On June 24, 2003, EOHR, member of the OMCT network and affiliated to FIDH and a long term and appreciated partner of both organisations, was finally granted a registration number by the Ministry of Social Affairs and became a legally registered NGO (registration 5220) according to the NGOs Law (84/2002). The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights was registered in 1985 as a branch of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, and presented a request in 1987 for registration under Law 32 of 1964. The Ministry refused the request at that time, and EOHR’s appeal to the administrative judiciary upheld the decision.
In 1992, EOHR appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court, and subsequent hearings continued until 2000. During this period, the government enacted new legislation (NGO Law 135/1999), and EOHR applied for registration under this new law. However, the administrative body postponed consideration of the application as a result of a request from security authorities. EOHR challenged the decision before the administrative judiciary which, on July 1, 2001, ordered the Ministry of Social Affairs to register EOHR, an order with which the Ministry refused to comply. After the current NGOs Law (84/2002) was enacted, EOHR once again applied for registration. Largely as a result of the July 2001 decision, the Ministry of Social Affairs approved the application for registration on June 24, 2003.
This decision intervenes in a context in which a large group of Egyptian organizations have come together to denounce government’s policies towards human rights activists and what has been described by many observers as a security directed orientation. This mobilisation was prompted by the denial of registration of two organizations upon the request of Security authorities, the New Woman Research Center and the Land Center for Human Rights based on law 84 of June 2002 related to Non-Governmental Organizations and its executive regulations.
The Observatory has referred the matter to Mrs. Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, who already reported on the issues raised by the present law related to Non-Governmental Organizations during the last session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
The Observatory calls on the Egyptian authorities to amend the current legislation so as to conform with international human rights instruments ratified by Egypt as well as with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1998.