Egypt defends new NGO law

WASHINGTON/CAIRO: Egypt defended on Thursday a new law on non-governmental organisations that three US Republican senators have called “draconian”.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein also criticised the law, saying it “effectively hands administration of NGOs to the government”.

The law, issued on Monday after being ratified by President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, restricts NGO activity to developmental and social work and introduces jail terms of up to five years for non-compliance. Egyptian lawmakers said the law was necessary to protect national security.

The government has long accused human rights groups of taking foreign funds to sow chaos and several are facing investigation over their funding. Cairo’s foreign ministry denied the law aimed to restrict NGOs and said some of them “have gotten used to working outside the law... to defame the image of civil society in Egypt”. The UN Human Rights Chief Zeid said the new law makes rights defenders even more vulnerable than before.

In Egypt’s response, foreign ministry said: “It is important to be vigilant about the intention of some civil society entities that have gotten used to working outside the law, and that were harmed by the issuing of the new law, to defame the image of civil society in Egypt.”