IGLHRC Press Release
1 to 5
Years of Hard Labor for 23 Presumed
Homosexuals in Cairo
IGLHRC Calls on
President Mubarak to Intervene
For Immediate Release: November 14,
2001
For additional information, contact:
Sydney Levy (IGLHRC, in
San Francisco),
+1-415-255-8680 (office),
+1-415-577-8680 (cell),
sydney@iglhrc.orgScott Long
(IGLHRC, in Cairo) + 20-10-629-6153
(cell)
CAIRO - The
Emergency State Security Court in Cairo delivered its sentences
November 14 in the case of the 52 men detained since
May because oftheir
presumed homosexuality. 23 men were convicted to between
one and five
years of hard labor; 29 were acquitted. These
sentences cannot be appealed.
"The International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) calls on
President Mubarak to step in and immediately pardon
the 23 men convicted to hard
labor," said Scott Long, IGLHRC's Program Director,
currently monitoring the trial in
Cairo. "The arrest and trial of these men has been a
perversion of justice from day one."
"We are very chilled by the hard
labor sentences," said Surina Khan, IGLHRC's
Executive Director. "Having received numerous
testimonies of beatings and abuse
of the Cairo 52 while in detention, we can only imagine
what awaits them now."
"We are concerned for the acquitted as
well," stated Mr. Long. "We call for their
immediate release, and ask President Mubarak to issue a
clear directive to the
prosecution not to appeal their acquittals."
Egyptian legal sources contend that according to Egyptian law, the
acquittals can
be appealed by the prosecutors after 30 days from
sentencing have elapsed.
"Unfortunately the abuse does not stop
with this case," added Mr. Long. "There
is evidence that additional arrests take place on a
regular basis against presumed
homosexuals. These arrests must stop."
The list of
convictions runs as follows:
1 man, deemed the "ring leader," was
convicted to 5 years of hard labor for
"obscene behavior" and "contempt of religion."
1
man was convicted to 3 years of hard labor for "contempt of religion."
20 men were convicted to 2 years of hard labor for "obscene
behavior."
1 man was convicted to 1 year of hard labor for "obscene
behavior."
29 men were acquitted. It is not clear when they will be
released.
According to eye witnesses at the court, most lawyers,
international observers,
and family members of the detained men were banned from
the hearing. At the
hearing itself the judge reading of the sentences was
described as "whispering,"
his voice so law that the detained men could not even
fully hear their own sentences.
The Cairo 52 were arrested on the night
of May 10, 2001 and in the following days.
They have been in detention since. Fifty defendants are
all charged with "obscene
behavior" under a law against prostitution (Article
9c of Law No. 10 of 1961 on the
Combat of Prostitution). Two more men are charged, in
addition, with "contempt for
religion" under Article 98f of the Penal
Code. The trial began on July 18. All 52 have
pleaded innocent and have presented individual
defenses. There are enough
irregularities in the arrests and handling of this
case to suggest that the Cairo 52 may
have been framed.
In addition, a teenager, tried
in a juvenile court because of his age, was sentenced September
18 to
the maximum penalty allowed by law: three years in prison, to be followed
by three years of
probation. Because of his age, he is allowed
to appeal.
These trials have been condemned by
international human rights organizations, members of US
Congress and the
United Nations.
For more information please see "Egyptian
Justice on Trial: The Case of the Cairo 52" at
http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2001Oct.html.
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.
Close Window to Return to TBC Web
Site