The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
PRESS
RELEASE
Assassination of Civil Society Organizations |
Cairo, 22 June 1999 The EOHR issues today a follow up to its previous report on the draft associations law, which was published during the discussion of the law by the People's Assembly. The new report includes EOHR's views on the final version of the law, Law 153 of 1999, following its ratification by the President of the Republic on 27 May 1999. The report aims to clarify the organization's stand on the new law and to explain to the public opinion its refusal of the new constraints added to the law, which aim mainly to paralyze civil society organizations. The report, which is based on an objective analysis of the articles of the law, is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the non-constitutionality of some articles, particularly article eleven, one of the basic articles in the law. Article 55 of the Egyptian Constitution of 1971 prohibits the establishment of organizations that engage in three specific activitiesmilitary, clandestine and hostile to the social system. Also, the first paragraph of article 56 stipulates that "The creation of syndicates and unions on a democratic basis is a right guaranteed by law, and should have a moral entity." Therefore, the legislature cannot prohibit activities other than those already mentioned in the Constitution. Article 11 of the new law has added new prohibitions, such as activities that threaten national unity, violate public order or moral codes, or those which result in discrimination between citizens on the basis of gender, religion, language or belief. These are elastic expressions that can be interpreted according to the will or the interests of the administrative authorities. However, the most crucial is the prohibition to engage in any political or unionist activities outside the framework of political parties, syndicates and unions. Until the issuance of the executive regulations and in the absence of a clear and objective definition of what are the political and unionist activities practiced by civil society organizations, specially human rights ones, the official explanations given to this paragraph have been contradictory. At any rate, the article constitutes an important constraint given that the nature of the work of these organizations is public, and public work is by nature political. The second part of the report aims to clarify the non-democratic nature of the law, as many of its articles constitute a clear interference by the administration in the jurisdiction of the general assemblies. The administrative authority has the right to call for a general assembly meeting and to appoint a general supervisor for the organization who will have the authority of a board of directors. The organization is obliged to obtain the administration's approval on its statutes, and to send copies of the documents and decisions of the general assembly to the administrative body. The law also gives the Minister of Social Affairs the right to appoint those entitled to go to the organization's offices and review its documents. In short, the law gives the administration complete control over the board of directors, from objecting to the inclusion of certain board members to rejecting the board's decisions and dissolving the organization itself by a court order. The law also cancels the main authority of the general assembly regarding the definition of the organization's activities and the sources of finance. It has intentionally transferred the jurisdiction of the administrative court, noted for the speediness and objectivity of its rulings, in matters concerning NGOs to the civil courts. The law has also empowered the President of the Republic to interfere in the formation of the general union of civil organizations by appointing the president and one third of its members and not requiring free elections to form the union. It should be noted that the law contains a clear assassination order for the NGO in case of violations committed by the board of directors, and it fails to differentiate between the organization and the behavious of the board members. Further, the law broadens its jurisdiction by including non-civil society organizations, which can be dissolved if they fail to reorganize themselves to comply with the stipulations of the new law. Other stipulations include the need for NGOs to have an office prior to their establishment, the approval of the Prime Minister for public servants wishing to be involved with an NGO and for the implementation of the exemptions mentioned in the law, with all the bureaucratic difficulties this implies, as well as the rigth to withdraw the right of NGOs to be members of any organization whose headquarters are located outside Egypt. The last part of the report includes the recommendations of human rights organizations for a law governing civil society organizations. The philosophy of such law should be to free civil society organizations by giving individuals the right to establish organizations on their own free will according to the law and the Constitution. They should also be empowered to define the activities of the organization and to establish the regulations organizing their work, giving a wider role to the general assembly in monitoring the role of the board of directors. Also, establishing organizations should be made by notification, which means that the legal identity of the organization exists as soon as the agent of the founders notifies the administrative body. In case of objection, the administrative body should be the party required to take the case to court while the organization should be able to continue with its activities until the court issues a decision. It should be stressed that the general assembly is the highest authority concerning the activities, finance, elections to the board of directors, publication of the annual budget, and all related matters. The EOHR calls on all civil society organizations to show solidarity and to continue their efforts to cancel this undemocratic law. At the same time, the organization urges all the concerned parties to start a dialogue aimed at developing a new law that supports democratic development in Egypt.
