If adopted, the new law would put civil society organisations under the control of the executive, with the creation of a "Coordinating Committee" comprised of representatives of Ministries and Intelligence services. The Coordinating Committee would regulate all local and international NGOs' activities, which could lead to the silencing of every association that is not in line with the official discourse and prevent international NGOs (INGOs) to pursue their activities in Egypt. INGOs would only be allowed to work in Egypt if their activities are "compatible with the needs of Egyptian society, pursuant to the priorities of development plans," and would not be granted access to Egypt if a foreign government funds them directly or indirectly.

Worse still, the new law would sound the death knell of Egyptian civil society, creating numerous legal barriers for any Egyptian civil society organisation that dares to challenge the regime in place. If passed, not only new associations but also every association already registered would need to request a new permit, which the Committee would deny if it feels that the association's objectives "threaten national unity" or engages in "political activity". With the introduction of a fine and a one-year imprisonment penalty for anyone who would have intended to create an association whose activities are forbidden by law, Alkarama fears that citizens would be further hampered from creating any association for fear of being prosecuted under vague motives.

Moreover, associations would not be allowed to conduct field researches and opinion pools without the prior approval of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics. It would therefore prevent any research criticising government policies or differing from official figures, and could obstruct any political opposition by prohibiting the creation of any forum of discussion of this nature. Funding from and collaboration with foreign entities (organisation or agency) would be supervised by the Coordinating Committee, meaning that Egyptian NGOs wouldn't be allowed to send information to UN agencies, for instance, without the Committee's authorisation.

Leaving rights associations at the mercy of the security apparatus, this bill follows the same mistakes at the proposed law made by ouster President Mohamed Morsi in May 2013, which raised strong concerns amongst the Egyptian civil society and the UN human rights system. In a statement on 8 May 2013, UN Human Rights High Commissioner, Navi Pillay had reminded the Egyptian government that the rights to freedoms of association and assembly were "fundamental to [the] very rights which Egyptian women and men came together to claim in January 2011," and warned that "Governments that seek to constrain these types of activities, for example by controlling access to funds, giving sweeping oversight of powers to security agencies ["including members responsible for very serious human rights abuses"], and placing undue constraints on international human rights organisations, risk slipping quickly into authoritarianism, even if that is not their initial intention."

Although Egyptian authorities had initially held large consultations on 26 June 2014 with the civil society to draft the new law on association – a draft which had even been sent to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to show Egypt's commitment towards the promotion and protection of rights – the new bill is a reminiscence of the 1964 legal framework stifling the opposition under Mubarak. The law is expected to be presented to the Parliament which will be elected in the coming months. Alkarama fears, however, that the possibility of the President to legislate in the meantime could lead to a premature adoption of this law.

On 9 July 2014, 29 rights organisations and think tanks published a joint statement on the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information's website, to express their concerns about the bill, which is a "flagrant assault" on article 75 of the constitution which guarantees the freedom to form associations and acquire legal personhood simply by notice. Together, they ask that the draft law be "drafted anew in accordance with a new philosophy that seeks to liberate civil society in order to perform its role." Human Rights Watch also issued a release, claiming that the draft law was "not about regulating nongovernmental organisations" but about "throttling them and robbing them of their independence," and that its provisions "would extinguish a crucial element of democracy in Egypt."

Sharing their concerns, Alkarama sent a communication to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr Maina Kai, to solicit his intervention with the Egyptian authorities to refrain from adopting this law which violates the right to freedom of information set out in article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and article 10 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), both treaties to which Egypt is a party. Alkarama asks that the NGO inputs made on 26 June 2014 form the basis of the new law, which should guarantee the free exercise by citizens of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and of association without interference from the State.

For more information or quotes by Alkarama's Executive or Legal Director or local partners, please contact the media team on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810).