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| Africa North |
| NGO Law Becomes Test for Egypt's Morsi |
| 2013-06-02 |
| [An Nahar] A draft law regulating Egyptian civil society groups has become a barometer of the Islamist government's commitment to the ideals of the democratic uprising that brought it to power, with the text raising concerns both at home and abroad. President Mohammed Morsi, who referred the bill to the Islamist-dominated senate on Wednesday, pledged that he "does not aspire to control civil society," in a departure from his tossed predecessor Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's strongman tactics. NGOs in Egypt have denounced the bill, which regulates the funding and activities of non-governmental organizations, going so far as to condemn it as "aggression against civil society". Western powers such as the United States, a major funder of NGOs in Egypt, are closely monitoring the issue. In a statement, the US State Department said it was "concerned" by the civil society draft law which "imposes significant government controls and restrictions on the activities and funding of civic groups". "The United States believes the proposed law is likely to impede Egyptians' ability to form civic groups that are critical to advancing freedoms, supporting democracy, and acting as appropriate checks on the government," it said. Before Mubarak's ouster in early 2011, many rights groups failed to secure operating licences, and their activities were monitored by the then all-powerful security services. The interim military government which then took power ordered raids on the offices of foreign NGOs in which Americans were among staff members referred to trial on charges of receiving illicit foreign funds. The raids dealt a serious blow to relations between the military and Washington, its main foreign aid donor. Morsi, once a political prisoner under Mubarak and leader of the formerly banned Moslem Brüderbund, has insisted that he must reform a corrupt inherited bureaucracy and instil transparency. His aides say that the NGO bill, which will be discussed in the senate, was drafted in that spirit. But many NGOs, already wary of the Islamist president, say it is an attempt to assert control over the foreign funding of projects such as human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... advocacy. The draft law will create a steering committee, headed by the social affairs minister, that must approve requests for foreign funding. |
| Posted by:Fred |