police gaydar - 45 days in an egyptian prison

entrappment of gays in cairo by security vice-squad

By GME Reporter

August 26, 2004: As a reporter for GME, I've interviewed many gay men throughout our region about their experiences vis a vis their families, workplaces, friends and general situation in their countries. Never before was I so affected by an interview, than my interview with Shadi. It took some thought until I realized why my meeting and interview with Shadi had upset me so much. It was actually quite simple. Shadi is just a regular guy just like me or anyone else that went on an innocent holiday to Cairo and became a victim of a witch-hunt. He didn't steal, didn't rob, and didn't "look for trouble." On his vacation to Egypt last summer he was entrapped by the homophobic policies of today's Egypt and spent 45 hellish days and nights in Egyptian prisons.

It happened to Shadi, it's happened to many others http://hrw.org/reports/2004/egypt0304) and it will continue happening until pressure is put on the Egyptian authorities to stop it. One of Egypt's main sources of income is tourism, and in a perfect world tourists would simply boycott Egypt until they stop these barbaric practices. As that is not going to happen anytime soon, we at GME can only bring this information to our readers, and advise you that if you do visit Egypt, please be careful!

Shadi is a 30 year old Arab guy living in the suburbs of Tiberias in the Galilee, Israel. He is well dressed, handsome and well groomed. A licensed optometrist, he lives a quiet life at home with his family. He works, enjoys the company of a few good friends and family, and basically has kept his sexual preferences to himself when it comes to his family. Shadi had a tough year at work and needed a vacation. His friend, Firas, had rented an apartment in Cairo while checking the possibilities of going to graduate school there. He invited Shadi to Cairo, and he decided to go for 2 weeks. It wasn't Shadi's first time in Egypt; he had been there three times before. Like everyone else, he had heard about the police raid on that boat on the Nile, but figured they were only looking for Egyptians.

"I really didn't pay much attention to it" Shadi told me while sitting in his Tiberias clinic last week, one year after his release from an Egyptian prison. "Firas told me that he had met some very nice people since he got to Cairo. In any case, I put a profile onto Gaydar and said that I was coming to Cairo. I got so many responses I couldn't believe it. I chatted with one guy from Lebanon who was in Egypt working and studying, and he gave me his phone number. I also chatted with a guy named Dennis, who told me that he was a Dutch doctor working in Cairo. He sent me a photo of himself, and I sent him one of me. I wasn't attracted to him, but he sounded like a nice guy to meet as a friend. I gave him my phone number and told him we'd meet when I get to Cairo. I figured, as both of us were doctors it would be interesting in anycase to meet him. "

"In retrospect, I remember that Dennis asked me many times during our chats on the internet if I know other people in Cairo, but I really didn't and I told him that," Shadi explained to me. His first ten days in Cairo were great, meeting new and exciting people and having a great time. Firas and Shadi somehow met the "right" people, and found themselves invited to great parties and mingling with gay sons of diplomats and sons of government people in Egypt The parties were in the finest homes of Cairo. They were invited to birthday parties where the top actors of Egypt were present. "Somehow we just fell into an exciting crowd of people and my holiday was going great." Shadi said. "During all this time, Dennis was phoning me to get together but I was having such a great time and was so busy; meeting Dennis was not high on my list of priorities."

From a dream holiday to a nightmare

On June 18, nine days into Shadi's two week holiday in Cairo, Firas and he went to a great party; only arriving back to the apartment very late at night. The morning after, Shadi saw that there were 10 unanswered calls on his cellphone - all from Dennis. Before he could even have his morning coffee, Dennis called again and really wanted to meet him for lunch. "I knew Firas and I had plans for the afternoon and evening. I was half sleeping, but after Dennis had called so many times (and I had put him off already for 10 days) I figured why not. We made up to meet at the Hardees Hamburger restaurant at Cairo's central square, Tahrir Square.

