AMNESTY LAUNCHES WORLDWIDE APPEAL FOR GAYS IMPRISONED IN EGYPT Persecution of men accused of being gay leads to torture, imprisonment Posted: 26 February 2002: The appeal - reproduced below - appeared on the Amnesty International web site yesterday. For several months AI has been at the forefront at the campaign to release the gay prisoners and earlier this month AI members in Germany petitioned passengers at Frankfurt airport to boycott Egyptair [see 14 February report below ]. To visit the Amnesty International web site please click on www.web.amnesty.org A group of men was sentenced to prison terms of between one and five years for allegedly being gay by an exceptional court in Cairo, which denies defendants the right to appeal. AI considers 22 of the 23 men sentenced to be prisoners of conscience. Some of the detainees reported that they were tortured. One of them told AI: "The real beatings started in the police station. They beat us with their hands and legs and with a cane and a thick stick. Then they made us strip down to our underwear and the insults and humiliation continued." Most of the detainees were held in police stations, where they said they were beaten and subjected to falaka, beatings with a stick on the soles of the feet. Despite appeals from AI and others the authorities failed to investigate the torture allegations. Convictions were mainly based on evidence which aimed to establish that the men had had sexual relations with other men. The accused were forced to undergo medical examinations, which amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, to determine whether they had engaged in anal sex. Other convictions were based solely on confessions. The detainees were only given access to their lawyers and relatives some ten days after their arrest. Family members say that they were not officially informed of their relative's arrest. Some say that they only learnt that their relatives had been arrested through the media. This case is an example of how gays in Egypt suffer discrimination, persecution and violence simply for being who they are. Please write, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of these 22 prisoners of conscience detained solely on the grounds of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Send appeals to: His Excellency, President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, 'Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt. Fax: + 202 390 1998. [ Reminder: AI members should not send appeals to authorities in their own countries ] To visit the Amnesty web site please click on www.web.amnesty.org AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PETITIONS EGYPTAIR PASSENGERS AT FRANKFURT Posted 14 February 2002 From German activist Thomas Kolb. Email sos_egypt@gmx.de One of the top managers of Egyptair got deeply embarrassed last Saturday ( 9th February 2002 ) by an unexpected encounter with members of the Frankfurt section of amnesty international at Frankfurt airport. The women and men were distributing pamphlets advertising “Egypt for 99 Euro only” in huge letters. In smaller print the readers would discover that they were offered one to five years of accommodation and hard labor at Tora prison, under the condition that they are gay. In the leaflet they also learned more about the case of the twenty three men sentenced to exactly that penalty by the State Security Court in Cairo last November. At the same time, the general manager for Germany of the Egyptian national airline, Mahmoud Eid, was obviously assisting a high dignitary from Cairo during check in, surrounded by a small delegation of Egyptians living in Germany. He was recognized by an AI member, who greeted him with a friendly “Masah al-kheir, Mr Eid,” and handed him over the pamphlet. As the ai member left him, the manager started to telephone nervously and obviously very embarrassed on his mobile phone, then probably learning that the AI campaign was absolutely legal and that he could not get the group arrested, as he surely would have liked to do and as would have been the case in Egypt. He then sent a young man over to ask for some more copies of the pamphlet. The Frankfurt ai group hopes that they will be forwarded to the management of the airline and even further in Cairo. The response of visitors of the airport and of the hundreds of passengers waiting for the (almost 5 hours delayed) Egyptair flights to Cairo and Luxor to the pamphlet was very positive. Some people were surprised: “I had always thought Egypt was open-minded and liberal.” Others knew about the case from the media. Even some stubbornly straight young German men in an airport café said: “If this is true, then Egypt really sucks!” Only exception: some Egyptian passengers would simply deny that there are unfair trials and verdicts in Egypt, others would try to defend the persecution of gays with the Old Testament and the Qur’an. AI Frankfurt will nevertheless continue the campaign. GayEgypt.com advertiser, beaten into "confession", gets three years in prison. Articles 1 - 3. French president criticizes a stony faced Mubarak at Elysee state dinner. Article 4. The Boycott Egypt campaign starts to bite according to contact at a five star Cairo hotel. Article 5 1. BEATEN INTO "CONFESSION" We have just [ 5am 13th February ] received this news from lghrc.org At 2:44 PM -0700 02/12/02 [ 12th February ], Sydney Levy wrote: 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. 