More gays arrested in Cairo; Vice squad sweeps capital for 'perverse' activities By Tariq Hassan-Gordon Middle East Times staff As international journalists, human rights activists and foreign diplomats focused on the verdicts of the 52 alleged gay men on November 14, four men were arrested on similar charges in the Boulak district of Cairo, on November 10. On November 16 Al Akbar and Al Gumhurriya, two leading Egyptian government newspapers, reported that four men were arrested for turning their apartment into a "den of perversion." The Central Vice Squad in Giza confirmed the arrests and said that the men were being detained at the Boulak Police Station. The men were ordered to remain in detention until December 30 by the Public Prosecutor's office. None of the four have yet to be charged. Scott Long, a representative with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission based in San Francisco, spoke with one of the defendants through the bars of a police vehicle. Long has been in Cairo monitoring the Queen Boat trial (see that story). According to Long, the man was arrested on November 10. While in detention he was stripped naked and beaten with batons, splashed with cold water and left hanging on the bars of his prison cell. The defense lawyers representing the four have said that the police claim that they arrested the four in an apartment is untrue. According to the lawyers, the four were arrested separately. One was arrested in Giza Square and the other three were arrested in various other places. "This new case is eerily similar to the Cairo 52 case," said Long. "Presumed homosexuals arrested at random under the same law on prostitution, beaten in prison, and vilified by the media, while police fabricate facts that do not add up." That these arrests occurred when the international community is focused on gay rights in Egypt could be a signal the government part will not yield to pressure on this issue. "The Cairo 52 group is not an isolated case," added Long. "It is becoming clearer that persecution of homosexuals is a major human rights issue in Egypt. The international community should be clear with Egypt in demanding the Egyptian government stop these abuses now." According to Egyptian gay rights activist Ali Asali, the founder of the web site GayEgypt.com, these four arrests are not the only other ones that have taken place. "This case follows six weeks of rumors and reports of arrests and disappearances of gay men in the Pyramids and Heliopolis districts of Cairo. There has also been an intensification of arrests of Egyptians placing personal adverts on the internet." Asali left Cairo a month after the Queen Boat arrests in May. Since then he has been coordinating an international campaign to bring attention to the plight of gay men in Egypt. He is in constant contact with colleagues in Egypt and describes the mood as "nervous but determined." Recently, a key gay activist in Egypt who was sending information to Asali has gone missing and there is serious concern for his safety. "The continuing arrests from internet entrapments and accounts of mass disappearances have made gay life in Cairo more dangerous than it already was," said Asali. "But the authorities have been unable to contain the growing numbers of Cairo's youth seeking an alternative lifestyle." To visit The Middle East Times please click on metimes.com |