arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)
|
Homoseksuele Moslims klagen vervolging in Egypte aan by yvan Wednesday July 03, 2002 at 01:42 PM |
| yvan.brys@advalvas.be |
In de rechtszaak waarin 52 Egyptenaren vorig jaar in mei werden opgepakt tijdens een homofuif op een boot op de Nijl, blijven de 50 die op een nieuw proces wachten voorlopig vrij op borgtocht tot de overheid een nieuwe rechter heeft aangesteld. Het tweede proces komt er onder internationale druk. 2 veroordeelden, die gezien werden als de 'leiders' blijven in de gevangenis en krijgen geen nieuw proces. Van de 50 werden er eerder 29 vrijgesproken. Zij zullen, samen met de 21 andere veroordeelden, opnieuw berecht worden. De moslim-holebi-organisatie Al-Fatiha reageerde met een persbericht.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful
PRESS RELEASE
AL-FATIHA
Faisal Alam
Founder & Director
US Cell: 202-271-0067
EGYPT TO RETRY 'CAIRO 52' - AL-FATIHA CALLS MOVE SHAMEFUL
June 25, 2002 - As the Egyptian government announced plans
to retry 50 of the 'Cairo 52' this week, Al-Fatiha called
on the Egyptian government to end its shameful acts of
discrimination against men in Egypt perceived to be gay.
The 'Cairo 52' were arrested and tried last year where 21
men were convicted and sentenced to 3 to 5 years in jail
with hard labor. 29 men were acquitted and later released.
Under the current ruling all the men, both guilty and acquitted will be retried, except for 2 men who
are considered to be the 'ring leaders.'
Al-Fatiha calls on the Egyptian government to release all
those imprisoned because of their presumed sexual
orientation and to stop the crackdown of gay men
in Egypt. In recent weeks another round of arrests have
occurred with police entrapping men via the internet.
Gay.com, an international web portal for lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender people has hosted an
Egyptian chat room. It is not clear whether Gay.com will
shut down the Egyptian chat room or not. GayEgypt.com, a
web site dedicated to gay Egyptians has called on Gay.com
to keep the chat room open as an expression of freedom of
speech.
On May 19, a young man aged 19 was arrested for
allegedly arranging a meeting with someone from the
internet. On June 8, he was sentenced to 3 years in
prison.
Al-Fatiha also called on the Egyptian government
today to abide by all international human rights laws that
it is a party to. Egyptian officials have repeatedly
said that they are not violating international human rights
laws and they are not entrapping gay men.
"The Egyptian government and Egyptian police must treat all
of its citizens with human dignity and respect," said
Faisal Alam, founder & director of Al-Fatiha. He added by
saying that, "Al-Fatiha will continue to monitor the
situation in Egypt and urge Egypt to guarantee the human
rights for sexual minorities living in Egypt."
Al-Fatiha is an international organization dedicated to
Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, those
questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Al-Fatiha
PO Box 33532
Washington, DC 20033