Government Orders Closure of Egyptian Human Rights Group
 
September 20, 2007

On September 5, 2007, the Governor of Cairo issued a decree dissolving the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid (AHRLA).  The governor’s decision is based on an alleged breach of a law that prohibits NGOs from receiving funding from abroad without the prior authorization of the Ministry of Social Solidarity. 

AHRLA’s activities include exposure of human rights violations in Egypt and providing legal assistance to victims of torture. Its closure follows a number of repressive measures taken in recent months by the government in what appears to be an escalating clampdown on the Egyptian human rights movement.

The closure of AHRLA comes at a time when the parliament is expected to examine amendments to the law on NGOs that are very likely to impose further restrictions on the already-curtailed right to freedom of association.

Call on the Egyptian President to immediately repeal the decision to dissolve AHRLA and ensure that no additional restrictions are imposed on human rights NGOs.

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On September 5, 2007, the Governor of Cairo, Abdel Azim Wazir, issued a decree dissolving the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid (AHRLA) and appointing an official receiver to liquidate the association’s assets within a three-month period. The governor’s decision is based on the alleged breaching of Article 17, Paragraph 2 of the Associations Law (Number 84 of 2002) that prohibits NGOs from receiving funding from abroad without the prior authorization of the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

The governor’s decision to close down AHRLA appears to be in reprisal for its activities exposing human rights violations in Egypt and providing legal assistance to victims of torture.  In a statement released on September 9, 2007, more than 25 of the most prominent human rights groups in Egypt denounced the decision to shut down AHRLA as a measure taken by the government “in retaliation to [the association’s] significant role in exposing the institutionalized and widespread torture wave hitting Egypt.”

AHRLA has indeed been involved in a sustained effort to address the pervasive use of torture by the police and security forces and to support victims by representing them before the courts on a pro bono basis. Among AHRLA’s clients is the family of Mohamed Abdel Kader el-Sayed, who was reportedly tortured to death by a State Security officer. The case of al-Sayed was brought before the courts by the AHRLA resulting in the first prosecution since 1986 of a State Security officer for torture and ill-treatment.  However, despite the solid forensic evidence provided by AHRLA, the Sate Security officer suspected of torturing al-Sayed to death was acquitted by the court on September 5, 2007, the very same day that the decision to close the organization was announced.

AHRLA chairperson Tarek Khater told Human Rights First that the organization has not received any foreign funding since 2005 when it obtained a grant from the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED). At that time, AHRLA submitted more than a dozen requests to obtain permission from the Ministry of Social Solidarity to use these funds but has never received any response from the authorities. To avoid the paralysis of the organization and continue to carry out its projects, AHRLA eventually decided to start using the funds.

On September 16, 2007, the official receiver appointed by the dissolution decree came to the AHRLA office accompanied by a number of security officers and confiscated the organization’s checkbooks to prevent it from using its funds.

AHRLA has appealed the dissolution decree before the Egyptian Administrative Court (Majliss al-Dawla) and a hearing has been scheduled for October 21, 2007.
 
This is not the first time the Egyptian government has used the pretext of prior approval of foreign funding to crack down on the human rights community. In 1998, Hafez Abu Saada, Secretary General of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) was taken into detention and accused of taking money from foreign sources to defame the reputation of Egypt abroad. The accusations related to an EOHR report about human rights violations in Upper Egypt. In 2000, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, chair of Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies (ICDS), an NGO that promotes human rights and democratic reform in Egypt, was convicted along with other researchers at ICDS on charges of “receiving foreign funding without permission”, “disseminating false information abroad” and “misappropriation of funds”, and sentenced to seven years' hard labor. Following an international campaign to support Dr. Ibrahim and intense pressure from the international community, Egypt’s Court of Cassation ultimately declared his earlier trial improper and acquitted him and his associates at the Ibn Khaldoun Center of all charges.

It is noteworthy that the U.S. Senate, in an attempt to circumvent Egyptian government obstacles to the free functioning of independent non-governmental organizations in Egypt, has explicitly stated in the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 2764),  passed on September 6, 2007, that “with respect to the provision of assistance for Egypt for democracy, human rights and governance activities, the organizations implementing such assistance and the specific nature of that assistance shall not be subject to the prior approval by the Government of Egypt.”

The question of requiring government authorization in order for NGOs to receive funding from abroad has long been a controversial aspect of the Egyptian law on associations.  In her report to the U.N. General Assembly in October 2004, Hina Jilani, the U.N. Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, discussed this issue.  As she stated in paragraph 77 of her report, “Given the limited resources available for human rights organizations at the local level, legal requirements of prior authorization for international funding have seriously affected the ability of human rights defenders to carry out their activities.  In some cases, they have seriously endangered the very existence of human rights organizations. The ability of human rights defenders to carry out their activities rests on their ability to receive funds and utilize them without undue restriction, in accordance with article 13 of the Declaration.” She recommended in paragraph 82 (t) of this report that, “Access to funds, including from foreign sources, for the purpose of defending human rights should be ensured and facilitated by the law.”

The shutdown of AHRLA follows a number of repressive measures taken in recent months by the government in what appears to be a clampdown on the independent Egyptian human rights community. In December 2006, the Governor of al-Qalyubiyah province issued a decision to shut down the Ahalina Center for Egyptian Family Support and Development that provides legal aid as well as health and social services to the deprived inhabitants of the city of Shubra Al-Khayma. The closure of the Ahalina Center appeared to be a reprisal for its public criticism of the governor’s policies.

