Last edited: February 14, 2005


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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