KHALEEJ TIMES: CAIRO - A Cairo court on Wednesday jailed five men, four of them HIV positive, for three years on charges of ”debauchery” linked to homosexuality, a court official told AFP.
The men were arrested three weeks ago in a central Cairo restaurant following an argument after which a client accused them of practising homosexuality.
A police doctor carried out anal inspections on the men “which confirmed their homosexuality,” the court official said. Human Rights Watch said such examinations constitute torture and are medically spurious.
While homosexuality is not included in a list of sexual offences explicitly outlawed by Egypt’s Islamic-inspired legislation, it can be punished under several different laws on morality.
Besides facing widespread public prejudice, Egyptian homosexuals have in the past been jailed on charges ranging from “scorning religion” to “sexual practices contrary to Islam.”
Hafez Abu Saada, of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, said the men were prosecuted under 1961 anti-prostitution laws which ”must be changed ... as it’s against the international convention of human rights which Egypt signed in 1986.
“This law is also against the Egyptian constitution which guarantees the right to privacy and individual freedom,” he said.
The men, who can appeal the verdict, were also ordered to pay a small fine. [Source: Egypt Jails Five “Homosexuals” for Three Years (AFP)]
Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch
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