Your Excellency Mr. Mohamed Morsi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt,
In the name of the EMHRN, I wish to present our respects and congratulations for your election. Your election is the result of a courageous revolution that cost many lives and sacrifices to the Egyptian people, and the result of the first free and fair presidential elections in the history of Egypt.
Your task and responsibility are now immense. Beyond the Egyptian people, the Arab peoples and many other peoples in the world look to you and to Egypt to show the way in the construction of a civil state and the rule of law and translate into reality the values of the Egyptian revolution: Freedom, Dignity and Democracy; a state for all its citizens with equality.
Former President of EMHRN, Kamel Jendoubi, along with other representatives from the EMHRN and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) – met with you in February 2012 to discuss the situation of Freedom of Association in Egypt.
On this occasion we had a fruitful discussion on the important role of civil society in the revolution and in the consolidation of a democratic society and the rule of law. We particularly addressed the issue of the regulation of civil society organizations, NGOs’ access to foreign funding subject to rational legal conditions of transparency and good governance, and more broadly the respect for Pluralism and Human Rights for all without discrimination on the basis of Gender, Religion, Race or other reasons.
We seize the opportunity of this letter to call on your Excellency to keep your commitment to these values, and respectfully ask you to:
- Facilitate the establishment of a democratic legislative and constitutional framework that respects Human Rights, Gender Equality and confirms international Human Rights agreements above national legislation ;
- Encourage legal reform and institutional mechanisms to secure full Gender Equality and the end to all forms of discrimination and violence against Women;
- Guarantee the legal and practical conditions for freedom of association, in particular reforming NGO law nº 84 of 2002 to make it conform to international standards. We highly recommend to consult Egyptian and international civil society organizations and take into consideration the Egyptian NGO coalition’s draft law presented to the Parliament in 2012;
- Encourage the reform of the Judiciary to guarantee a clear separation of powers and the development of an independent judiciary branch that abides by international standards;
- Ensure Egypt’s cooperation with the international Human Rights mechanisms, including the signature of Human Rights treaties and optional protocols and inviting or accepting the demands for visit of different United Nations Special Rapporteurs
In the hope that these recommendations will modestly contribute to your task and trusting that you will be worthy of the great hopes of the Egyptian transition, we remain at your disposal for any further contribution.
Please accept our most respectful regards,
Michel Tubiana,
EMHRN President.