This article was originally posted in 2001. We are no longer calling for a boycott as it received insufficient support and hit smaller hotels and businesses more than it hurt larger companies close to the Government. With the imprisonment of 23 men for their alleged sexual orientation and with the continuing accounts of torture, arbitrary arrests, forced confessions and intimidation, many groups such as Al Fatiha, Amnesty and GayEgypt.com are requesting tourists not to visit Egypt. We are also asking businesses not to invest in Egypt. Since the raid on the Queen Boat discotheque in May 2001 and the mass show trial which followed we have received a flood of letters requesting the strongest measures be taken to force the Egyptian Government to its' senses. You asked how could tourists continue to visit Egypt and support the country with their dollars, deutchmarks or pounds while the very same Government continues to violate even the most basic human rights. It's not as if the Queen Boat Raid was an isolated case. Every day gay men are arrested with or without charge in cities from Aswan to Alexandria, beaten and abused in custody and forced to sign confessions to any offence deemed suitable by the police. In Luxor one man was brutally beaten for days just for his effeminate demeanour - he had never even been to a discotheque. Now as he works as a waitor in a small restaurant he tries hard to remain discreet and to act "like a man". Worse, children are beaten with falakas until they can barely walk and men electrocuted or burnt with cigarettes and sometimes even made to stand in water for days with no way to sit or lie down. This site was first set up in April 2000 after the first raid on the Queen Boat. Then there was no newspaper attention because the individuals were beaten, held for several days in custody and then released. One of GayEgypt.com writers was himself present when the raid took place one Thursday night at the end of March and saw one man brutally kicked on the pavement by three policemen who stood over him on the pavement as he begged for mercy. In several cities gay men have been targeted by the Security Police and blindfolded and threatened or exposed to torture and forced to reveal the identities of others. In Luxor and Aswan the State Security Police have used similar measures to obtain information about visiting tourists. THERE COMES A TIME WHEN WE HAVE TO SAY "ENOUGH". SAY NO TO CONTINUED TORTURE AND INTIMIDATION. DON'T VISIT EGYPT. Latest news 22 May 2012: Cairo psychiatrist claims he can "cure" 70 to 75 per cent of gay teenagers.