It's back to the future for NGOs as they come under official attack, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky Last week Fayza Abul-Naga, currently minister of planning and international cooperation, one of only a handful of pre-revolutionary cabinet members to remain in government, announced that politically motivated foreign funding of parties and non-registered NGOs was unacceptable. "Egypt does not oppose foreign funding of NGOs as long as it complies with Egyptian and international laws. However, the funding must be for development, not political purposes," said Abul-Naga. She added that Egypt has officially informed the United States it will no longer accept the funding of unregistered NGOs. "We informed the US that we will not allow unregistered NGOs to receive overseas funding, or any NGO to receive funds from American NGOs that have not obtained registration from the Egyptian government to operate in Egypt." "Fourteen American and 12 unlicensed Egyptian NGOs received $47.8 million and $5.8 million respectively from the US government since the revolution." In June Anne Patterson, the US ambassador to Cairo, told Congress that $40 million had been spent in Egypt to "promote democracy" since the revolution. She said 600 Egyptian NGOs had applied for funding for projects such as election monitoring the raising public awareness about political participation. Patterson's statement clearly sounded alarm bells in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). In July the government appointed a judicial committee to investigate "illegal funding" of local NGOs. By October the Court of Appeal had approved a request by the investigation committee to access information about the bank accounts of 75 organisations and individuals. For many human rights activists it was a case of déjà vu, with the authorities doing what they have always done, citing national security as an excuse to clamp down on anyone who exposed uncomfortable facts. Such a view appeared to be confirmed when leaks from the judicial committee made it clear that not only were non-registered NGOs being investigated, but also well known human rights activists attached to organisations the government has already licensed. The list of those being investigated includes Hafez Abu Seada, director of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, and Ahmed Seif Al-Islam, director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre. Most of these organisations have been operating for years. Access to details of the bank accounts of activists Israa Abdel-Fattah, Asmaa Mahfouz and 6 April Movement leader Ahmed Maher was also demanded. All three have been vocal critics of the SCAF. Under the Mubarak regime NGOs were regularly accused of promoting foreign agendas when they exposed human rights abuses, acted to protect workers' rights, or sought to embarrass the government into fulfilling its obligations under international treaties it had been happy to sign. The more successful the NGOs were the more likely it was that they would be targeted by the authorities. In 2002 a law was passed making the receipt of any funding conditional on approval by the Ministry of Social Solidarity. By 2006 State Security effectively opposed the registration of any new NGOs in Egypt, while in 2010 the People's Assembly passed legislation that gave State Security the final say on whether any funding from overseas could be accepted. "The Egyptian government and the ruling military council are desperate to weaken civil society. They are adopting exactly the same tactics as the Mubarak regime employed. Nothing has changed," says political and human rights activist Bahieddin Hassan. Revealing the details of bank accounts violates the Central Bank Law, says Negad El-Borai, director of the United Group law firm, and banks that cooperate in the violation -- he named HSBC -- will find themselves subject to legal action from any customers affected.
