133 Ministry for the registration of new associations, of which (190) were approved, compared to (49) which are still undergoing review. During the year, (326) associations, including branches of foreign institutions, obtained the necessary registration.164 The Non‐governmental Registration Department continued to send a copy of the registration application to the Security Services (the Intelligence and the Preventive Security). This is done to undertake what is known as “security clearance” in accordance with the instructions of the Interior Minister,165 in violation of the Association Law No. (1) of 2000, and its Executive Regulations No. (9) of 2003, neither of which mention the condition of safety security as a pre‐requirement for registration. This practice may also interfere with the determination process in the registration applications within a period of two months, as stipulated in the aforementioned law. In an internal agreement between the Non‐governmental Registration Department and the Security Services, the “security clearance” must be completed within a period of 21 days in order to complete the registration of the association in the time specified by law.166 An amendment has been made during the year 2010 to the registration of associations, represented in the cancellation of the Ministry of Jurisdiction’s approval of the previous registration of the association. Its role was limited after an association obtained the necessary registration and practiced its actual activity.167 It is worth‐mentioning that the approval of the Ministry of Jurisdiction had to be obtained before an association can then obtain the necessary registration by the Ministry of the Interior. Additionally, some citizens applied for the registration of associations at the Ministry of the Interior, but their applications were not answered either positively or negatively, despite the passage of the legal period stipulated by the law for an association to obtain the necessary registration. 2‐ Attacks on Associations and their Work Violations of the right to form associations and their work during the year 2010 took several forms, including 1) interference in the management of associations and their dissolution; 2) the exercise of the Interior Ministry’s authority for financial and administrative audits; and 3) the arrest and prosecution of the heads of associations and members of administrative bodies. Violations were as follows: 164 Interview with Ahmad Abu Zeid in the “Associations Department” at the Interior Ministry on 14/01/2011. 165 Ibid. 166 “ 167 “