Cairo 13th of October 2003
with Law 84/2002
Dear Friends,
Once again we share with you the developments of our association:
The Egyptian Association against Torture.
12th of July 2003,
We delivered 7 copies of our file including the bylaws of the Egyptian Association against torture, which had previously sent to you to keep you informed of our intended activities. We delivered the files at the office of the Ministry of Social Affairs in the Tahrir Compound and were given a receipt
therefore. We marked the 12th of September (after 60 days) as the final date for the administrative body to express its opinion according to the legal procedures specified in the law. And we started working.
18th of August 2003,
We received a letter from the Abdeen Social administration concerned with associations addressed to the representative of the founders. The letter was singed by the General Director and was dated the 18th August 2003 and had a serial number of 6007. It stated: “ We are sorry to return to you five files concerning the Egyptian Association against Torture since some of its objectives mentioned in its bylaws contradict law 84/2003 of associations and institutions. We consider that an interruption of the legal ultimatum (of 60 days).
20th of August 2003,
We received another letter signed by the General Director on the 16th of August 2003, i.e. 2 days before the first one!!! with serial number 5089 date 18/8/2003. It stated: “In reference to the request submitted by you and the papers for the registration of the Egyptian Association against Torture (under establishment) we request that you come to the headquarters of the administration in the Tahrir compound to change some of the objectives that contradict the provision of law 84/2002. This letter is considered an interruption of the legal ultimatum as mentioned in article 6 of law 84.”
22nd of August 2003,
The Egyptian Association against torture issued another statement including the recent developments where it quoted the above letter. Our statement also said that: “Since the administrative authority did not bother to specify areas of “contradiction” we went through the files and documented all paragraph marked with an (X) or crossed with an (X), assuming that these are the rejected points. Should we be wrong in our understanding it is the responsibility of MOSA to officially and comprehensively inform us of its objections regarding our activity.
We also wish to ensure that we shall continue to use all democratic means to support victims or torture and their families and to persecute their torturers locally, regionally and internationally”. We had no choice but to write to the Ministry of Social Affairs to clarify that the law, which they are entrusted with its implementation, requires that it specifies, in writing, the aspects of legal breach as mentioned in paragraph (3) of article 11 of the law of associations which states that: “If the administrative body, within the 60 days period, identifies that the objectives of the association are in any way breaching article 11 of this law, it should refuse the registration request with a causative decision and should inform thereof the representative of the founders with a registered letter, within 60 days as mentioned in the third paragraph of the previous article”.
7th and 8th of September 2003,
In response to those developments we sent two memos, delivered by a state official, registered as 25611/7/9/2003 and 1508/8/9/2003. In the first we stressed that the legal period mentioned in article six of law 84/2002 was legally not interrupted regarding the establishment of the Egyptian Association against Torture and that the legal period starts on the day we have submitted our papers i.e. the 12th of July 2003, and that in case the Ministry refuses to consider the 12th of July the beginning of the legal ultimatum it would be thereby committing the crime mentioned in article 123 since it refuses to implement the law.
The second memo was concerning the return of the papers for the establishment of the Egyptian Association against Torture (i.e. the papers that were sent with the letter no. 6007 which reached the association on the 23rd of August 2003). In case the ministry refuses to accept those papers it will have to bear all the legal consequences thereof. In the meantime the legal ultimatum will continue to be calculated since the 12th of July 2003 and we shall retain all rights involved consequent to the two memos.
12th of September,
End of legal ultimatum. The Egyptian Association against torture is established according to Law 84/2002.
14th of September 2003,
A third letter came from the administrative body carrying the serial number 6311/14/9/2003 and addressed to Mr. Hisham Mubarak, lawyer at Hisham Mubarak Center. The letter contained all returned papers to complete them according to the law. The letter did not refer to article 11. The Director of Hisham Mubarak Center refused to receive the letter since it was addressed to the late Hisham Mubarak who died in the beginning of 1998 and since it was sent to an address other than that of the association.
21st of September 2003,
The fourth letter arrived from the Ministry of Social Affairs. It carried the serial number 6391/21/9/2003 and was addressed to Mr. Emad Mubarak. The letter concerned the return of the registration papers because the bylaws contravened law 84/2002. Mr. Emad refused to receive the letter since it did not specify how the bylaws contravened the law.
24th of September 2003,
Finally, and 12 days later after the end of the legal ultimatum for the objection of the administrative body, the “truth” was revealed, as we received a letter from the Ministry of Social Affairs with the serial number 6428. The letter stated the following:
Cairo Governorate
Abdeen Social Administration – Associations
Mr. Emad Mubarak representative of the founders of the Egyptian Association against Torture
Kind greetings,
We herewith return to you the papers of the association to be declared by the name of the Egyptian Association against Torture, since its objectives contravene the provisions of law 84/2002 both concretely and in spirit. Furthermore because it explicitly breaches public order as clarified in the following:
First: the objectives of the association include that it will:
Work to change Egyptian legislation in accordance with human rights conventions and in particular the convention against torture. It will also advocate that Egypt joins the international conventions of human rights, which it did not yet join.
