Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt plans to restrict Western-financed non-government
organizations.

The regime of President Mohammed Morsi has drafted legislation that
would severely curb activities of NGOs, particularly those linked to
democracy efforts. Under the bill, NGOs would not be able to receive funding
from abroad without filing quarterly reports.

“It aims to nationalize civil society, designating the assets of civic
associations and bodies as well as domestic funds received by foreign
organizations as public funds,” the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies said. “It gives the coordinating committee that consists of members of different ministries including the Egyptian intelligence bodies, the power to prohibit certain civic activities of foreign organizations based on vague, overly broad formulations.”

The legislation has been endorsed by the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhoods’s Freedom and Justice Party, in a bill submitted by Mohammed Ali Bisher, would enable Egyptian intelligence to monitor human rights and civil rights groups.

Civil rights activists said the legislation was similar to the NGO law
under the regime of then-President Hosni Mubarak, ousted in 2011. Months
after a military junta replaced Mubarak, 43 NGO staffers, included
Americans, were charged with illegally accepting foreign funds.

The Freedom of Justice Party acknowledged the legislation. But officials
said the bill was still being examined before any vote in the National
Assembly.

The legislation would also mandate prison sentences for those who
violate the new regulations. The activists said the penalties and
restrictions would scare away foreign NGOs and dry up funding from abroad.

“It prohibits foreign funding for civic associations except with
approval from the Insurance and Social Affairs minister and gives the
minister the right to reject funding without cause,” the human rights
institute said. “The FJP proposed draft law also contains provisions for
security control over NGO operations, in the form of a so-called
coordinating committee.”

Amnesty International said the Morsi regime has already warned human
rights groups against engaging with their foreign counterparts. The
London-based group, citing a letter by the Insurance and Social Affairs
Ministry, said Egyptian NGOs could also be banned from contact with the
United Nations.

“NGOs in Egypt already face staggering restrictions, but this
instruction is a new low,” Amnesty deputy Middle East director Hassiba Hadj
Sahraoui said. “It is a disturbing indicator of what may lie ahead for human
rights groups in the government’s new law.”

  Cairo Institute for Human Rights, Freedom and Justice Party, Mohammed Ali Bisher, Morsi puts restrictions on NGOs advocating democracy in Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood