Human Rights Watch condemned the Egyptian parliament's hasty passage yesterday of a controversial draft law that provides for extensive government monitoring and regulation of the activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The New York-based organization also called on President Hosni Mubarak to refrain from signing the bill into law.
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This draft law is a blueprint for massive state interference in every aspect of the operation of NGOs. President Mubarak should send the legislation back to parliament, and insist that its contentious provisions be cancelled.
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The draft Law on Associations and Civil Institutions bans NGOs that "threaten national unity," and subjects violators to criminal penalties that include one-year prison sentences, fines, and dissolution of their organizations. It also authorizes the state to veto members of the boards of directors of NGOs, control their sources of foreign funding, and restrict or prohibit any type of affiliation with organizations located outside of Egypt.
"Provisions such as these can cripple the autonomy of NGOs and put them under the thumb of the government," said Megally. "The government should be making it easier for local groups to organize and operate, and to network internationally. This draft law does the exact opposite, and that's why it is dangerous and must be reversed."
On May 26, before the vote, Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzoury told members of parliament that the government "will not allow the associations to be another government," the Associated Press reported. "Politics should be left to [political] parties....If you want to harm Egypt then you have no place here," the prime minister was quoted as saying.
