/2002 is still in force, covering NGOs and the entities operating in the civil sphere.” Representatives from the Ministry of Social Solidarity explained the need for the Coordination Committee in a forum meeting at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies on August 27. They argued that the Coordination Committee is meant to facilitate the work of NGOs by bringing all parties and bodies that give NGOs approval to the same table. This, they claim, will reduce the time taken to obtain approval from all parties, including that of foreign funding. This incident was calmed after the NCHR (National Council for Human Rights) requested that Minister Waly postpone the deadline for the registration of NGOs for another 45 days. This came amid further calls from civil society to cancel the warning issued to civil society groups, rather than just postpone it. The minister also agreed that the new law will be discussed in parliament, and thus, we must wait until parliament is convened.   Despite this disagreement between the ministry and Egypt’s civil society organizations, the importance of conducting further dialogue has been stipulated. The minister of social solidarity stated on August 24, that “society needs dialogue, not only about the NGO law but about everything.” This coincides with the September 1 statement by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, which called upon Minister Waly to “start a productive dialogue with civil society organizations.” Thus, disagreements that were exaggerated and exacerbated have been successfully de-escalated through the use of dialogue, which will hopefully continue throughout the formulation of the new NGO law.