CAIRO: An International report issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights gave Egypt a “red” in the classification of the status of non-governmental human rights organizations in the countries of the northern and southern Mediterranean in 2009, a report which is expected to be reviewed by EU countries at the end of this month. It comes within the framework of Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which was conducted by the Union with a number of Arab governments, including the Egyptian government. The report, which was announced on Wednesday, at the headquarters of the Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies, employed three colors for the classification of the status of human rights, including: green, orange and red as an indicator of the government's respect for freedom of assembly and association, through the registry and intervention in the affairs of human rights associations, and the possibility of access to foreign funding, and other variables in the 11 Arab countries south of the Mediterranean, including the occupied territories and Israel. The red color represents the highest restrictions imposed on such indicators. The report emphasized that since the issued Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights in its report last December on assembly and association, there has been only “very little improvement” for the status in Egypt and in some cases there is no improvement at all in the Euro-Mediterranean countries in the region, noting that in some cases the opposite happened. The continued deterioration of the ability of individuals to exercise the right to freedom of assembly and association, the report said. The report pointed out that, at the level of national legislation, the countries of East and South Mediterranean continue “restrictions” on the capacity of human rights activists to engage in associations concerned with human rights and minority rights, or in groups suspected of involvement in opposition movements. In Egypt, the report said that the same period witnessed a state of “silence” took the closed-door meetings held by the Ministry of Social Solidarity on the amendment of the NGO law No. 84 of 2002, in which the ministry had ignored requests made by non-governmental organizations to participate in these meetings and exchange of views on the amendments of the NGOs law within the framework of “freedom of organization.” The report pointed out that the information leaked to the media in addition to comments received by Dr. Abdul Aziz Hijazi, head of the General Federation of Associations and Organizations, indicating that the proposed amendments , would impose further restrictions on the activities of non-governmental organizations, in exchange for expanding the powers of the General Union of the associations and civil society institutions . It would impose further restrictions on funding non-governmental organizations, the report called for an end to the state of emergency declared in Egypt since 1981, working in accordance with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in a parallel context. BM
