CAIRO: The Ministry of Social Solidarity issued a decree Thursday to reopen the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) following an Administrative Court ruling last March which recognized the center legitimacy. In a statement, the CTUWS described the decision as "a good initiative worthy of appreciation. In April 2007, the government decided to shut down the CTUWS, claiming that the organization was behind a wave of labor unrest and that it was not a recognized non-governmental organization (NGO). At the time, Human Rights Watch and other international and local human rights organizations condemned the government decision to shut it down. On March 30, 2008, the Giza Administrative Court ruled in favor of the CTUWS saying that the government had no reason to deny the group's petition for NGO status or close it down. Yet, the government failed to comply with the court order, while at the same time missing the deadline to file an appeal against the ruling. The CTUWS was registered as a "civil company rather than an NGO because the Ministry of Social Solidarity had repeatedly rejected the center's attempts to register itself under the NGO law on the grounds that the law prohibited NGOs from conducting activities that were restricted to trade unions. The statement said, "Throughout one full year the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services witnessed a series of arbitrary procedures: its premises were closed and its activities were stopped. "Moreover, the court sentenced its General Coordinator to a one year imprisonment in a publishing offenses case. He was set free on LE 1,000 bail. The Court of Appeal ruled on Feb. 27, 2008 to annul the imprisonment sentence. CTUWS was established on March 26, 1990 to be managed by its members - independently of the government and political parties - to defend labor rights.
