Rights groups are criticizing new restrictions on protests approved by Egypt’s cabinet on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported.


If ratified by the upper house of parliament, the new rules would require demonstrators to notify officials of their protests three days in advance with a formal filing of their demands and the entity they are protesting, the Egypt Independent reported.


Egypt's Interior Ministry would have the right to cancel a protest. Security forces would be allowed to postpone an event or change a demonstration’s location or marching route.


The draft law also forbids protesters from covering their faces or carrying weapons during demonstrations, according to the Egypt Independent. Speaker platforms, tents and signs that are judged to be defamatory or insulting to religious or state institutions would also be banned, AFP reported.


In some ways, the new draft law is even more restrictive than the rules under former dictator Hosni Mubarak, says GlobalPost's senior correspondent in Cairo, Erin Cunningham.

Egypt protest restrictions: rights groups criticize new draft law | GlobalPost