ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT: 16 men jailed amidst unprecedented homophobic crackdown

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14 Dec 2017
[International Secretariat]
Region: ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT
Topic: Sexual Orientation and Sexual Identity

Responding to the news that a Cairo court convicted 16 men of “debauchery” and sentenced them to three years prison followed by three years’ probation, Amnesty International’s North Africa campaigns director, Najia Bounaim said :

 “These sentences strike at the very heart of being human by Egyptian authorities. This prosecution violates the rights of these men to be treated equally regardless of their perceived sexual orientation.

“In the last two months, the authorities have carried out an unprecedented persecution campaign that saw more than 70 people arrested based on their perceived sexual orientation and more than 40 sentenced for up to six years, following the display of a rainbow flag in a concert by Mashrou’ Laila in Cairo on 22 September. Many of those arrested by security forces were entrapped through online dating apps.

More than 60 members of Egypt’s parliament have proposed a deeply discriminatory law that would explicitly criminalize same-sex sexual activity in the country for the first time.

The Egyptian authorities must quash the sentences against the 16 men and immediately and unconditionally release them.

29 November 2017
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

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