London — Independent organizations in Egypt face a looming crackdown, 44 international and national human rights groups from across the global said today in a joint statement.
The Egyptian Social Solidarity Ministry placed an advertisement in leading state newspaper Al-Ahram on July 18, 2014, giving all Egyptian and international non-governmental organizations until September 2 to register under Law 84/2002, a restrictive measure passed during the Mubarak rule. This law empowers the government to shut down any group virtually at will, freeze its assets, confiscate its property, reject nominees to its governing board, block its funding, or deny requests to affiliate with international organizations. The law also does not indicate that NGOs have the right to appeal the decision.
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