On his way there, Shadi had a bad feeling. "I remember thinking to myself why am I meeting this guy? But� I went. So that he'd recognize me, I told Dennis on the phone that I was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. I arrived to Hardees as we planned. I went in and up to the 2nd floor, back down, and couldn't find him. At that moment my cellphone rang and it was Dennis - asking where I was. I told him not to play games that I was just in front of Hardees. He said that he had gone to the bathroom and that's why I must have missed him." Shadi turned to re-enter Hardees when he found himself surrounded by 8 policemen. 'Lehadaf' (we got him) he heard them say. They grabbed his shirt and pants, asked him for his ID, and before he knew it he was dragged off to the 'Mugamma' (ministry of Interior) building on the same Tahrir Square. Shadi's description of what happened is more poignant than anything I can write. Here are his words.

"At the Mugamma they asked me my name, citizenship and if I had been talking to Dennis. They told me that Dennis is an 'informer' and that he wanted me to work for him (I know that in Egypt to be called an informer is like a spy and is the very worst thing that you can be accused of). The fate of Azam Azam (an Israeli-Arab textile worker accused in Egypt of conspiring to spy for Israel and is now serving a 15 year sentence in a Cairo jail) went though my head with fright . I decided just to tell the truth. I told them that I met Dennis on Gaydar and that we chatted there and on MSN. The police asked me for my nickname and password on Gaydar and MSN, and they assured me that if I tell the truth I'll have nothing to worry about. Soon after they brought me a printed paper with my Gaydar profile and they told me to sign a confession that I'm gay. I signed it. They asked me what passport I hold, and I told them that I have an Israeli passport." At this point the police accused Shadi of lying as they could not understand how he could be indeed an Arab, a Muslim, and yet the holder of an Israeli passport. "I tried to explain to them that over one million Arab Muslims hold Israeli passports, but they didn't want to hear it".

Shadi was then taken to a police station. After waiting 5 hours he was brought a blank white piece of paper and told either to sign it, or that he'd "stay in Egypt forever." Shaking and petrified, he just signed their blank paper and prayed to be released. Again, the story of Azam Azam kept going through his mind. They took all the money he had in his pocket (USD65.00), fingerprinted him, and he was then taken to another office, the Niyaba. "The police strongly advised me to stick to my story and tell the officials in the Niyaba the same story I had already told the police and then I'd be released. Naturally I agreed. I was brought there, and waited. Already they had assigned a government appointed lawyer to me, who spoke to me and right away asked me if I had sex in Cairo. I told him that I had not. He told me that I would have to undergo an anal medical check, and only after I was found not to have had sex will I be released".

Shadi was brought to a prison that had two cells; one for men (where there were about 100 men inside) and one for women (which was empty). With all the prisoners watching, Shadi was thrown into the women's side. "I couldn't believe what was happening. At this point I was hysterical, petrified, and just sobbed to myself until I fell asleep on the floor."

Aids conspiracy, Anal medical check and a Disgusted Lawyer

The next day was Friday - the day of prayer and rest in Egypt. Shadi remained all day alone, with no food. On that night at midnight, police came and brought two women into "his" cell. Shadi still recalls the policemen's dilemma: "What should we do with him?" the police said to each other - "if the other prisoners know he's Israeli they'll kill him."

Shadi: "In front of all the prisoners the policemen screamed at me that I'm gay, that I like to get fucked and they looked at me as though I was dirt. Then they transferred me to the men's cell, got everyone's attention, and announced to all the other prisoners that I have AIDS and so they'd better stay away from me. The other prisoners were treated with utter brutality by the police. As a foreigner I saw there was a bit of a different code of conduct. In retrospect, the police did me a big favor with their AIDS announcement. The cell was filthy, disgusting, and smelly. There I was in a cell with 100 prisoners - drug addicts, killers, criminals and me. I was starving for some food. After a while, one of the prisoners gave me some foul (Egyptian beans), and half a cup of tea in a plastic cup - after advising everyone else not to steal the cup as I have AIDS."

Saturday morning, Shadi still had no contact with friends, family, or anyone outside. At 7:00am he was brought with a number of other prisoners to a court where he was told that a judge would decide his fate. He was handcuffed to another prisoner and brought to an underground cell in the courthouse. The smell and heat were unbearable. After waiting 7 hours in this hell, the judge took one look at him at said "send him out".

Shadi: "I soon found myself back to jail. The lawyer told me that I would undergo the anal medical exam and that I shouldn't worry." Back at the jail, two very kind people visited him from the Egyptian Human Rights commission who advised him that they would assist him as much as they can.. Soon after he was visited by yet another lawyer who told him that his parents in Israel were called and were asked for USD5000.00 to gain his release. This lawyer also reminded him to stick to his story that he's gay, not an informer, and this will get him out. "All this time I kept asking when can I leave and they told me not to worry".

