For Immediate Release: February 12, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO - As the arrests and draconian convictions of alleged homosexuals in Egypt intensify, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) issued a call to the Bush Administration and the European Union to pressure Egypt's government to end the campaign of persecution and to release the men now in prison.

"The US and The European Union cannot ignore the human rights records of their allies," stated Scott Long, IGLHRC's Program Director. "Because of charges about their consensual sexual conduct, scores of innocent people are tortured and sent to prison or hard labor in Egypt," he added--"and the Egyptian government is rewarded with hard cash."

"We have documented cases that all follow the same pattern: entrapment, unjust accusations with fabricated evidence, police beatings, biased courts and media -- all leading to heavy sentences," said Mr. Long. "We fear we have only seen the tip of the iceberg."

Only last week, the Agouza Court of Misdemeanors sentenced another defendant, Zaki S., to 3 years' imprisonment, followed by 3 years of probation.

Homosexual acts are not expressly criminalized in Egypt, but the government has used provisions of a 1961 law to target them, charging suspected homosexuals with "habitual practice of debauchery" and with prostitution.

"Homosexuality is not a crime and is not obscene," added Mr. Long. "Jailing and torturing innocent people is both, and the US and the EU need to make that distinction perfectly clear."

The US government remains silent. The EU and European governments remain silent as well, except for small symbolic gestures. In Europe, French President Chirac's voiced his guarded "concern" to Egyptian President Mubarak on February 8. In the US and in some European countries small groups of politicians have lodged protests as well.

On the other hand, the European Parliament approved on November 30 an Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement for economic cooperation between Egypt and the European Union, barely two weeks after 23 men were convicted to hard labor sentences because of their presumed homosexuality. The United States regards Israel and Egypt as its prime allies in the region, and supports both with extensive foreign aid, rarely questioning their rights records. On February 6, the US and the European Union, together with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, rewarded Egypt with a pledge of $10.3 billion in aid over the next three years.

For summaries of some known cases of recent arrests and convictions, see below.

IGLHRC is a US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to protect and advance the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.

Background: Recent Cases of Arrest and Conviction of Alleged Homosexuals:

• New Case of Internet Entrapment in Agouza
• The Boulak 4
• The Damanhour Case
• The Cairo Internet Entrapment Case
• The Haram Birthday Ambush
• The Cairo 52 Teenager
• The Cairo 52 Adults

New Case of Internet Entrapment in Agouza: One man condemned to 3 years in prison plus 3 years' probation, February 7, 2002

On January 12, 2002, Zaki M., 23 years old, from Ismailia, placed a personals ad on the website Gayegypt.com. It was answered by someone using the name Wael Samy, at waelsamy2000@yahoo.com. "Samy" persuaded Zaki to write down his previous sexual experiences, an e-mail which used was to convict him in court. He also enticed Zaki to come to Cairo to meet in the Mohandiseen district on January 25.

The day before, January 24, the court file shows that Lt. Col. Nizar Ismail of the Cairo Vice Squad got a warrant from prosecutors to patrol an area of Mohandiseen, because Zaki was "known" to cruise these streets. The warrant was an attempt to ensure next day's arrest would be legally "correct."

Activists were later able to interview Zaki in prison and he told them that he telephoned "Wael Samy" from their arranged meeting-place in Mohandiseen. "Samy" told him he could not make the meeting. Minutes later, Zaki was seized by police.

Zaki was taken to the General Administration of Morality Protection, or central Vice Squad office in Cairo, and then to the police station in Agouza, where he was held till his trial. He was beaten every day for the next two weeks; the Agouza police lockup is notorious for torture. When activists spoke to him after his trial, he still had a blood-encrusted nose. At the police station, he signed a confession while threatened with more severe torture; he was falsely promised he would be freed if he signed.

On February 7, he was tried in the Agouza Court of Misdemeanors, under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961--for the "habitual practice of debauchery"--as well as for Article 14 of that law (on the "promotion" of debauchery") and an older law, Article 178 of the Penal Code (Law 58/1937) which prohibits "printed materials . . . or any other material or photographs violating public morals." The last two charges referred to his use of the Gayegypt.com website. He was condemned to 3 years' imprisonment plus 3 years' probation.

