Counsellor Maher 'Abd al-Wahid
Prosecutor General
Dar al-Qadha al-'Ali Ramses Street
Cairo
EGYPT

On behalf of Human Rights Watch, we write to express our grave concerns at the September 18 conviction of a sixteen-year-old boy for debauchery, a charge brought against him because of his alleged homosexuality. At the close of his trial, attended by a Human Rights Watch observer, the Cairo Juvenile Court sentenced the boy to three years' imprisonment with labor followed by three years of probation, the maximum sentence allowed by law for the crime.

His conviction and sentence violate international standards because it was based on a confession that may have been extracted through torture and made before the boy was granted access to his family or an attorney. His arrest, part of a roundup of men presumed to be gay, violated the principle of nondiscrimination, and his privacy was not respected during his detention and trial. His conviction and sentence should be overturned when his appeal is heard on November 21.

We are particularly concerned by reports that the boy was tortured and subjected to ill-treatment during his interrogation by police. The youth has stated that police had extracted a confession from him after subjecting him to painful beating on the soles of the feet with a falaqa, a long stick with a leather belt. In addition, the boy was subjected to painful and humiliating physical examinations. Torture is flatly prohibited by international law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment are also prohibited under these treaties, to which Egypt is a party.

The boy's prosecution has also been tainted by the length and circumstances of his detention and the limited access he has been afforded to counsel and to members of his family. Before his trial, he spent four months in Tora Prison, on the outskirts of Cairo, where he was held with adult detainees. He did not have access to a lawyer during his interrogation, and he was not allowed to contact his family during the first two weeks that he was detained.

The duration and manner of his detention violate numerous provisions of international law. Article 37(c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that "every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so . . . ." The same provision guarantees the child's right to maintain contact with family members, absent exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances were not met in this case. Article 37(d) of the convention guarantees the right to "prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance," and article 37(b) provides that "[t]he arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time."

We are also concerned about the trial court's failure to ensure the boy's privacy and its decision to admit the boy's coerced confession into evidence.

Press and spectators were allowed to attend and report on the September and October hearings. The boy's name and photo and accounts of his charges and sentence have appeared in Egypt's semi-official press. Article 40(2)(b)(vii) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right of the child "to have his or her privacy fully respected at all stages of the proceedings." Section 126 of Egypt's Juvenile Offenders Law provides, "A juvenile's hearing may only be attended by the minor's relatives, lawyers, witnesses, and social observers; all others must be issued a special permit by the Court."

The boy attempted to withdraw his coerced confession at his trial on September 18. The judge did not order an investigation into his account that he was tortured during interrogation and denied access to counsel or to his family during the two weeks following his arrest and detention. Under article 15 of the Convention against Torture, "Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made."

Equally of concern to us are the circumstances surrounding the boy's arrest. He was one of fifty-six people detained and charged after a crackdown in May against men presumed to be gay. Many of these individuals were arrested after a raid on a gay nightclub in Cairo, although the boy himself was not arrested at the nightclub.

Neither homosexuality nor homosexual acts is explicitly prohibited in Egypt. Instead, the boy was originally accused of "abuse of religion" (istighlal al din) and ultimately charged and convicted of debauchery (mumarasat al fujur), an offense under Law No. 10 of 1961 on the Combat of Prostitution. All of those arrested in the May crackdown were charged with similar offenses.

These circumstances compel the conclusion that these arrests were carried out against these individuals solely on the basis of their presumed sexual orientation. The principle of nondiscrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights law recognized in the ICCPR, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other treaties to which Egypt is a party.

Moreover, criminalization and deprivation of liberty are not appropriate responses to sexual activity on the part of a child. Adolescence is a time of personal growth and development that includes the emergence of sexual attraction and in many cases sexual activity, whether with the same or the opposite sex. Guidance about the significant responsibilities and consequences, emotional and otherwise, entailed in sexual activity is best conveyed by parents, civic leaders, and the state in the form of information and supportive counseling.

Further, international law does not permit the criminalization of sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex. A child should not be held criminally responsible for an act that would not, under international standards, be subject to criminal responsibility if committed by an adult.

Our conclusion that criminalization and deprivation of liberty is inappropriate in a case such as this is reinforced by the requirements of articles 37(b) and 3(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which mandate that arrest and detention be for the shortest appropriate period of time and a measure of last resort and that "in all actions concerning children . . . the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." In light of these international standards, the judge's decision to impose the maximum sentence is particularly troubling.

For these reasons, we urge you to ask the appeals court to overturn the boy's conviction and order his immediate release.

(New York, November 20, 2001) - A sixteen-year-old boy's prosecution and conviction for engaging in sexual relations with men violates international standards, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Egyptian authorities released today.

Convicted of "debauchery" on September 18 after police coerced him into giving a confession, the boy received a sentence of three years' imprisonment with labor followed by three years of probation. His appeal, originally set for October 31, will be heard on November 21.

Human Rights Watch called on Egypt's prosecutor general to ask the appeals court to overturn the conviction, citing discriminatory application of the law, charges of torture during interrogation, prolonged pretrial detention, limited access to counsel and family members, and a failure to protect the boy's privacy during the court proceedings.

"This case has been marred by a host of human rights violations," said Clarisa Bencomo of the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "It should never have come to trial."

The youth has said that police extracted a confession from him after subjecting him to painful beating on the soles of the feet. He did not have access to a lawyer during his interrogation, and he was not allowed to contact his family during the first two weeks of his detention. Press and spectators were allowed to attend and report on the September and October hearings, and the boy's name, photo, and accounts of the charges and sentence have appeared in Egypt's semi-official press.

The boy was one of fifty-six people detained and charged with similar offenses after a crackdown in May against men presumed to be gay. The others, all adults, were prosecuted separately before an Emergency State Security Court, which reached a verdict on November 14. Twenty-three were sentenced to between one and five years of hard labor; twenty-nine were acquitted.

Last week, Egyptian authorities made four additional arrests of men presumed to be gay, according to reports in the Egyptian press.

Egypt does not expressly outlaw homosexual acts. Instead, authorities initially accused the boy of "abuse of religion" (istighlal al din). Interrogated before he was allowed to contact a lawyer, the boy denied the initial accusation but admitted to engaging in sexual acts with men, leading prosecutors to charge him with debauchery (mumarasat al fujur). Three years' imprisonment followed by a similar period of probation is the maximum sentence that can be imposed under this provision, contained in Law No. 10 of 1961 on the Combat of Prostitution.

"Egyptian authorities targeted these individuals solely because of their presumed sexual orientation," Bencomo said. "By discriminating against a group of its citizens in this way, Egypt has violated a fundamental principle of human rights law."

In addition, criminalization is not an appropriate response to sexual activity on the part of a child, Human Rights Watch argued. International law does not permit the criminalization of sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex; a child should not be held criminally responsible for an act that would not, under these standards, be subject to criminal responsibility if committed by an adult.

The arrests and convictions also take place in a climate of serious erosion of basic civil rights for Egyptian citizens. The country has been under continuous emergency rule since October 1981, following the assassination of Anwar Sadat. Following a resurgence of political violence in the early 1990s, the government introduced antiterror laws that gave the security and intelligence services greater powers of arrest and detention, enabling them to round up thousands of suspects.