Source: Cairo Institute For Human Rights Studies
Author(s): Unknown
Original Link: http://www.cihrs.org/?p=20505&lang=en
Marking one year since the Egyptian Parliament’s November 2016 approval of Law 70/2017 regulating civic associations, issued by President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi in May, the undersigned organizations reiterate their rejection of the law. For all practical purposes, the law eradicates development-focused and charitable organizations, to say nothing of rights advocacy. Dismissing any efforts to amend the law, the undersigned organizations call for its repeal. It should be replaced by the consensus bill developed under former Minister of Social Solidarity Ahmed Borai following discussions that included representatives of the General Federation of Civic Associations, advocacy groups, and charitable and development-oriented associations, as well as representatives from the Ministries of Social Solidarity, Foreign Affairs, and International Cooperation. That bill adhered closely to the Egyptian Constitution and international standards for the right of association.
On November 29, 2016, the Parliament rushed through the new civic association law without adequate debate, forwarding it to the President for ratification. Six months later, the bill was ratified and published in the Official Gazette, over the strenuous objections of Egyptian rights organizations and political parties…
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