Paris - Geneva, 4th June 2002

Mr. President,

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the FIDH and the OMCT, expresses its deepest concerns after the adoption by the Parliament of a new draft law on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on 3rd June 2002, which includes very restrictive provisions on freedom of association.This draft law maintains and even strengthens the restrictive provisions of the Law on Civil Associations and Institutions adopted in 1999 (Law 153 of 1999), which had been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional High Court in June 2000.The Observatory is particularly concerned by the fact that this bill of law gives the administrative body, represented by the Ministry of Social Affairs, broad powers over civil associations. In fact, the new law provides for the necessity of having the consent of the Ministry of Social Affairs to register civil associations; the ban for NGOs to practice political and unions' activities without these two activities being defined, which can lead to restrictive and arbitrary interpretation as far as NGO activities are concerned ; the compulsory administrative intervention for the constitution of the board of directors of the association ; as well as to the necessity of getting an authorization to receive funds and an authorization to be affiliated to international associations and organizations. Moreover, whereas article 42 of the Law 1999 provided that the Ministry of Social Affairs had to present a request to the competent court to dissolve an association, new article 42 gives the Ministry the power to dissolve an association by an administrative decree, without any judicial decision, as well as to appoint a judicial guard and to proceed to the confiscation of all the documents and monies.The Observatory is very concerned by these provisions, which are a flagrant violation of international human rights instruments ratified by Egypt, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1998.The Observatory urges your Excellency not to ratify this new law, so that this project be reviewed and put in conformity with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. We hope that you will take these requests into consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Sidiki KABA President of the FIDH | Eric SOTTAS Director of the OMCT