Justice minister says investigating NGO funding is legitimate

Egyptian Justice Minister, Judge Adel Abdel Hamid Cairo – Akram Ali Egyptian Justice Minister, Judge Adel Abdel Hamid, stated on Sunday that searching  Civil Society Organizations was legal, and took place as mandated by the Prime Minister to form a fact-finding committee concerning foreign funds received by these organizations. He pointed out that the committee recommended the referral of the case to the general prosecutors or assigning investigation judges from the Ministry of Justice to follow up. Meanwhile, Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga claimed responsibility for opening the file of foreign funding to some of the civil society organizations, violating Egyptian laws, noting that the US funds some of these organizations in Egypt with approximately 1.3 billion Egyptian pounds (200 million dollars), an amount she described as “very large.”
Justice Minister Adel Abdel Hamid, in a joint press conference with Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abul Naga held in Cairo, revealed details of what he called “searching organizations and investigating illegal foreign funds,” refuting referring to the procedure as “storming” of these offices.
“Investigation judges were assigned December 11 2011, to follow up with the activities of human rights and civil organizations in Egypt, reaching 35000 organizations, besides individuals who have directly received foreign funds,” Abdel Hamid said.
Abdel Hamid pointed out that the searches were mandated by the investigating judge, to look into the legality of a number of organizations which receive foreign funds by violating the Egyptian penalty law, explaining that the investigating judge derives his authority from the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows general prosecution to carry out investigations.
“All actions taken by the investigating judge were in the framework of the law… it was not raiding or storming as some people described it,” he stressed, and further added “there have been no abuses by the general prosecutor or the security, whose role was limited to securing the process of the search, which proves that the procedures were legitimate.
Justice Minister said that the investigating judge would carry on with his assigned work until he reaches results, which are to be immediately revealed to the public upon completion, stressing that “the current Egyptian government is keen on holding on to all the revolutions’ codes relevant to human rights… within the context of respecting the Egyptian law.”
Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abul Naga stated that the she informed US ambassador to Cairo, Ann Patterson, of the facts of searching the organizations’ offices, promising to legalize the work of some Cairo-based US organizations, with respect to the Egyptian law.
“This was not a raid or a storming or an attack. It was an investigation,” she said. “There are foreign civil society groups that began operating without permission, which is totally outside the law.”
Abul Naga claimed responsibility for opening the file of the foreign funding of some civil society organizations, violating the Egyptian law, stressing that “the US funded some organizations in Egypt with approximately 200 million USD.”
“Because of my position, I am responsible for following up with foreign aid files… aid programs are programs that provide developmental aid, and are carried out through agreements between governments, which are to organize such aids,” she pointed out, adding “the ministry is keen on providing funding resources to Egyptian registered civil society organizations, in accordance with the law 84 of 2002, which organizes the work of civil societies in Egypt through the international cooperation program.”
Abul Naga pointed out that countries worldwide, including the US, warn against funding organizations involved in political activities.  She explained that on account of the serious mistakes committed by unofficial organizations she “submitted an evaluation to the Prime Ministry last July, and it has decided that the former Justice Minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz al-Guindy was to form a fact-finding committee for the activities of these organization. The committee submitted their report, including the results reached last September,” which eventually led to the referral of the fact-finding committee results to the investigating judge.