Egypt Continues Persecution of Gay Men
Gay.com UK,
September 25, 2003
http://uk.gay.com/headlines/5105
Egypt’s police force have arrested more gay men, it has emerged, in a
crackdown reminiscent of the Queenboat scandal in 2001.
The police arrested 62 men on August 28th at a popular cruising spot in a
gay area.
They swept across Qasr-el-Nil bridge across the Nile and arrested any men
found, charging them with debauchery.
According to reports that have since leaked out, the police then dragged
the men to the police wagons, before shouting to onlookers “Look at the
faggots! The country’s become full of faggots!”.
At the police station, the men were forced to sign confessions of their
crimes, and were only released 3 days after their arrests on provision of a
guarantee of address.
The arrests have been kept secret from the press, following the
international scandal caused by the arrest of 52 gay men on the Queenboat.
This caused controversy throughout the international community, with human
rights groups such as Amnesty International calling for their immediate
release.
Despite being a taboo subject, homosexuality is not
specifically illegal in Egyptian law.
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