2. SENTENCE OUT OF ALL PROPORTION TO THE "CRIME" Of course it's a tragic joke that anyone's personal advertising for friendship or adult sex should be labelled a "crime", even less credible that it should merit a brutal beating and a custodial sentence. But the length of the sentence, matching the longest handed down on 14 November in the "Queen Boat" case, must take even seasoned Egyptian human rights watchers by surprise. This flagrant bleach of this young man's basic human rights with such a heavy and totally unjustified penalty will only serve to further mobilize public opinion in the West and further isolate Mubarak's regime. 3. GAYEGYPT.COM's PERSONALS SECTION FOR EGYPTIANS IN EGYPT SUSPENDED For over a year we have posted ads by Egyptians in Egypt seeking contacts, gay or otherwise. Now we have had to suspend these ads. This is a very sad moment. Not least because one young man in his early twenties, at an age which should be the happiest, most active and most care free in anyone's life, now faces a grim three year prison sentence. The Egyptian police, their hands still bloody from beating this youth, must feel very happy that they have closed this page. But we cannot take the risk that other young Egyptian men may wish to bravely ignore the warnings we posted. We will continue though to post adverts for Egyptians in countries outside Egypt and for foreigners [with strong warnings about the very real possibility of arrest] visiting Egypt. 4. FRENCH PRESIDENT CRITICIZES A STONY FACED MUBARAK AT ELYSEE STATE DINNER The back slapping, flesh pinching President Jacques Chirac astonished his dinner guests at the Elysee Palace yesterday with his frank speaking, informing Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak sitting stony faced nearby that his government was gravely concerned by Egypt's treatment of gay men, which clearly violated internationally accepted standards of liberty and justice. Meanwhile the Mayor of Paris demanded the immediate release of all those condemned in November, and subsequently, to hard labour, or other, custodial sentences. 5. BOYCOTT EGYPT CAMPAIGN BEGINS TO BITE GayEgypt.com, The International Lesbian Gay and Human Rights Committee, The gay muslim group Al Fatiha, the French gay internet magazine Kelma.org and branches of Amnesty International started to call for a tourist boycott of Egypt last year. Now a contact at one of Cairo's largest and most prestigious five star hotels tells GayEgypt.com that in the last two weeks alone over twenty tourists have cancelled bookings on account of the boycott. Already GayEgypt.com and its' satellite site Arab-Men.com are spreading the boycott message to over two thousand visitors every day. [An average of 2,200 visitors a day and 11,000 hits a day over the last two months] Next month GayEgypt.com launches a third site designed to target potential visitors to Egypt, warning them of Egyptian police activities and advising and requesting them to cancel any holiday plans. GAY GROUPS IN PARIS PROTEST MUBARAK'S VISIT 09/02/02 A crowd of protesters assembled on Friday afternoon in the Place de La Concorde to protest the visit of the aging but increasingly rutheless Egyptian president Mubarak. The unauthorized demonstration was soon moved on by the gendarmes but the protesters simply relocated to the Tuileries Gardens carrying banners declaring "Mubarak the Homophobe" and "Sexual Orientation is a Fundamental Freedom." But it was to little immediate avail. While thousands of political prisoners, including a large number of men arrested on the grounds of their alleged sexual orientation, struggle to survive disease, beating and torture in apawling prison conditions, Mubarak was given an honour guard welcome. As Mubarak arrived for a two day conference, NEPAD [New partnership for African Development], ostensibly to set Africa's house in order, hundreds of outraged protesters gathered to voice their fury that freedom in Egypt was most obviously not on the agenda. On the preceeding Thursday evening, 7 February, the musician Jean Michel-Jarre had delivered a petition to the Egyptian embassy in Paris signed by six thousand people calling on Mubarak to release the ever growing number of prisoners in Egypt detained on grounds of their sexual orientation. Boulak Four Sentenced to Three Year Prison Terms The following news below posted 7 February on IGLHRC.ORG web site. On February 3, 2002, a court in Boulak-al-Dakrour (in Giza, a suburb of Cairo) convicted four men for consensual homosexual behavior. A judge sentenced each to three years in prison with three years' probation to follow. Days later, Europe and the United States gave Egypt billions of dollars to keep such courts, police, and prisons running. The "Boulak 