The passing of the law
3
- Conditions of the Human Rights Movement in Egypt Under the New NGOs Law No. 153 of 1999
The promulgation of the Law No. 53/1999 marks the beginning of a new phase in the operation of civil society organizations, particularly the human rights organizations in Egypt. Before the passing of the law, NGOs were operating under a dual legislative framework. Human rights organizations previously worked under the civil law, which gave them a great deal of freedom in their activities. Other NGOs, however, came under the restrictions enshrined in Law No.32/1964.
In this stage those active in the human rights movement were optimistic about the progress of human rights and democracy. With the new law, however, it has become clear that the cause of democracy in Egypt has suffered a setback. This suggests the need for the rights movement to reassess its priorities in order to advance towards real democracy. Many of the problems within the rights movement itself stem from the fact that in its early days, no clear methods of operation were established. These methods must now be developed.
The new law, which aims to suppress the rights movement, is an essentially anti-democratic measure.
The campaign against the law has revealed several positions and points of view within the rights movement.
The coming phase is distinguished by the dominance of anti-democratic forces as the passing of the law may suggest. This followed a two-year consultation process on the draft law, which was essentially conceived to accrue the approval of international organizations dealing with human rights.
In this paper, we shall examine the current state of the human rights movement in Egypt, and we shall divide it into the following sections:
The main features of Law 153
The passing of the law
The Egyptian human
rights movement
The structure of the human rights movement in
Egypt
Basic requirements for
the activities of the human rights movement