House Members Target Brutal Treatment of Gays in Egypt
Barney Frank, Congressman,
4th District, Massachusetts, March 20, 2002
Washington Office: 2210 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5931
For Immediate Release
Contact: Daniel McGlinchey—202.225.5931
A bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers today
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 gay men
in Cairo, Egypt. In November, 23 of those men were sentenced to 1-5 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 their
letter today 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 11th, 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.”
A copy of
the letter is attached. Its signatories include Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA),
ranking Democrat of the International Relations Committee; Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D- GA), chairwoman and ranking
Democrat, respectively, of the International Relations Subcommittee on Human
Rights; Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), chairman and
ranking Democrat, respectively, of the Government Reform Subcommittee on
National Security and International Relations; Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA),
Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Barney Frank (D-MA), senior members of the Financial
Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade; and Rep.
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Democratic Whip.
March 20, 2002
His Excellency Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
Office of the President
Al Etehadia Building
Heliobolis Cairo, Egypt
Dear President Mubarak:
We were pleased to receive a letter from Ambassador Fahmy
which responded to a congressional letter to you last August concerning the
arrest of 52 men in Cairo on suspicion of homosexual activity. Because the
anthrax threat last fall held up congressional mail, the ambassador’s
letter, dated November 6, 2001, did not reach Capitol Hill until last month.
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, and the ambassador
rightly understands that the international community would not accept any
justification for the persecution and imprisonment of adults who are doing no
harm to others.
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. According to partial translations we have received of the
verdict, which sentenced 23 of these men to 1-5 years in prison, it makes
numerous references to “sexual deviancy,” using a pejorative Arabic term
“shudhudh” for homosexuality. Also, much of the evidence offered in
court—confessions, medical exams and photographs—seemed intended to
demonstrate sexual relations between men.
Moreover, one of the men in Cairo was convicted of
“contempt of religion,” which would put your government at odds with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which
Ambassador Fahmy in his letter confirmed your government’s strong
commitment. Article 18 of the ICCPR states in part that “Everyone shall have
the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall
include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. . .”
The verdict claims that this man had used religion to cause “confusion
between citizens so that they become satisfied with practicing sexual deviancy
and consider it normal.”
As you may know, the U.S. State Department released a
human rights report this month also condemning these events in Cairo. The
report also finds that “torture and abuse of detainees by police, security
personnel and prison guards is common” in Egypt. And we are very concerned
about specific and consistent reports that gay men have been subjected to
beatings and torture while under arrest.
We also wish to express serious concern over recent
reports that police in Egypt have entrapped and arrested a number of gay men
after luring them on false dates advertised on the Internet. As part of a
disturbing trend of intolerance against people who are believed to be gay,
these actions contradict the principles you outlined in your recent speech
before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. In that speech, you
eloquently state that “Democracy is foremost a society of institutions, of
tolerance, of human rights, of laws that guard them and the freedom of
statement that guards us all.”
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.
REP. TOM LANTOS
REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN
REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS
REP. NITA M. LOWEY
REP. CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY
REP. BARNEY FRANK
REP. NANCY PELOSI
REP. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA
REP. DENNIS J. KUCINICH
REP. MARK FOLEY
REP. MAXINE WATERS
REP. BARBARA LEE
REP. CARRIE P. MEEK
REP. WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT
REP. LLOYD DOGGETT
REP. TAMMY BALDWIN
REP. ELIOT L. ENGEL
REP. ROBERT WEXLER
REP. JERROLD NADLER
REP. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
REP. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY
REP. JOSEPH CROWLEY
REP. FRANK PALLONE, JR.
REP. RUSH D. HOLT
REP. MICHAEL R. MCNULTY
REP. JOHN B. LARSON
REP. JAMES P. MCGOVERN
REP. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD
REP. LUIS V. GUTIERREZ
REP. LYNN C. WOOLSEY
REP. GEORGE MILLER
REP. MAURICE D. HINCHEY
REP. LOUISE SLAUGHTER
REP. NEIL ABERCROMBIE
REP. LYNN N. RIVERS
REP. JOHN F. TIERNEY
REP. BOB FILNER
[Home] [World] [Egypt]
