Saturday, June 1, 2013

Egypt: 'foundations for a new police state'

Morsi under fire over draft law to regulate NGOs


By Brian Whitaker


"Old habits die hard, and some of the new Arab leaders seem unable to break away from the authoritarian mindset. In Egypt, President Morsi has produced a new draft law "regulating" the activities of NGOs and human rights groups in much the same way that the Mubarak regime used to regulate them.

The draft is now awaiting approval from the Islamist-dominated Shura Council. An earlier draft attracted fierce criticism, both inside and outside Egypt but the new version appears to be only slightly less bad.
On Thursday, forty Egyptian NGOs issued a joint statement attacking the revised draft and accusing the government of laying the foundations for a new police state "by exceeding the Mubarak regime’s mechanisms to suppress civil society"....... 

The right of people to act collectively – and independently of governments – for the sake of shared interests, purposes and values is one of the building blocks of a free and open society.
Arab governments have traditionally sought to restrict such activity, though the Arab Spring protests raised hopes that this would change.

Restrictions on civil society, though often scandalous in nature, tend to get less attention from the international media than more dramatic events. For the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with this issue, I have posted an extract from my book, What's Really Wrong with the Middle East, which explains the background to the problem and why freedom of association is vital if Arabs are to achieve accountable government. "

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