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Summary: A coalition of the world’s leading human rights NGOs – including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the International Service for Human Rights – is urging the UN Human Rights Council to take action to address worsening human rights violations and civil society restrictions in Egypt.
In a joint letter to all state delegates to the Human Rights Council, the coalition says, ‘Egypt is at a crucial crossroads in its history: the future of independent civil society is currently under threat.’ The Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is proposing an unprecedented law that would give security officials legal control over vital NGO matters such as foreign funding. The proposed NGO oversight body would allow the state’s security apparatus to control the activities of independent, non-government associations by rejecting funding for legitimate activities of which it does not approve. ‘Even in the most repressive times experienced by civil society in Egypt, the security bodies have never exercised legal control of vital NGO matters such as foreign funding,’ the letter says. According to ISHR Director, Phil Lynch, the draft Egyptian law reflects a disturbing international trend. ‘Around the world we witness an increase in attacks and reprisals against human rights defenders, together with an expansion of laws which restrict and impair the work of non-government organisations,’ he said. ‘We call on Egypt, which as recently as March made a commitment in the Human Rights Council to respect and protect the vital work of human rights NGOs, to withdraw this law and ensure a safe, enabling environment for civil society organisations’. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has similarly warned that governments that seek to constrain certain types of activities, such as freedom of association, risk slipping into authoritarianism. ‘If a law is passed that severely constrains the activities of civil society organizations, whose constructive contributions will be crucial to the country’s future direction as an inclusive democracy, it will mark a further blow to the hopes and aspirations that were raised during the 2011 "Egyptian Revolution," she said.‘ The new law, if adopted in its current form, may leave them in a worse situation than they were prior to the fall of the Mubarak Government in 2011.’ Upcoming side event Amnesty International, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Civicus, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights, the International Service for Human Rights, and the World Organisation Against Torture will discuss the issue of Freedom of Association in Egypt at a side-event on 3 June between 1200 and 1400 in Room IX at the Palais des Nations. Further Information