Leading up to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s Tuesday meeting with US President Donald Trump, intense lobbying efforts were underway in Washington from civil society groups and some US officials for the American leader to raise human rights concerns with his counterpart. 

The planned constitutional amendments in Egypt that would allow Sisi to stay in office until 2034 and cement power in the country’s military establishment are alarming to civil society groups and members of US Congress. Another longstanding concern has been Egypt’s laws pertaining to non-governmental organizations.

In November 2016, Egypt’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to pass what domestic and international critics claim is a draconian piece of legislation that restricts or completely inhibits the ability of NGOs to operate. The law, which was ratified in May 2017 by Sisi, requires an onerous registration processes, puts crippling restraints on foreign funding and criminalizes peaceful and civic activism. Failure to comply can result in a five-year prison sentence and up to a million Egyptian pounds (about $55,000) in fines.

A number of NGOs, including the Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, has already had their assets frozen and much of their work severely curtailed. Feminist organizations like Nazra for Feminist Studies and others working to improve the rights of women have been caught in the crackdown.