4" had been arrested on November 10, 2001. The Egyptian press announced the arrests on November 15, the morning after verdicts were handed down in the "Cairo 52" trial--in an apparent signal that State pursuit of suspected homosexuals would be unrelenting. That day, an IGLHRC representative was able to speak to one of the men through the bars of a police wagon at the Public Prosecutor's Office in Boulak. The prisoner told how all four had been beaten and ill-treated during interrogations. The four men have been jailed since their arrest. The February 3 session was the only full hearing in the case. Prosecutors called no witnesses and submitted virtually no evidence. Other hearings had been aborted because the prosecution failed to summon the accused from prison. The judge had earlier described the defendants in abusive language. Persecution for suspected homosexual conduct continues in Egypt. At least eight men now face trial in Damanhour, capital of Al-Beheira province; the Egyptian press has already described them as the "Beheira Perverts' Organization." IGLHRC has also learned of seven men who were arrested and tortured for alleged homosexual conduct after a September 2001 police raid on a birthday party in Haram, a Cairo suburb. More information on these cases can be found below. IGLHRC is alarmed not only by the pattern of persecution, but by other governments' unconcern--a malign neglect almost amounting to tacit approval. Barely two weeks after the Cairo 52 verdicts, the European Union approved a new trade agreement with Egypt, brushing aside human rights concerns. Three days after the Boulak verdict, the United States and the European Union, joined by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, pledged over $10 billion in aid to Egypt. IGLHRC calls for IMMEDIATE letters to the Egyptian government to protest these ongoing arrests. IGLHRC also calls for IMMEDIATE letters to officials of the European Union and of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Condemn the bankrolling of brutality. Urge them to link their aid programs to human rights records in all cases, throughout the region and worldwide, and to promote basic values of freedom and justice in their dealings with all their allies. BACKGROUND A: THE "BOULAK FOUR" The following news also from IGLHRC.ORG - link given above On November 10, 2001--four days before the verdict was handed down in the Cairo 52 case--four men were arrested in or around the Boulak-al-Dakrour district in Giza, a Cairo suburb. The arrests were first reported on November 15, in the newspapers Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhureya, as addenda to their articles on the Cairo 52 trial. The papers stated that the men had been arrested for turning an apartment into a "den of perversion." The exact circumstances of the arrest are unclear. Prosecution accounts later claimed the men were arrested at the alleged apartment. The accused and their lawyers stated that all were seized on the street--one in Giza Square in Giza, the other three were arrested one by one in various places around Cairo. apparently fingered by an informer. (See Section C below for more information on informers.) An IGLHRC representative, in Cairo to attend the November 14 trial, immediately learned that the four menwere being questioned at the Boulak Public Prosecutor's office. Arriving there, the IGLHRC representative was able to speak to one of the defendants through the bars of a police wagon. Speaking in tears, the defendant said that he had been stripped naked and beaten with batons, splashed with cold water in the face, and left hanging by the bars in his jail cell. He said the other three defendants had been beaten as well. He said that only two of the defendants actually knew one another before their arrests. Only by chance had the accused men been able to get legal representation--a difficult task for detainees, whom the Egyptian criminal justice system virtually bars from contact with the outside world. At their first interrogation at the Public Prosecutor's office, the four had seen two lawyers passing in the hall and had begged them in tears to take the case. At the November 15 hearing at the Prosecutors' office, their detention was extended for 45 days. Detention was renewed again at a January 1 hearing, with the prisoners ultimately moved to Tora Prison. The four defendants--Rami S., Sherif H., Sherif A., and Mohammed S.