A/HRC/32/36/Add.3 423. Regarding the cases of journalists, Mr. Hisham Ahmed Awad Jafar and Mr. Ismail Alexandrani, the Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern about the apparent reason for their arrest and detention is for their work as journalists (EGY 1/2016). He urges the Government to respond to the communication sent. 424. The Special Rapporteur would like to take this opportunity to reminds the Government of Egypt of its obligation “to respect and fully protect the rights of all individuals to assemble peacefully and associate freely, online as well as offline, including in the context of elections, and including persons espousing minority or dissenting views or beliefs, human rights defenders, trade unionists and others, including migrants, seeking to exercise or to promote these rights, and to take all necessary measures to ensure that any restrictions on the free exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law” (A/HRC/RES/24/5, operative para. 2). NGO Law (84/2002) 425. NGO Law (84/2002) has been utilized arbitrarily against organisations who seek to carry out peaceful and legitimate human rights activities or express dissenting views. The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government to end the restrictions, including travel bans and licensing restrictions, on civil society exercising their right to freedom of association. 426. In the case of the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture, the Special Rapporteur expresses his serious concern about the “administrative closing order” issued and attempt to forcibly close the organisation under the NGO Law (EGY 3/2016). He urges the Government to respond to the communication sent. 427. Regarding the use of travel bans to restrict the movement of human rights activists to travel abroad (EGY 10/2015), the Special Rapporteur remains concerned in the cases of, inter alia, Mr. Hossameldin Ali, Ms. Esraa Abdel Fattah and Mr. Ahmed Ghonim of the Egyptian Democratic Academy, various staff members of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and human rights defender, Mr. Mohamed Lotfy. 428. The Special Rapporteur repeats his calls to the Government of Egypt to review NGO Law (84/2002) and to bring it into line with international human rights norms and standards. Laws and Ministerial Decrees on artistic censorship 429. Several laws and Ministerial Decrees impose severe restrictions on the right to freedom of artistic expression and the right to freedom of association that go well beyond the requirements of proportionality and necessity (EGY 9/2015). The instruments of concern are the Law the censorship of audio-visual materials (Law 430/1955 amended by Law 38/1992); the Prime Ministerial Decree on the implementation regulation for audiovisual materials (162/1993); Minister of Culture Decree on censorship of artistic works (220/1976); and the Law on the Federation of Artistic Syndicates (Law 35/1978). 430. The Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern for the prohibition of artistic works under these instruments and urges the Government of Egypt to review and amend these instruments to bring them into compliance with, inter alia, the right to freedom of association provided under articles 22 and 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Egypt in 1982, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Egypt in 1982, respectively. 431. Under the Law on the Federation of Artistic Syndicates (Law 35/1978), the Special Rapporteur is concerned that artists may be imprisoned for not joining the relevant professional syndicate (acting, film production, music) or obtaining a temporary work 63