Sunday morning Shadi was brought again handcuffed to a filthy dirty place for his medical check. "Crying and desperate, I swore to the 3 men and 1 woman who were there to conduct this examination that I'm an Arab like them, a doctor and a Muslim - but they insisted on doing the check. As though I hadn't been humiliated enough, I was put on a gynecologists chair, stripped, and examined." Their professional opinion was that Shadi indeed had not had anal sex and they assured him that their report would be filed. He was brought back to the court where his court appointed lawyer waited. "As though this entire ordeal wasn't enough, the lawyer told me that he is disgusted that I'm gay and that his colleagues are ostracizing him for even defending an Israeli. Later I found out that he had contacted my friend Firas (at whose apartment I was staying) and took a fee of USD600.00 from him to defend me."

"The Jew"
Days went by and Shadi was still in jail. Little food, no one to talk to, no one to explain to him what was happening. After a few more days of being in prison, a new Egyptian lawyer visited him. He told Shadi that he was hired by his family in Israel to help. He promised to bring food, and told him that in 15 days he'd be free. "I thought I would die when he told me that I'd have to stay in jail another 15 days. I hadn't showered, cleaned myself, or eaten normal food in all this time."

The same day Shadi was visited by two officials from the Israeli embassy in Cairo. They told him that his story was all over the Israeli press. "My poor parents would have to learn about me like this. What could be more humiliating?" The embassy staff promised to help him, to bring him clothes, a toothbrush, and other "essentials." "Cologne, soap, deodorant had long since come off my list of essentials by this point." In the middle of the night a policeman woke Shadi up to tell him that the following day he would be 'deported.' "I was sure that this meant I was going home. All of the other prisoners seemed happy for me - telling me that the Israeli embassy has lots of influence and they must have helped me."

When morning finally came Shadi was told to sign 4 blank papers, fingerprinted and then put into a car handcuffed to 3 other prisoners. "I was sure I was being deported�. going home! They threw us into a van and we drove out. I saw that we were driving out of Cairo - and into the desert. I couldn't understand why we were driving in the opposite direction from the airport. Finally we stopped, and I found myself at a prison camp in the middle of the Egyptian desert. I then discovered out that in Egyptian slang, 'deported' means 'transferred.' The guards there taunted me, called me "the Israeli" and "the Jew." One came up behind me, grabbed me, and shaved my head. They then had me strip, leaving me only in my underwear. They led me into a hallway that said 'solitary confinement' on it, and within seconds I found myself in a 2m X 2m room. I sat there in my underwear sobbing. Soon I saw that there were rats, roaches and all kinds of maggots in the room with me. After a few hours someone threw a 1 liter bottle of water into the room through the hole in the door. Before long I was bleeding from the bites of the maggots, sitting on the floor, alone."

Again�Friday, Egypt's day of rest. No food, no drink, no nothing. "I thought I would go insane. I wondered what happened to my friend Firas, where is the lawyer, where are the men from the Israeli embassy. I screamed, cried, but no one heard me or cared." The following day Shadi was taken out of the cell and told that he would have one hour to be outside - but alone. He was prohibited from talking to anyone and was physically kept away from the other prisoners. He saw prisoners being beaten, but Shadi personally suffered no physical violence. "In the corner of the yard I saw a water hose. I quietly sneaked over to it and started to rinse myself - it was the first opportunity I had to clean myself since this ordeal began. I felt like an animal trapped - finally able to get some water."

"Tell your Ariel Sharon to stop persecuting the Palestinians"

"After the weekend, the door of my cell opened and an officer took a look at me�.sitting, bleeding, hungry, and in my underwear. The officer screamed at the guards "why is he like this?" and they soon brought me a very thin mattress, a shirt and pants. They also brought me a plastic trashcan that I could use as a toilet. The days passed and I was sure that I was forgotten. I was just afraid that I'd lose my mind. I kept trying to remain focused, thinking, and did what ever I could not to go crazy. More days and more nights - alone, darkness, horrible smell, filth - this is all that I had."

