German Leaders to Egypt: Respect Human Rights of Homosexuals
From: Thomas Kolb of the LSVD (German Gay and Lesbian Association)
Email: SOS_Egypt@gmx.de
Dear Sirs,
29 Members of the Bundestag, the federal chamber of the German Parliament
have sent a declaration of protest to the Egyptian Ambassador in Berlin today,
expressing their indignation about the ongoing trial against 52 men for
"immoral acts" in Cairo.
Members of all five factions have signed the letter as well as the
Chairwomen of the Human Rights Commission.
Thank you!
Best regards,
LSVD Hessen
Thomas Kolb
Niederhoechstaedter Str.18
61449 Steinbach /Germany
Tel. 0049-6109-309966 (office)
Tel. 0049-6171-987666 (home)
—————————————————————————
From: MP Volker Beck
Press Release, 5 sep 01
MPs of all factions are sending an appeal to Egypt: Respect human rights of
homosexuals
Volker Beck (MP, speaker for legal affairs of the Green Party and member of
the presidency of the Green Faction in the Bundestag) has declared:
Members of the Bundestag (German Parliament) of all five political factions
have sent a common appeal to the Government of Egypt, asking it to respect the
human rights of homosexuals.
A spectacular trial is taking place against 52 men in Cairo, who are
accused of violating "public morality". Two of the defendants are
also charged with "disdain of the religion". The men had been
arrested in may in a floating restaurant in Cairo and have been held in
custody since then. Amnesty International investigated the case and came to
the conclusion that the men had been arrested only because of their sexual
orientation and not because of any violations of the law. There are reports
that some of the arrested men have been tortured to make them sign
confessions.
In their appeal, which was sent to the Egyptian Ambassador in Berlin today,
the MPs are demanding the respect of human rights, the release of the 52 men
and an investigation of the charges of torture. 29 MPs have signed the letter,
among them the Chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of the German
Parliament. US members of the House of Representatives had sent a similar
letter to the Egyptian Government before.
I am especially happy that fellow MPs of all five political parties
represented in Parliament have taken part in this. This is a clear sign that
we are united in human rights questions regardless of all political divisions.
Human rights are indivisible. They are, of course, valid for homosexuals as
well.
—————————————————————————
Text of Letter Your Excellency,
with great concern, I have learned through media reports, that 52 men have
been arrested in May on a restaurant boat in Cairo and are now standing trial
before the State Security Court facing charges of "offence to public
moral" and 2 of them charged with "Disdain of Religion". An
investigation team of amnesty international came to the conclusion, that these
men are being held and charged just because of their alleged sexual
orientation and not because of any wrongdoing. The charges that the Prosecutor
holds against them, obviously lack any substance.
Therefore I would like to call upon your government and particularly upon
the Minister of Justice
- to make sure that the rights of the arrested men as human beings and
their civil rights as Egyptian citizens are respected and to make sure
that Egyptian law is respected in the procedures
- to release these people without any delay, as the evidence used against
them is obviously forged or non-existent
- to investigate the charges against the police forces that the men
arrested have been ill-treated or tortured to extract confessions.
I hope that the charges against these men are dropped and that they are
released, as they should have been a long time ago, if Egyptian law and
international conventions ratified by Egypt had been properly applied.
Sincerely,
Volker Beck (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
Rudolf Bindig (SPD)
Dr. Thea Dückert (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
Rainer Eppelmann (CDU/CSU)
Arne Fuhrmann (SPD)
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Monika Ganseforth (SPD)
Alfred Hartenbach (SPD)
Carsten Hübner (PDS)
Christel Humme (SPD)
Ulla Jelpke (PDS)
Sabine Jünger (PDS)
Dr. Evelyn Kenzler (PDS)
Monika Knoche (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
Angelika Köster-Loßack (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
Norbert Lammert (CDU/CSU), Heidi Lippmann (PDS)
Oswald Metzger (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
Kerstin Müller (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen Fraktionsvorsitzende)
Winfried Nachtwei (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
Christa Nickels (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, Chairwoman or the Human Rights
Commission)
Gudrun Roos (SPD), Thomas Sauer (SPD)
Gudrun Schaich-Walch (SPD, Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin im
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit)
Christina Schenk (PDS)
Dieter Schloten (SPD)
Silvia Schmidt (SPD)
Reinhard Schultz (SPD)
Dr. Max Stadler (FDP)
Uta Zapf (SPD)
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