The NGO bill has been approved by the People's Assembly over strong protests by opposition parties, human rights groups, and a number of civil organisations. Gamal Essam El-Din attended the stormy debates The People's Assembly voted by a hefty majority on Monday to pass a law aimed at regulating the activities of 16,000 registered non- governmental organisations (NGOs). The 76-article law was presented as an alternative to Law 153 of 1999, which the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional on 3 June, 2000. The court said Law 153, which was passed by the People's Assembly on 27 May, 1999, was unconstitutional because it had first to be approved by the consultative upper house, the Shura Council. The new law was rammed through the assembly in only five sessions that lasted from Saturday morning to Monday morning. This haste brought Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour under opposition fire. Mohamed Abdel-Alim, a journalist and MP of the liberal-oriented Wafd Party, said: "The parliament's surprising haste in passing laws confirms the widely held belief that MPs are in a season of ramming laws through parliament. It is not a shame to listen to public opinion. What is really shameful is to hastly discuss and approve laws in response to external pressures." In response, Sorour argued: "The Assembly is exerting extraordinary efforts and taking the utmost care in discussing and passing laws... This is something the Assembly has to be thanked for and it is your role as a journalist to defend the Assembly." The Assembly passed four laws in the last two weeks and has yet to pass an additional four in the next few days. In this week's plenary Assembly session, the NGO law faced severe criticism, with several independent and opposition deputies giving the debate a blatantly political dimension. The deputies of the leftist Tagammu' and the liberal Wafd parties joined force in emphasising that the bill is unacceptable in its government-drafted form and that three of its articles have yet to be modified to gain approval. The speakers of the two parties, Khaled Mohieddin and Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour, agreed that the new law was not much different from the previous, which was ruled unconstitutional. "The new bill is one step forward, but two steps backwards," said Kamal Ahmed, an independent MP with Nasserist sympathies. Members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and senior government officials then launched a counter-attack. They said the new bill was not only acceptable, but good because it boosted the contribution of NGOs to national development and took national security into consideration. Abdel-Nour said the new bill had serious defects, especially as far as Article 42, empowering the Social Affairs Ministry to disband NGOs on several grounds, is concerned. Mohieddin said that Article 42 had to be modified to give the courts the absolute right to decide the fate of the NGOs. Mohamed Khalil Qiwita, an independent MP, said the article was clearly aimed at obstructing the formation of certain kinds of NGOs, especially human rights organisations. "I would," he said, "like to remind the government that in Durban [South Africa] last year, international human rights organisations played a distinguished role in exposing Israel's apartheid policies and war crimes to the world at large." Mustafa El-Fiqi, chairman of the Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, agreed that it was courts that must decide whether any NGO should be disbanded. In response, Justice Minister Farouq Seif El-Nasr said Article 42 gave members of any of the disbanded NGOs the right to lodge an appeal with the Administrative Court. "This is beside the fact that NGOs will never be disbanded arbitrarily. They will be disbanded for highly serious reasons, such as receiving donations from, or transferring money to, foreign sources [without the Social Affairs Ministry's approval]," Seif El-Nasr said. Minister of Social Affairs Amina El-Guindi emphasised that the government favoured the establishment of greater numbers of NGOs in the country. "This is why we approved the setting up of almost 2000 NGOs in the last two years," she said. Abdel-Nour also argued that Article Three of the bill banned NGOs from carrying out political and syndicate activities. Mortada Mansour, an independent MP, said the law made no distinction between political and voluntary action. "Why, for example, should NGOs interested in promoting democracy and raising political awareness of ordinary citizens be banned?" he asked. In response, NDP MPs rallied behind Kamal El- Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs, who said: "Political action and syndicate activities must be confined to political parties and professional syndicates." Abdel-Nour also argued that Article 17 of the bill banned NGOs from receiving foreign funding from internationally-accepted donors for no justifiable reason. This article was attacked by the Wafd and Tagammu' deputies only. It was, however, praised by some opposition and independent deputies. Ragab Hilal Hemeida, the sole representative of Al-Ahrar (liberal) Party, said the government had the right to crack down on NGOs which received "funding for preparing reports aimed against the national interests of this country". "Leading members of certain NGOs are receiving donations from dubious circles. They have become rich. They live in luxurious districts and drive sleek cars," he emphasised. Mansour pointed to "a renowned Egyptian sociologist who made use of a lax NGO law to receive funding from America." Heidar Boghdadi, a Nasserist MP, said the ban on NGOs receiving foreign funding should be applied to all. "I mean," he said," that the Ministry of Social Affairs should not allow some NDP- supported NGOs to receive huge foreign funding while preventing other independent NGOs from receiving such a blessing." Gamal Abu Zikri, an ex-state security police officer and an NDP MP, warned that Article 17 was of utmost importance to prevent certain NGOs from using foreign donations to fund terrorist activities. Related stories: Fighting for civil space Governing the non-governmental 30 May - 5 June 2002 New law, old problems 22 - 28 November 2001 Too soon to celebrate 5 - 11 July 2001 Demoralised apprehension 11 - 17 January 2001 Legal shortcomings 8 - 14 June 2000 Rights at a crossroads 18 - 24 May 2000 NGO law under fresh fire 27 April - 3 May 2000