The Boulak 4: Four men condemned to 3 years in prison plus 3 years' probation, February 3, 2002

Four men were arrested in Boulak-al-Dakrour, in the Cairo suburb of Giza, on November 10, 2001. They were charged with having run an apartment for the purposes of "debauchery"; the men denied this, claiming they were fingered by an informant and arrested in the streets. They were convicted on February 3, 2002 (under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961) of the "habitual practice of debauchery" by the Boulak-al-Dakrour court. The four were each sentenced to three years in prison and three years' probation.

The prosecution introduced no evidence to support the charges; the judge was biased and verbally abusive. The defendants allege they were beaten in police lockup.

The Damanhour Case:
Between five and eight men detained since January, 2002

The Egyptian press reported January 20, 2002 that a "network of perverts" had been arrested in Damanhour, the capital of Al-Beheira province, southwest of Alexandria. There are between five and eight men in detention (extended January 26 for 45 days). So far, an attorney hired to represent them has been unable to gain access to them, or have his status as their lawyer recognized by the court. On February 12, the newspaper Al-Wafd reported that the men had been subjected to forensic examinations of their genitals which "proved" they had engaged in homosexual acts. It also reported that the wife of one of the defendants had also been arrested for prostitution, because she performed sexual acts with other men in front of her husband. She has also been detained for 45 days pending investigation.

The Cairo Internet Entrapment Case:
One man, sentenced in absentia to 1 year in prison and 1 year probation, remains at large. Another man was sentenced to 3 months in prison and 3 months' probation, December 5, 2001.

On September 15, 2001, Major Abul Ezz of Cairo's Vice Squad communicated with two men separately in a Yahoo chatroom. He arranged to meet them separately, but on the same day, near the Ramses Hilton Hotel. There, he arrested both. One of the two defendants stated at the trial he had been subjected to beatings at the Vice Squad.

The defendants were respectively 19 and 22 years old, and were students at two of Cairo's universities. Both were charged under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961, with "habitual practice of debauchery." Both pleaded not guilty and were released on bail.

Sherif A. was sentenced to three months in prison and three months' probation in a December 5 trial. He appealed the sentence; his appeal was heard, and rejected, on December 22. The second defendant did not appear at the trial; possibly as a consequence, he received the longer sentence, one year in prison and one year's probation.

The Haram Birthday Ambush:
One man, sentenced in absentia to 6 months in prison, remains at large. Six more men arrested September 7, 2001 : their fate is unknown

Seven men were arrested by police during a private birthday party September 7, 2001 in Haram, a suburb of Cairo. They were turned in to the police by the host of the party, who had brought them there but was apparently a police informer. One of the men has reported daily beatings while in police lockup. Released on bail, he was eventually convicted in absentia (under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961) for the "habitual practice of debauchery" by a court in Haram, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment. He remains at large. It is not clear what happened to the other six.

Cairo 52 Teenager: A teenager was released after 6 months of detention, following an Appeal Court ruling December 19, 2001, reducing his sentence

A teenager, arrested in connection with the Cairo 52 case, but tried in a juvenile court was sentenced September 18 to the maximum penalty allowed by law: three years in prison, followed by three years of probation. Because the case was tried in a juvenile court, he (unlike the Cairo 52 defendants) could appeal. An Appeals Court on December 19 reduced his sentence to 6 months prison and 6 months probation. Initial reports that the teenager was released may be false: IGLHRC has received unconfirmed information that he may still be jailed on another, earlier charge of homosexual acts.

Cairo 52 Adults: Twenty-three men were sentenced to 1 to 5 years of hard labor November 14, 2001. Twenty-nine men were acquitted

An Emergency State Security Court in Cairo sentenced 23 men accused of homosexual acts to one to five years at hard labor on November 14, 2001. This is the only case in this list that was tried in an Emergency State Security Court, not in a civil Court. Convictions of the Emergency State Security Court cannot be appealed. At the same time the Court acquitted 29 additional defendants.

All fifty-two were arrested on or around the night of May 10/11, 2001. That night, police raided the Queen Boat discotheque in Cairo; other police pickups followed in the next days. The 52 were held in detention since their arrests. Defense lawyers argued that proper arrest procedures were not followed, that the arrests were made at random, and that charges were fabricated after the arrest. The State-controlled media engaged in a campaign of vilification against the 52, publishing their names and creating an environment of scandal around them, branding them perverts, blasphemers, and traitors.

All 52 pleaded innocent. Twenty-one defendants were convicted of "habitual practice of debauchery" under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961 (on the Combat of Prostitution). One was convicted of "contempt for religion" under Article 98f of the Penal Code. Another deemed the "ringleader," was convicted of both and received the heaviest sentence.