A few days later, George, an Egyptian employee at the Israeli embassy came to advise Shadi that the embassy still was doing all possible to gain his release. He brought
some food, clothes and houseshoes. He told Shadi that in 15 days he'd be released.

The prison guards continuously taunted and harassed Shadi. They started tell him to "tell your Ariel Sharon to stop persecuting the Palestinians" and that he should see how good he's being treated in an Egyptian prison. They could not accept the fact that an Arab Muslim could have an Israeli passport.

After another 15 days Shadi was brought back to court, where he stood before a judge. The judge addressed him as "a disgusting gay," told him that the medical report had not arrived yet, and that he would be recalled back to court in another 15 days. After another 15 days, he was again brought back to the same court, and again was told that the medical report had not arrived and that he would be recalled in another 15 days. Once a week he was visited by Israeli embassy staff who brought food and cigarettes, and the news that they were doing all possible to get him released as quickly as possible.

In the beginning of August Shadi was brought back to court and stood before a different judge. They had finally received the famous medical report that supported his original claim of not having had sex in Egypt. He was obliged to sign a confession that he's gay, but not an informer. From the court, he was brought to a prison cell with about 200 people inside. The bureaucracy of his release began. "I just could not take anymore, and not thinking of the consequence I screamed hysterically that I refused to go into the cell. The police said that they could put me in another room in return for some money. I obviously had nothing, so I just gave them the houseshoes that the Israeli embassy had given me, and they let me spend the night alone in a different room."

On August 5th Shadi was finally released from prison. He was met by the Israeli embassy staff, taken out of the cell, and brought to a deluxe Cairo hotel. He was strictly instructed by the Israeli embassy staff to stay in the room, where he could eat, drink, make phone calls, and watch television. "All I could think of was to take a bath. It was the first time that I had looked in the mirror since all this began. I was horrified to see myself - emaciated, bleeding skin and bones - and bald. I was a scary shadow of the person that I was 45 days earlier who came to Cairo for a holiday." After some further bureaucracy, Shadi was given his passport and driven in an Israeli embassy car from Cairo to the Israeli border where his family met him. (there were no flights this day to Israel from Cairo).

Post prison heart failure

Shadi returned home and started to rebuild his life. "My parents, although they had certainly heard the reasons of my arrest never mentioned the gay aspect of it to me. They decided that I was arrested due to the anti-Israeli sentiments in Egypt, and did not want to discuss or hear anything else. Call it Arab pride or a certain old world mentality; the gay issue was just something that would not be discussed. I was so happy to be home that I didn't care. I just wanted to rebuild my life and my professional practice. I had managed to remain sane, but ...my health was seriously affected." One week after his return, at the age of 30, Shadi suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was treated. Following his release, he again tried to rebuild his life.
Shadi explained: "In our Arab society, family is very important. I have always loved children and despite my being gay, I have always wanted to have a family. I knew that people in my neighborhood were gossiping as to what had happened to me in Egypt. My parents couldn't bare this, and a few months ago I was married. My wife is a wonderful woman, and we hope to have a family. She is not from our area and I have started a new life with her. Sure�.I still have gay sex now and then, but I am honestly happily married."

Firas and Shadi resumed their friendship, and in fact they are the closest of friends today. A day after Shadi's arrest in Cairo the first lawyer (one of a few lawyers that managed to earn money off of his arrest) contacted him. The lawyer demanded (and received) USD600.00 from Firas in order to expedite Shadi's release. The lawyer told Firas that he had better get out of Egypt, so he used Shadi's ticket and left that same weekend.

Shadi swears that he will never go back to Egypt again. In a dreadful way, his Egyptian nightmare ends almost at the same point where it began.

"When I got back home, I saw Dennis on line. I asked him how he could do such a sinister thing to innocent people. How can he sleep at night? He told me that this is his job, he is a policeman and this is how he supports his family. I pleaded with him to stop, as he is destroying people's lives. He proudly told me that he got a Libyan guy this month, and this coming week will entrap a pilot from one of the airlines, and the son of a diplomat is also falling for his trap."

Shadi pleads to all GME readers � "Please be careful. It is Egyptian policy to entrap gays - both foreign and Egyptian. Don't fall for the same thing that I fell for!".

Source of the story: www.gaymiddleast.com