The wide-ranging restrictions and draconian sanctions proposed to be implemented on non-government organizations represent a danger to the democratic evolution of Egypt.
Under the proposed rules, all NGOs operating in Egypt face an ultimatum of registering by November 10 for a license that would give the state unfettered control of their activities, or face the risk of imprisonment for the undefined crime of “committing acts against the state’s interests”.
According to Ahram Online,
“The amended article – Article 78 of the penal code – now states that offenders who receive foreign or local funding or items to commit acts against the state's interests, "shall be punished by life imprisonment and a fine no less than 500 thousand Egyptian pounds and no more than what he has been given or promised. “This punishment could be raised to execution if the perpetrator is a public servant or holds a public representative status, or "if he committed the crime at wartime or for the purpose of terrorism."
Coptic Solidarity fully recognizes the very real battle that Egypt is fighting to combat terrorism from the Muslim Brotherhood, and increasingly from those joining ISIS, and the importance of stopping foreign funding that sponsors terrorist activities on Egypt’s soil. Such exigencies, however, must not be used as an excuse to suffocate civil society. The Egyptian state, like any other civilized state, must allow civil society freedom to function and provide accountability to government and society at large, while simultaneously protecting the safety of its citizens. By using overbroad language, the NGO rules conflate the terrorist activities of the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood with the dedicated efforts of those seeking to promote the rights of the disabled, women and religious minorities, help the poor, provide media accountability and advance democracy.
Stifling civil society not only undermines the very freedoms enshrined in the country’s recently approved constitution, but delegitimizes the Egyptian state and Egypt at large. It implies that the government has motives or actions to hide in suppressing the natural checks and balances brought by watchful NGOs. Revitalizing Mubarak-era controls will only further frustrate the millions who protested to bring progressive change and democracy to Egypt, and with it elevate the risks of disaffected individuals joining the manipulative Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist groups.
Coptic Solidarity seeks equal citizenship for the Copts of Egypt and an end to the systematic discrimination that Copts as well as other religious minorities endure in Egypt. We commend President El-Sisi’s efforts to develop the flagging economy and protect Egyptians from the turmoil wrought by Islamist terrorists, but we urge a rethinking of the misguided rules on NGOs. The path towards a stable, prosperous and inclusive Egypt can never be achieved by silencing those who speak and advocate for the weakest in Egyptian society.