Does the constitution state that civil associations are among the bodies concerned with legislation and passing laws and change them from your point of view?
Second: Its objectives also included that it will establish pressure groups to lobby decision makers and campaign against the crimes of torture and that it will participate in local and Arab and International activities and networks that address issues related to torture.. .. etc.
Did the constitution or the law state the formation of pressure groups or the formation of international and Arab networks?
Therefore you can see that the objectives of the association are an explicit contravention of article 11 of law 84/2002 and also of the constitution which has exclusively specified that agencies entitled to legislation and change of laws and it did not mention your planned association as one of them. Furthermore the joining of international networks under any pretext or name the formation of pressure groups to lobby decision makers is considered a breach of public order first and the law second.
We had previously sent you correspondences nos. 5089 dated 18/8/2003 and 6311 dated 14/9/2003 and 3931 dated 21/9/2003 to correct your situation in accordance with law 84/2002 or else we regret not to register the association.
Sent to inform
(Signed by the reviser, the director of the administration and the general director on the 23rd of September 2003)
Accordingly, if the Ministry of Social Affairs in well intended in the questions it poses to us, we are nice enough to provide it with the answers:
Yes!
The constitution grants all citizens the right to criticize existing laws and to demand and suggest legislative changes, all of which are matters central to the rights of citizens, individually or in groups, and irrespective of the form of their organization trade union, party, association or even a group of people without any legal formula or structure.
Yes!
The formation of pressure groups is the core of any democratic regime and is mentioned in article (5) of the Egyptian constitution.
Yes!
The participation in international and Arab networks is central to the work of civil association and it is one of the components of the right of gathering and the right to freedom of expression granted by articles 56 and 47 of the Egyptian constitution respectively.
If the Ministry of Social Affairs has any doubts in that regards it only needs to revise the bylaws of the National Council for Women, which, although not a legislative body, states in its objectives to influence decision makers in order to change national legislation in accordance with .. ..
However, if the Ministry of Social Affairs is being sarcastic and intimidating, believing that it is informing the ignorant, then we shall have to settle that in court.
Until then, we continue to be committed to use all democratic means to support victims of torture and their families and to prosecute the perpetrators nationally, regionally and internationally.
We shall continue to:
a.. Spread and develop a public consciousness against torture and organized violence, especially state violence. The association will work towards reducing the spread f torture with a vision to eradicate all its contributing factors, be they a culture that is tolerant with the persistence of violence, or an official policy that provides a cover for official violence as a tool to suppress or terrorize citizens or as a tool to collect evidence.
b.. Disseminate concepts and culture of human rights to create a public opinion that rejects policies that are conducive to the humiliation, demeaning and oppression of citizens.
c.. Advocate for the change of Egyptian laws in accordance with human rights conventions, foremost the convention against torture; for Egypt’s endorsement of human rights conventions which it has not joined yet; for more enforcement of the effectiveness of international conventions and study of Egypt’s reservations with a view to remove them; for Egypt to join international acknowledged mechanisms that entitle individuals to seek their rights through international organizations.
For that end we shall
d.. Produce and publish studies, research, leaflets, booklets and use the Internet.
e.. Organize conferences, seminars, discussion groups and training workshops and participate in them locally, regionally, and internationally.
f.. Participate in local, Arab and international activities and networks that address the issue of torture and are influential in that field.
g.. Form pressure groups to lobby decision-makers to introduce legislative changes that criminalize all forms of torture and cruel or degrading or humiliation treatment mentioned in the international convention against all forms of torture, and to abolish all laws that are obstructive to holding perpetrators accountable to justice.
h.. Receive complaints regarding incidents of torture; monitor and
document them and submit them to agencies of prosecution. We shall use the
mechanism of national, Arab and international persecution to prosecute
Egyptian perpetrators of torture.
i.. Provide solidarity to victims of torture and provide them and their families with legal, health and social support nationally, regionally and internationally.
j.. Organize activities and campaigns against the crime of torture as a violation of human rights; document and disclose those violations and see that their perpetrators come before justice.
Founder (in alphabetical order)
a.. Abdallah Mansour
b.. Adel Mashad
c.. Adel Wassily (Secretary General)
d.. Aida Seif El Dawla (Chair)
e.. Alaa Kamal
f.. Basma Abdel Aziz
g.. Emad Mubarak
h.. Gasser Abdel Razek
i.. Hossam Bahgat (Vice chair)
j.. Khaled Ali Omar (Board member)
k.. Laila Soueif
l.. Magda Adly (Treasurer)
m.. Maha Youssef
n.. Mona Hamed
o.. Ragia Gersawi
p.. Suzan Fayad
Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj
Director-General
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