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EGYPT: Crackdown Against Civil Society Intensifies

EuroMed Rights expresses grave concern over a new draft law on associations that has been approved by the Egyptian government on September 8 and sent for review to the State Council and Parliament. This repressive law is a deliberate attempt to obstruct the work of NGOs operating in the country. By placing its security apparatuses at the heart of monitoring and coordinating the work of independent human rights organisations, Egyptian authorities are intensifying their bid to achieve complete control over civil society.

This latest episode coincides with the upcoming hearing of the case n°173/2011, known as the “foreign funding case” on September 17. This politically-motivated case could see prominent Egyptian human rights defenders and NGOs convicted of criminal charges for which they incur up to 25 years in prison.  The asset freeze would also signify that the organisations involved in the case will lose access to their bank accounts and their properties and the control over the organisations’ assets and activities will be given to government officials.

EuroMed Rights calls on the Egyptian authorities to urgently revise the NGO bill and adopt a law complying with international human rights standards in consultation with civil society. We also call on Egypt to close the “foreign funding” case and immediately withdraw all measures of harassment and intimidation against human rights defenders, including travel bans, asset freeze orders and trumped-up tax investigations.