Freedom of Association in EGYPT

1 - With regard to the political, democratic and human rights situation

• Act in conformity with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the norms and principles set forth in the other international instruments on human rights ratified by Egypt, and to take into account the relevant jurisprudence of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights;
• Repeal the emergency legislation used to justify practices and excesses that deny freedoms, in particular freedom of expression, of assembly and of association;
• Put an end to the use of provisions of laws on the state of emergency and against terrorism, and all other security-related legislation as a basis for criminalising or imposing arbitrary restrictions on the peaceful activities and freedom of expression and association of civil society;
• Take account of the recommendations of the conference held at Cairo on 27 and 28 June 2007 on legislative reforms related to freedom of organisation in the Arab world ^1.

2 - With regard to the laws and practices pertaining to associations and civil society organisations

• Abolish the procedure of prior approval for the registration of associations and implement the declarative regime which, while it would not suspend the activities of the association, would not prevent the ministry responsible from refusing, on the basis of a judicial decision, to allow the association to be established;
• Authorise the creation of organisations working for the interests of workers;
• Apply a restrictive interpretation, in accordance with article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and with related jurisprudence, to the concepts of ‘law and order’ and ‘public morality’ as discussed in article 11 of Law No. 84 of 2002, which are used to prohibit certain organisations;
• Amend Law No. 84 of 2002 so as to reduce to two the number of founding members required to create an association;
• Put an end to the abusive and delaying practices of the authorities with respect to applications for registration and ensure that the deadline of 60 days provided for in article 6 of Law No. 84 of 2002 is respected in practice;
• Generally, require that, when the ministry responsible rejects an association’s application for registration, the reasons for the decision be supported by precise considerations in order effectively to make it possible to lodge an appeal;
• Allow the registration of changes in the association’s statutes or in its governing bodies to be made through a simple declaration;
• Ensure that organisations challenging the rejection of an application for registration by the ministry responsible have an effective access to justice within a reasonable period.

• Amend article 42 of Law No. 84 of 2002 so as to reduce the number of and clarify the reasons for abolishing or suspending an organisation;
• Amend Law No. 84 of 2002 so as to give the courts exclusive jurisdiction in abolishing or suspending an association;
• Provide that an association which is the object of an abolition or suspension measure may continue its activities until the final judicial disposition of the measure.

• Put an end to the practice of seconding civil servants to associations, in particular by simply repealing article 12 of Law No. 84 of 2002;
• Rescind the possibility for the ministry responsible to oppose or demand changes in decisions made legally by the governing bodies of the associations;
• Abolish the obligation to seek prior authorisation for any public gathering of more than five people;
• Abolish all restrictions limiting the access of associations or their members to telephone, fax or internet services;
• Guarantee the access of associations to public media (press agencies, radio, television, newspapers, etc.);
• Lift all restrictions on cooperation or affiliation with foreign associations and organisations, in particular by abolishing the obligation to seek prior authorisation.

• Lift all existing restrictions on fund-raising and the solicitation of donations, in particular by allowing all the associations that wish to do so to solicit donations from the public at large;
• Lift all restrictions on obtaining funding from foreign sources and, in particular, amend Law No. 84 of 2002 so as to eliminate the obligation to seek prior authorisation by the ministry responsible for securing such funding;
• Put an end to all delaying and abusive practices of the authorities and require them, in particular, to ensure that the deadline of 60 days provided for in article 17 of Law No. 84 of 2002 is respected in practice.

3 - With regard to the climate required for the sustainable development of civil society

• Put an end to the intervention and interference of the security services at all stages of the life of associations and in all their activities;
• Put an end to harassment measures, including judicial measures, taken against human rights defenders and the members of organisations seen as hostile to the government;
• In so doing, rescind arbitrary administrative measures, such as those taken against the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services and  the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid;
• Adopt a genuinely participative approach towards civil society organisations and ensure, through an adequate consultative mechanism, that they will contribute to decision-making related to public policy;
• Promote and continue the ‘campaign of non-governmental organisations for freedom of organisation’ launched on 13 May 2007 by 34 NGOs (as a follow-up to the first collective report on ‘administrative and security harassment’ – the so-called ‘report on violations’).