[JURIST] Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi [BBC backgrounder] signed [Mada Masr report] a controversial NGO law that was approved by the Parliament in November. The law was published in the Official Gazette [official website, Arabic] on Monday went into effect Tuesday. The legislation will create a new government agency, the National Authority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations, which will monitor all organizations receiving foreign aid to ensure that the funds are being spent in an approved manner. Non-compliance with the law will lead to one to five years in prison and a fine between LE50,000 and 1 million. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail [official profile] will have two months to issue implementing bylaws related to the law, and all NGOs have until May 30, 2018, to register with the newly formed National Authority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations. Parliamentarian Haitham al-Hariry, a member of the 25-30 Coalition in opposition to the law, told local media that al-Sisi’s decision to approve the bill was surprising to many MPs and that the legislation will harm Egypt’s international public image. The law has been widely condemned [Mada Masr report] by international NGO groups and members of the US Congress.

The bill was approved [JURIST report] by the Egyptian legislature on November 14, where it also received heavy criticism from human rights groups. Egypt has in general been under fire lately for violating human rights and trying to silence protests. In September UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai, warned [JURIST report] that the Egyptian government “seems to be systematically attacking civil society in an effort to silence its voice.” In June an Egyptian court froze [JURIST report] the assets of five human rights activists and three NGOs for allegedly accepting unauthorized funds from foreign countries.