uncertain future: update on 52 men arrested in cairo

The ongoing prosecution of the "Queen Boat" defendants has Cairo's gay community laying low By Bonnie Eslinger A trial date of 18 July has been set for the 52 men arrested during a 11 May raid on the Queen Boat nightclub and charged with "practicing debauchery with men." Days after General Prosecutor Maher Abdel Wahid announced that the defendants will stand trial in a State Security Court, two additional international human rights groups joined Amnesty International in condemning the Egyptian government's decision.

"This case exhibits some of the worst features of Egypt's justice system-prolonged and incommunicado detention and emergency proceedings on spurious charges," stated Hanny Megally, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, in a joint press release with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. According to reports from families and friends of the defendants, the men were initially unable to contact lawyers or relatives, and some were beaten and mistreated.

"He's been whipped, electrified and threatened by dogs," said the flatmate of one of the men imprisoned. "On Saturday [after the arrest] he showed the prosecutor the whips, the (scars) on his back and his stomach. The strange thing is the prosecutor didn't send him to a doctor to be clinically examined." Maher, the flatmate, asked that his last name not be used, as he suspects police surveillance of homosexuals is ongoing.

"Most gays are trying to hide their identity more," said Maher. "All the [internet] mailing lists and websites for Egyptian gay men were closed, not by the police, but by the men." The only site still up, said Maher, is GayEgypt.com, based in London and thus out of reach of the Egyptian courts, although not the police. "Egyptian state security police may be monitoring you!" states a red-letter warning on the top of the site's page, "Try to avoid always logging on from the same location." Once a seemingly anonymous place for homosexuals to connect and share information, several men interviewed said the internet is now a place used by police to hunt down homosexuals. They speculate that a computer surveillance unit created within police intelligence was able to 'out' the growing gay web community in Egypt.

Stories of men that answered gay personal columns only to find their 'date' was a police officer, as well as raids on popular hang-outs publicized on the web, have served to remind gays that the internet is not necessarily a safe place. "The general meeting places of homosexuals in Cairo are now deserted," said another gay man, who also requested anonymity. "People are more cautious about gathering and meeting."

Additionally, some gays left Egypt in the weeks after the raid, fearful of being the target of future arrests. Among them, according to Maher, is a 22-year-old Egyptian man who was at the Queen Boat the night of the raid, but escaped arrest due to his blond hair and a British accent acquired during a university stint in the UK. A lesbian friend has also left the country, moving to San Francisco, California. "Everybody is scared. I'm trying to be cautious, but I don't want to be a coward," said Maher.

In an effort to bring attention to the case, Maher has been sending out anonymous e-mail updates on the case under the pseudonym "Horus on the Horizon" to human rights groups, press organizations, gay friends and sympathizers. He says that he's found allies even in conservative and religious circles. "They might believe they [homosexuals] are sinners, but they are not criminals," said Maher. "What they did was not against the law."

The State Security Court for Misdemeanors, established under Egypt's State of Emergency legislation in 1980 does not comport with international fair trial standards, according to Human Rights Watch. Its judgements can be appealed on procedural grounds only, not on the substance of the verdict. The charge of "obscene behavior" is brought under the Article 9 of Law No. 10 of 1961 on the Combat of Prostitution and carries a custodial sentence of between three months and three years.

From the Cairo Times Online - www.cairotimes.com - copyright: Cairo Times Volume 5, Issue 19 - July 12 - 18, 2001