--were jailed until their trial ultimately took place on February 3. January saw a display of ineptitude by the Boulak Public Prosecutor's Office. The trial was scheduled to begin on January 20 in the Boulak al-Dakrour Court of Misdemeanors; however, the prosecution had neglected to send a summons to Tora Prison, to bring the prisoners to court. The judge opened the proceedings by demanding of the bailiff, "Where are the khawalat [a demeaning term for transvestites or homosexuals]? Bring in the khawalat." A hearing was next attempted on January 27; the prisoners were again absent, as the prosecution had still not sent a summons. The judge issued another summons for February 3, and this time sent the men's defense lawyer to carry it to Tora Prison, warning him that if the prisoners were not brought to court on that date he might sentence them in absentia. The prisoners finally appeared at the February 3 hearing, white-clad and with their heads shaven. The trial was conducted in the office of Judge Medhat Fahwaikh, with a representative of Amnesty International also in attendance. The men were charged with "habitual practice of debauchery" [al-fujur] under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961--a provision commonly used in Egypt to consensual homosexual behavior. However, they were also apparently charged under other Articles in that law which criminalize prostitution, and it was alleged that they had run an apartment for homosexual prostitution. The prosecution introduced the address of an apartment but no contract showing its owner/renter, or any evidence that any of the defendants were connected with it. All defendants denied the charge or any such connection. IGLHRC is gravely concerned that the Egyptian government--aware that the mandates of major international human rights organizations may include consensual homosexual conduct but not prostitution--intends to place future defendants outside the penumbra of protection by charging them with performing homosexual acts for money. The prosecution introduced virtually no other evidence. The defendants had not been referred to forensic examinations, and none had confessed. No prosecution witness was summoned. The vice squad officer responsible for the arrests never appeared, despite no fewer than four summons. Nonetheless, the judge convicted all four men, and sentenced them to three years' imprisonment, to be followed by three years' probation. Because (unlike the Cairo 52 trial) this case was not heard by an Emergency Special Security Court for Misdemeanors, the defendants are allowed to appeal. A NEW AND SINISTER THREAT In what has become a daily routine the Egyptian internet police again sent a message today [6th February] to GayEgypt.com but this time its content was more sinister. "The hands of Egypt are more closer than you might expect." This was after our London based staff had commented yesterday "Thank god we are beyond the reach of Egyptian justice." Perhaps they were a little confused about their political geography. In case they have forgotten London is in the United Kingdom and is fortunately not under the control of Mubarak's lackeys. The police officer who made the implicit threats was furious about a crime we were "encouraging" which justified the use of emergency state courts and the use of torture and hard labour prison sentences. "Looking at pictures of naked men on the internet". But the serious question is are Egypt's state security services now planning to take the law into their own hands to prevent the messages of freedom which thrive in the ever growing number of internet web sites from toppling Mubarak's corrupt and out of touch regime ? If so we have a simple four point plan of operations for them. 1. First you have to find out where London is. First clue -It's not in Egypt. 2. Second, you have to topple the government here in London. As you couldn't find us when we were in Egypt, how will you find us now unless you bully and torture your way around London. 3. There is however an alternative to 2. Instruct your field opertives to visit some of the clandestine purveyors of torture tools in Soho and Earls Court and equip themselves appropriately. Perhaps they could then disguise themselves as S&M dungeon masters. 3. Get "more better" lessons in English. It's simply not correct English to write "The hands of Egypt are more closer than you expect." "YOU WILL BE PUNISHED" - EYGPT'S INTERNET POLICE TRY TO INTIMIDATE GAYEGYPT.COM The email, written in fluent English and posted today [4th February] began with the ominous words "Dear sir, This is a newly founded office of the Egyptian sex police," and went on to make numerous allegations regarding "crimes" committed by GayEgypt.com and finished with the warning "You will be, one day, punished for all those crimes." It seems that in Egypt speaking out for freedom has now become the country's most serious crime and to speak up for gay freedom is to become an outlaw. Thank god we are currently beyond the reach of Egyptian "justice". So we wrote back Dear xxxxx, Progress and history are not on the side of homophobes. It is you who will be some fat crimminal's punk in prison one day. So why risk your arse working for the police and earning so much hatred when you could be getting excellent money in a business which helps people rather than imprisoning those who speak out. You could earn well deserved respect for your obvious talents by working elsewhere. By siding with Mubarak's mignons you are throwing away your future. If you must remain within the police then help us undermine this regime by supplying us with information about those engaged in these illegal arrests so that those responsible for human rights abuses can be prosecuted either in Egypt or through