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Freedom of association and civil society in Egypt

12/05/2009 By Kristina Kausch

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The earthquake of unprecedented social mobilisation throughout 2005 triggered hopes that Egypt would finally move towards a genuine democratic opening and lead the region away from its long history of authoritarianism. However, these hopes have now largely faded away. For the time being, talk of democratisation in Egypt seems to be off the agenda. Egyptian rights NGOs are working under increasingly heavy pressure from the government.

This paper by Kristina Kausch analyses freedom of association in Egypt and identifies the main obstacles that Egyptian NGOs, political parties and unions are facing. The planned amendments to the already restrictive Associations Law are likely to further limit the space in which civil society is able to operate. The extralegal role of the Security Services in monitoring and harassing political activists impedes the latter from taking any legal action.

The permanent State of Emergency gives the government unlimited powers to restrict the activities of NGOs, unions, political parties and the media at will. These harsh conditions for Egyptian civil society are even more severe in light of the approaching power shift into a post-Hosni Mubarak era, marked by a tense political stalemate.


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Freedom of association in the Middle East and North Africa
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Keywords

Authoritarian regimes Civil society Democracy Democratisation Dialogue Egypt Freedom of association Freedom of expression Governance Human rights Hybrid Regimes Middle East Middle East and North Africa North Africa Political Reform Rule of Law

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Bio author: Kristina Kausch

Democracy promotion. Maghreb. Egypt. Morocco. Tunisia. Mediterranean. Political Islam.