U.S. Lawmakers Caution Egypt’s Mubarak
365Gay.com,
March 21, 2002
By Paul Johnson
SUMMARY: A bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers on Wednesday
dispatched a stern letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urging him to
reverse his government’s policy of persecution against gay men.
WASHINGTON—A bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers on Wednesday
dispatched a stern letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urging him to
reverse his government’s policy of persecution against gay men.
Last August, a group of members from the U.S. House of Representatives sent
an initial letter to President Mubarak expressing concern over the arrest of
52 suspected gay men in Cairo, Egypt. In November, 23 of those men were
sentenced from one to five years hard labor; and this year, human rights
groups report that gay men in Egypt continue to be targeted, prosecuted and
sent to prison.
In January, a letter from Egyptian Ambassador Nabil Fahmy responding to the
August congressional letter reached Capitol Hill, delayed in part because of
the anthrax threat. In his letter, Ambassador Fahmy denies that the men in
Cairo were arrested on the basis on their sexual orientation, claiming instead
that they were prosecuted for "contempt of religion" and
"public lewdness," irrespective of sexual orientation.
In the Wednesday letter to Mubarak, 37 House members, including leaders on
foreign policy and human rights issues, rejected this explanation, stating in
part, "We are encouraged that Ambassador Fahmy in his letter officially
denies that the 52 men in Cairo were prosecuted because of their perceived
sexual orientation. We say we are encouraged because this denial recognizes
that such actions are essentially indefensible. … Yet when one looks at the
record of the trial, it seems to us that sexual orientation was in fact the
motivating factor behind these prosecutions."
In a separate case on March 11, five Egyptian men were sentenced to three
years in prison with hard labor for "practicing sexual immorality,"
a local euphemism for homosexuality, according to news sources.
The congressional letter continues, "We very strongly urge you to stop
the persecution of men based on their perceived or actual sexual orientation,
to release those men who are now in prison, and to uphold the values espoused
in your Washington speech where you declare that Egypt’s ‘commitment to a
region of peace, of tolerance, free from oppression and injustice remains
unshaken.’ Such are the values that will draw you closer to the global
community."
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