international courts. Best wishes Ali for GayEgypt.com EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR DEFENDS EGYPTIAN "JUSTICE" IN VISIT TO THE ANTWERP PINK HOUSE. We received today [4th February] the following press release from supporters in Belgium. PRESS RELEASE Antwerp (Belgium), February 4th 2002 ‘Het Roze Huis’ receives visit from Egyptian ambassador Egyptian court considers appeal of 23 gays in March ANTWERP – An Egyptian court will consider the appeal of 23 gay men in March. These men were convicted in November 2001 to prison sentences between 3 and 5 years. All those convicted made use of the possibility to apply for appeal. That is the information given by Soliman Awaad, the Egyptian ambassador in Brussels, during a very recent visit to Het Roze Huis (The Pink House) in Antwerp, Belgium. ‘Egyptian law does not mention homosexuality’, the ambassador declared. ‘The 23 men were convicted because of lewdness and contempt of religion.’ Het Roze Huis, the GLBT community centre in the Antwerp area, repeatedly focused on the case of the ‘Nile boat’ in 2001. During the first half of last year, 52 men were arrested at a party on a Nile boat. The arrests caused an international outrage. Apart from the 52 adults, the police also arrested a male minor. After many months, 29 adults and the minor were acquitted. However, 23 men did receive severe prison sentences. Our consistent attention for human rights and the treatment of gays and lesbians in Egypt led to more intensive contacts with Soliman Awaad, the Egyptian ambassador for Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union. The ambassador kindly accepted our invitation to make a visit to Het Roze Huis in Antwerp. It was his first visit outside of Brussels since having arrived as ambassador in October 2001. Awaad was the first ambassador ever to visit Het Roze Huis since its festive opening in September 2000. ‘The Nile boat case had nothing to do with the persecution of homosexuality’, ambassador Awaad claims. ‘The men were brought to justice because they committed lewdness (debauchery) and showed their contempt of religion. In Egyptian law, heterosexual and homosexual lewdness are equally punishable. The men concerned had already been arrested in the past. During their parties on the Nile boat, they not only showed lewd behaviour but also ate and drank in great abundance. Their behaviour shocked the (poorly paid) employees on the boat, which encouraged them to complain with the police. Such behaviour is shocking in a society that still knows great poverty and illiteracy.’ The arrested gays gave the prosecutor a unique opportunity to accuse them of lewdness. According to ambassador Awaad, many Egyptian youngsters and students only have few financial means and look for public places to satisfy their sexual needs. ‘Sometimes, the police condones this because they understand the situation, in other cases the youngsters only get fined.’ High Egyptian circles seem to be aware that it would have been much better to just fine the men in the Nile boat case and to avoid an escalation of the affair. Awaad thinks there is not much chance the Egyptian authorities will treat new, similar cases in the same way. ‘The accused stirred great commotion by saying they did not mind about islam and that religion is the cause of Egypt’s backwardness. In their homes, the police found writings about their ideas on this. These writings also referred to ‘The Witnesses of Joshua’, a Jewish sect that has been banned in some countries. These circumstances only worsened the case in the eyes of Egyptian society.’ Het Roze Huis not only talked about the Nile boat case but also drew the ambassador’s attention to the recent arrests of 4 men in Bulaq (a suburb of Cairo) and 8 men in Damanhour (the capital of the province of Al-Beheira). All of these men were accused of debauchery. In the Damanhour case, it is known the arrested had to undergo a medical examination. Ambassador Awaad has some understanding for the international outrage but also defends Egypt’s right to apply its own laws. ‘There is not a single country where the record on human rights is perfect. This also goes for Western Europe or the United States. Egypt is not the only country where the philosophical or religious beliefs of a prosecutor or judge can influence a trial. In Belgium, nudism for example is socially accepted, but nevertheless nobody has to go and walk stark naked on the ‘Grote Markt’ (Grand Place) in Brussels or he will be arrested.’ Soliman Awaad thinks the West should take into account the manners and customs of Egypt. ‘The member states of the European Union think it is important to consider every country’s identity. Quite a just claim, but this also has to apply to a country like Egypt.’ According to the high diplomat, western countries (and certainly the US), maintain double standards and only selectively show their indignation. ‘The West for example attaches great importance to the freedom of speech and the freedom of gathering, but what about the right to be fed, to get shelter and to receive education? We consider cultural and social rights to be just as important as civil and political rights. A hungry, poor citizen will not get much consolation from free elections. More than 50 percent of Egyptians still suffer from illiteracy. I have to stress however that the number of political parties has risen quite strongly since the Nasser regime. There is a ban on religious parties because we want to avoid a religious civil war as the one we saw in a country like Lebanon.’ Many Egyptians, muslims as well as Coptic christians, have more or less conservative views. According to the ambassador, Egypt is different from other Arab nations. He thinks Egypt cannot be compared to the Arab Gulf states. ‘Egypt once helped other Arab nations to write their laws. It was the first country on the African continent that built railroads. Since the 1930’s, Egypt began to open embassies abroad. Other Arab countries waited much longer to do this. We were one of the countries that founded the United Nations in 1945 and put our signature under many international agreements on human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, crimes against humanity and the fight against torture and genocide. The Egyptian movie and music industry are very renowned in the rest of the Arab world. Egypt earns more money by exporting movies than it gets income from the Suez canal.’ It is still to early to expect an official recognition of same-sex relations in Egypt, the ambassador says. He does believe however this will come at a certain time. Awaad says that gays have high functions in Egyptian politics, the movie industry and the arts. He refers for example to the Egyptian movie director Youssef Chahine who included gay characters or homoerotic scenes in films like ‘The Nile and its People’ (1972) or Al-Masir (1996). Chahine, who is famous because of his talent, is gay. According to Awaad, Youssef Chahine will visit the International Film Festival of Flanders in Ghent (Belgium) in February. Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian writer who received the Nobel prize for Literature in 1988, also wrote about homosexuality in his books. ‘In his work ‘Medak Alley’, which was translated in many languages, a gay man plays an important role’, the ambassador explains. ‘This man is the owner of a coffee shop. There is no sign of discrimination or insults in the book. Egyptian gays and lesbians enjoy a certain degree of tolerance, just as their counterparts in for example the US. That does not mean everything is possible. For me, sexuality is a gift to humanity, and if you have sexual intercourse in an intimate atmosphere, there is no problem in Egypt. Sex in public however does imply certain risks. Egyptian society still is quite conservative.’ During his diplomatic career, Soliman Awaad worked in cities as New York (United Nations), Tokyo and Oslo. He contributed to the struggle against the genital mutilation of women, a highly sensitive topic in the islamic world. The diplomat has no problem with homosexuality as a social phenomenon. ‘I would never show less love towards a member of my family who would turn out to be homosexual’, he says. Awaad recalls how an student of medicine in Egypt once made public he wanted to become a woman by undergoing surgery. ‘This case gave cause to much commotion and debate in our media, but in the end the student got his surgery. He succeeded in getting his degree and started to work as a doctor.’ The board of directors of Het Roze Huis expressed its sincere appreciation for the openness that ambassador Soliman Awaad demonstrated by wanting to exchange views face to face. Nevertheless, Het Roze Huis continues to monitor the situation of gays and lesbians in Egypt closely en hopes the 23 gay Egyptians will soon be released. Awaad was not able to say whether president Hosni Mubarak will pardon those in prison. ‘Normally, our president prefers to stay out of the judiciary process’, he says. The ambassador is prepared to have a permanent dialogue on human rights in his country. ‘Every letter deserves to get an answer.’ Het Roze Huis still is concerned about the faith of gays and lesbians in Egypt and stresses that Louis Michel, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, shares this concern. The Antwerp LGBT community centre thinks it is important that the Egyptian authorities contribute to developing a social climate that allows more for gays and lesbians to organize themselves and to come out for their sexual preference, also in public. ‘We still urge the Egyptian authorities to release all gays that are in prison without having committed real crimes’, Het Roze Huis says. ‘According to us, having shown contempt of religion does not justify putting and keeping citizens in prison. Human rights are universal and cannot be compromised by taking into account cultural or religious considerations. No religion, and this includes islam of course, has the right to discriminate against citizens.’ Het Roze Huis (The Pink House), Draakplaats 1, B-2018 Antwerpen www.hetrozehuis.be het.roze.huis@mail.com tel. 0032/3/288.00.84 (answering machine) |