On Tuesday a Cairo criminal court convicted 43 NGO employees, including 16 Americans, of operating without a licence and accepting illegal foreign funding in a case that has sparked international criticism of the Egyptian government. Twenty-seven defendants tried in absentia received five-year jail sentences. Eleven others received one-year suspended sentences, and five two-year sentences. Yehia Ghanem, a consultant for the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ), one of the NGOs involved in the trial, and managing editor of Al-Ahram International newspaper, was among the defendants to receive a two-year sentence. In addition, the court ordered the closure of five foreign NGOs — the US-based Freedom House, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the ICFJ and the German based Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) — and the confiscation of their funds. Charges against NGO employees included managing unlicensed branches of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in the period from March 2011 to 29 December 2011, conducting research, political training, surveys, and workshops without licences, training political parties and groups and providing them with media support. The IRI was accused of receiving $22 million illegally, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) $18 million, Freedom House $4.4 million, the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) $3 million, and Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) $1.6 million. Among the convicted are 19 Americans, 16 Egyptians, as well as Germans, Serbs, Norwegians, Palestinians and Jordanians. In March 2012, 13 of the foreign defendants, including eight US citizens, left Egypt on a US military plane after the travel ban imposed on them was lifted. Court of Appeals head Abdel-Moez Ibrahim said “an unknown judge” had lifted the travel ban imposed on the foreign defendants. The NGO employees were referred to trial in December 2011, sparking a crisis in relations between Cairo and Washington which threatened $1.3 billion in annual US military aid. This week's ruling was not the only blow directed at NGOs. President Mohamed Morsi referred a controversial NGOs draft law to the Shura Council. The draft has attracted widespread condemnation both locally and internationally because of the restrictions it imposes. Activists, Western governments and the United Nations human rights chief have criticised the law as being even more stifling than Mubarak-era regulations. It limits freedom of association, allows the government the final say in approving the registration of NGOs and overseeing their financial administration, and makes it extremely difficult for foreign NGOs to establish offices in Egypt. In rhetoric that could easily have been quoted from Mubarak-era officials, Morsi insisted the new law “allows civil society to be assured that the state will not... restrict civil society organisations that work in service of the sons of the nation”. In the same speech Morsi claimed he respects the role civil society organisations have played in Egypt's transition and is willing to help civil society become stronger. Morsi's political aid Pakinam Al-Sharkawi defended the new law, claiming criticisms made by activists are “irrational”. “Those who criticise the draft law without reading it reveal how a lack of faith can impair the ability to properly understand the current state of affairs and make one captive to fear and negativity,” Al-Sharkawi said on Twitter. “We will not succeed in fulfilling our revolution until we break the barrier of fear between each other,” she added. Al-Sharkawi called on rights activists to examine the draft law and engage “positively” in dialogue, adding that Egypt was in need of a “legislative revolution” that could not take place “except with open hearts and minds”. NGOs rebuffed Al-Sharkawi's claims they had not read the legislation by issuing a detailed criticism of the law article by article. The report, issued by the Cairo Centre for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) jointly with 39 local NGOs, accused the compilers of the new draft law of seeking to subject civil entities to the regime via a Coordinating Committee with untrammelled powers in all matters relating to foreign funding for national organisations and the licensing of foreign NGOs operating in Egypt. The Coordinating Committee, according to the report, is authorised to determine whether local organisations are allowed to join foreign networks or affiliate themselves to international organisations, including the United Nations and its agencies. This committee will be under the supervision of the prime minister and include officials from different ministers and government agencies. In earlier drafts of the bill, announced by the government in March, security bodies were named as ex-officio members of the committee. The latest draft states that the composition of the committee will be determined by prime ministerial decree, an exercise in wording that has done nothing to reassure NGOs. “The composition of the committee raises the question of whether security bodies which may be implicated in human rights violations will allow rights groups to monitor and document abuses for which they could bear primary responsibility,” noted the report. It added that “for the first time in history” the draft legalises security apparatus' oversight of the work of civil society. “This is an extremely dangerous development with ramifications far beyond the realm of NGOs. It paves the way for a new and more enshrined police state,” says CIHRS Director Bahieddin Hassan. The new draft law even places restrictions over civil associations' ability to receive books or publications “if their content is not consistent with NGO activities”. “This move may lead to the monitoring of NGOs' correspondence,” warns lawyer and human rights activist Negad Al-Boraai. The current draft law, Al-Boraai argues, violates Article 51 of the constitution which explicitly states that associations “shall be formed by notification” while Article 6 of the new bill states that organisations are legally recognised only after the lapse of 30 days from the time of notification and in the absence of any objections from the executive. The bill, says Al-Boraai, sets “unjustified and arbitrary restrictions” on the establishment of associations, including the requirement that at least 10 founding members be involved, contradicting international standards for freedom of association which require only two. According to the CIHRS report, NGOs are required to have an endowment of at least LE50,000 upon establishment, a condition that does not exist in the current law. NGOs will also be banned from opening branches in other governorates and prohibited from participating in joint activities with foreign entities or organisations without the consent of the Coordinating Committee. Similarly, any association that wishes to join, participate in, or become affiliated with any association or body with offices outside Egypt must obtain approval from the Coordinating Committee. Although the new draft law does not specify custodial sentences for violations it does impose fines and administrative penalties of up to LE100,000, and including dissolution of any association and the liquidation of its assets. The United States, EU and the UN — major funders of NGOs in Egypt — have issued statements saying they are monitoring the issue closely. All three have voiced concerns over the restrictions imposed by the new law. “Legislative restriction on the activities of NGOs would damage not only Egypt's international image but also the ability of NGOs to provide the necessary assistance to the people in the country,” said US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki. “We have urged the government to consult with civil society to revise the draft in accordance with Egypt's international obligations.” The EU has also condemned the draft law. A statement released by EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton described the law as “too restrictive”. “The EU fears that the draft law still contains elements that can unnecessarily constrain the work of NGOs in Egypt and hinder our capacity as a foreign donor to support their work,” read the statement. “The draft law has to be in line with the international standards and obligations of Egypt.” The statement said that the EU had engaged with the Egyptian government in providing technical advice in the process of drafting the new law. Human Rights Watch (HRW) also rejects the bill, saying it allows the government and its security agencies to “arbitrarily restrict the funding and operation of independent groups”. “This draft law dashes all hopes that independent groups could operate freely and independently after the revolution,” said Sarah Whitson, HRW's Middle East coordinator, in a statement released last week. She added that the new draft was “hostile to the very notion of independent civil society”. Amnesty International joined the international campaign against the law, slamming it as a “death blow” to civil society and warning that it gives the government unprecedented influence over the freedom of association. “If they pass the law in its current form the Egyptian authorities will be sending the message that little has changed since the Mubarak era when state officials restricted independent human rights organisations to prevent them from exposing abuses,” Amnesty said. Amnesty added that the latest version of the bill ignores recommendations by international human rights organisations, including those from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as its own.