In April 2007, the Egyptian authorities closed down the headquarters and two branches of the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS), an independent NGO that provides legal aid to workers and monitors the situation of labor rights in Egypt. To justify the shut down of the CTUWS, the government claimed that the organization was inciting workers to strike and constituted a “threat to national security”. Following its closure, the CTUWS submitted a request to Ministry of Social Solidarity to register as the Center for Trade Unions and Human Affairs, but its request was rejected on August 14, 2007, for unexplained “security reasons.”

These developments come amid fears among civil society organizations that a bill to amend the Associations Law of 2002, drafted by Ministry of Social Solidarity officials without any input from them, will impose new restrictions on NGOs. The Ministry of Social Solidarity has reportedly finalized the amendment bill, which is expected to be examined soon by parliament. Human rights activists contacted by Human Rights First believe that the bill will particularly target a large number of human rights or legal aid groups that have chosen to register as civil companies or law firms to avoid the heavy restrictions imposed by the Associations Law. The amendments are expected to compel these groups to sacrifice their independence by obliging them to subject themselves to the onerous restrictions provided for in the 2002 Law.

The Egyptian human rights movement has very quickly mobilized itself in response to the closure of AHRLA. In its September 9 statement, the leading Egyptian human rights groups declare that “the attempt to shut down AHRLA will not pass, it's a show-down between us and this police-minded government, the government falsely believes that it can behave as it did with the union centre [the CTUWS] and hide this politically motivated decision behind a legal mask, which is an over-used practice. The government has no other resort but to reveal its true domineering face and send us to jail or to acknowledge the right of the civil society to work freely and independently".

A number of human rights groups, including the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRINFO), have offered to share their offices with AHRLA in case it is forced out of its office by the authorities. On September 16, representatives from civil society gathered outside the AHRLA office to show their support and solidarity. A series of peaceful protest actions have been scheduled for the next few weeks by civil society groups including the closing down of their websites on September 23, a strike on September 30, a demonstration on October 4 and a sit-in before the Administrative Court on October 21.  

Sample Letter

His Excellency President Husni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Ras Al –Teen Presidential Palace
Cairo, Egypt

Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my deep concern about your government’s decision to close down the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid (AHRLA) and urge you to immediately take action to repeal this decision so that the organization can continue its important work.

As you are aware, the Governor of Cairo, Mr. Abdel Azim Wazir, issued on September 5, 2007, a decree dissolving AHRLA and appointing an official receiver to liquidate the association’s assets within a three-month period. The governor’s decision is based on the alleged breaching of article 17, paragraph 2 of the Associations Law number 84 of 2002 that prohibits NGOs from receiving funding from abroad without the prior authorization of the Ministry of Social Solidarity. 

The governor’s decision to close down AHRLA appears to be in reprisal for the organization’s activities to expose human rights violations in Egypt and provide legal assistance to victims of torture. The AHRLA has been involved in a sustained effort to address the pervasive use of torture by the police and security forces and support the victims by representing them before the courts on a pro bono basis. Among AHRLA’s clients is the family of Mohamed Abdel Kader el-Sayed, who was reportedly tortured to death by a State Security officer. The case of al-Sayed was brought before the courts by AHRLA, resulting in the first prosecution since 1986 of a State Security officer for torture and ill-treatment.  However, despite the solid forensic evidence provided by AHRLA, the Sate Security officer suspected of torturing al-Sayed to death was acquitted by the court on September 5, 2007, the very same day the decision to close the organization was announced.

AHRLA has not received any foreign funding since 2005, when it obtained a grant from the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED). At that time, AHRLA submitted more than a dozen requests to obtain permission from the Ministry of Social Solidarity to use these funds but has never received any response from the authorities.

On September 16, 2007, the official receiver appointed by the dissolution decree came to AHRLA office accompanied by a number of security officers and confiscated the organization’s checkbooks to prevent it from using its funds.

The shutdown of AHRLA follows the closure in December 2006 of the Ahalina Center for Egyptian Family Support and Development that provides legal aid and social services to the deprived inhabitant of the city of Shubra Al-Khayma and in April 2007 of the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services, an NGO that provides legal aid to workers and monitors the situation of labor rights in Egypt.

These developments come amid fears that the bill amending the Association Law of 2002 which is due to be examined by parliament soon will impose new restrictions on NGOs.

The decision to shut down AHRLA appears designed to punish it for exposing human rights violations and prevent it from providing legal assistance to victims of torture.

Your Excellency, the closure of the AHRLA constitutes a serious violation of Egypt's Constitution and its international obligations to respect freedom of association.

The Egyptian Constitution states in Article 55 that “citizens shall have the right to form societies as defined in the law. The establishment of societies whose activities are hostile to the social system, clandestine or have a military character is prohibited.”

Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Egypt in 1982, states that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests” and adds that “no restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”

The decision to dissolve AHRLA under the pretext that it received foreign funding without prior government permission is also a clear violation of the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998.  Article 5 of the Declaration states: “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels... to form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups.” Article 13 provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to solicit, receive and utilize resources for the express purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means…”

As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Egypt should behave as a model in its support for human rights defenders. Instead, it seems that the Egyptian government has chosen to seek to silence the human rights community and to prevent it from conducting its legitimate, peaceful activities.  

Your Excellency, I strongly urge you to intervene without delay to:

- Immediately and unconditionally repeal the decision to dissolve AHRLA and return its confiscated checkbooks.

- Ensure that the amendments of the 2002 Associations Law will not impose new restrictions on the human rights movement but will instead provide a freer environment for human rights NGOs to perform their activities.

Thank you for your attention to these pressing matters. I will continue to monitor this situation closely. 

CC:

Mr. Ali el-Moselhi
Minister of Social Solidarity
Ministry of Social Solidarity
99 el-Kasr Eleiny Street, al-Tahrir
Cairo, Egypt