Vague wording on national unity in new decree has led to concerns that it will be used to silence journalists and activists
Egyptian rights groups and journalists paid by foreign news outlets fear they are the target of a presidential decree banning the receipt of foreign money for activity deemed harmful to national interests.
The law, issued this week by the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, permits courts to hand down life sentences to anyone judged to be using funding or weapons from overseas to undermine unity.
Though nominally aimed at terrorists, the law’s vague wording has led rights activists and journalists to fear it will also be used to silence them. Many Egyptian rights groups rely on foreign funding to survive, and journalists and NGO workers have previously been prosecuted for being an alleged threat to national unity.
“It’s a crazy amendment,” said Mohamed Lotfy, executive director of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. “If implemented, the broad scope of the article could easily be misused by prosecutors and police to arrest human rights defenders, on the basis that their work harms national interest.
“Making a film about poverty or writing a report about a protest or attacks on Copts or human rights abuses in Sinai could be deemed harmful to national unity.”
Egypt’s penal code contains other similar articles that can also be used to target rights groups. But this latest amendment has particularly frightened activists and international journalists because it comes as the government considers implementing other legislation to restrict civil society.
NGOs were recently told they had until November to agree to additional restrictions on their activity or risk being shut down. The timing of the new decree adds to concerns that rights groups could be the next target of a 14-month government crackdown on dissent, which has led to the arrest of tens of thousands of protesters and activists.
“There are so many of these articles in the penal code already that can be used in the same abusive way,” Lotfy said. “What is worrying about the new article is that it’s a signal to prosecutors that this issue is very important and that they should look for people who violate it.”
The head of the department responsible for NGOs at Egypt’s ministry for social affairs, Ayman Abdelmawgud, claimed he had not heard of the decree. Other spokespeople could not be reached for comment.
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