CAIRO, Dec 9 (Aswat Masriya) - The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) announced on Tuesday the relocation of its programmes outside Egypt, citing threats to human rights and civil society organisations.

"[CIHRS] has decided to move its regional and international programs outside Egypt in light of the ongoing threats to human rights organisations and the declaration of war on civil society," a statement released by the centre read.

Relocation was paticularly triggered by the "expiration of the deadline set by the Ministry of Social Solidarity for 'unregistered entities' to register under a draconian associations law, ... and the deterioration of human rights to a level unprecedented in Egypt’s modern history."

The ministry urged on July 18 all domestic and international NGOs operating within Egypt to register under Law 84/2002, which governs the activities of NGOs, before September 2, later extended to November 10.

The law gives the government the power to shut down NGOs, freeze their assets, confiscate their property, block their funding or deny their requests to be affiliated with international organisations. Under this law, independent groups which practice unauthorised activities can receive a penalty of up to one year in prison.

CIHRS has relocated to the cradle of the Arab Spring, Tunisia, whose "democratic NGO law" was hailed by the centre as one of the "major accomplishments" of the first weeks of the 2011 Tunisian revolution.

Mohamed Zaree, programme director at CIHRS, recently told Reuters that he doesn't think that "human rights movement in Egypt is going to be able to work safely," adding that his group and others were working in a restricted environment, constantly worried that the state would view their work as an attempt to "stain the national image".

Seven Egyptian human rights organisations of The Forum of Independent Human Rights Organisations, including CIHRS, refrained from participating in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session for Egypt on November 7, for fear of "retaliatory measures or persecution" by the Egyptian authorities.

The UPR, which reviews the human rights records of all United Nations Member States at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, scrutinised Egypt's human rights record in the past four years, which have witnessed Egypt’s most politically volatile conditions in decades. Egypt's ministry of transitional justice said that the country received around 314 recommendations by around 122 states.

The Forum, comprised of 19 domestic rights groups, had submitted in March its independent report to the UN Human Rights Council, where it tracked "huge deterioration" in Egypt’s human rights record during the past four years. 

CIHRS was founded in 1993, and is registered in several countries including Egypt, Tunisia, and Switzerland.