Saturday, July 27, 2002

Egypt Gay Trial Delayed Again



365Gay.com Newscenter - July 27

(Cairo) The new trial for fifty young Egyptian men accused of gay crimes was postponed moments after it began Friday, when defence lawyers said they needed more time to prepare.

The retrial had been ordered by President Hosni Mubarak.

23 of the men had been convicted of "debauchery" and the others found not guilty in a trial before a state security court that ended last November. The court was set up to deal with terrorism and other crimes against the state.

Mubarak however upheld the prison verdicts against the two main defendants who ran the club. Sherif Farahat and Mahmud Ahmed Allam were sentenced to five and three years respectively for "scorning religion." Farahat was also charged with "sexual practices contrary to Islam."

The men had all been arrested in May 2001 in a gay club on a Nile riverboat.

The new trial was to have begun last month but the judge recused himself on the grounds he had officiated at the original trial. Mubarak ordered the trial to be held in a criminal court saying the case did not fall under the jurisdiction of the State Security Court.

None of the defendants were in court Friday as presiding judge Hassan al-Sayess heard lawyers arguments. al-Sayess set a trial date of September 7 to begin proceedings.

Mubarak's government had been under pressure from western countries and international civil rights groups to pardon all those originally arrested.

A group of American congressmen, led by Rep. Barney Frank (D Mass) had sent a series of strongly worded letters to the Egyptian government and in February, French President Jacques Chirac expressed his "concern" to Mubarak in Paris in February and "wished, without wanting to interfere, that the decision would be rescinded".

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International twice demanded the release of the defendants, an investigation into allegations of torture during their detention, and respect for sexual orientation.

The Canadian government has sent a diplomat from its Cairo embassy to monitor the trial.

Scott Long, of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission remains sceptical. Long said it is a travesty of justice to retry the men already found not guilty.

"But dragging the convicted men into the humiliation of a new trial--while placing 29 acquitted men under the renewed threat of imprisonment--can only sully that image further."

Friday, July 26, 2002

Trial of 50 young Egyptians accused of homosexuality reopens



Arabia.com - July 26, 2002


CAIRO (AFP) - Fifty young Egyptian men accused of practising homosexuality are back in court for a retrial ordered by President Hosni Mubarak.

The trial is to open before the Abdine criminal court. The state security court last November sentenced 23 of the men to prison, mostly for one to two years, on charges of practicing homosexuality and acquitted 29 others.

Mubarak, empowered to cancel judgements and grant amnesties, ordered their retrial in May, saying the case did not fall under the jurisdiction of the state security court.

However, he upheld jail terms of the two leading defendants, Sherif Farahat and Mahmud Ahmed Allam, to five and three years respectively after they were accused of "scorning religion." Farahat was also charged with "sexual practices contrary to Islam."

The retrial of the other 50 men was to open July 2 before the Abdine court but was delayed when judge Mohamed Abdel Karim excused himself, saying he had already judged the accused in their first trial in November.

On July 16, Karim announced the trial would re-open on July 27 before the same court under judge Hassan al-Sayess, who will consider whether to convict the men, mostly aged around 20, for "debauchery".

When the first trial opened on July 18, 2001, it sparked protest and anger from Western gay rights movements and human rights organizations, notably in Switzerland, France and the United States.

Pressure from Western officials, groups and leading figures continued after the sentences, until Mubarak's decision to throw out the verdicts and order a retrial.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed his "concern" to Mubarak in Paris in February and "wished, without wanting to interfere, that the decision would be rescinded", while French singer Jean-Michel Jarre delivered an open letter of protest to the Egyptian ambassador signed by 6,000 people.

The petition, addressed to Mubarak, included the signatures of the actress Catherine Deneuve and the philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International twice demanded the release of the defendants, an investigation into allegations of torture during their detention, and respect for sexual orientation.

And many Western diplomats in Cairo followed-up the trial closely and attended the trial sessions in a show of support for the accused.

Homosexuality is not explicitly prohibited under Egyptian law which is based on sharia, or Islamic, rulings, although numerous statutes condemn conduct deemed to be an affront to public morality.

Thursday, July 25, 2002

Gays and dolls in the Israeli Knesset


Haaretz - 7/25/02

A Knesset debate on Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On's bill against the sex slave trade turned unruly yesterday, when Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev used his time at the podium to claim that Gal-On "gives legitimacy to lesbian workers in her office."

Shocked, Gal-On leaped to her feet and shouted something at Ze'ev, then took the podium and bluntly asked the grinning Shas MK: "Are you homosexual? Have you ever done it with a man?"

Before he could answer, she said, "It's none of my business if you are a homosexual, just as it's none of your business what my parliamentary aides do. That's why it's not your business to stand here and condemn homosexuals and lesbians. Who gave you that job? You represent ignorance and darkness. Go solve the problems in your community before you dare come up here and insult my people."


Sunday, July 21, 2002

Syria's human rights society opens for membership


Arabic News - 7/20/2002

The Human rights society in Syria has held the first meeting of its general commission, following its foundation. Its president Haitham al-Maleh was reelected. The society's board was also elected in the presence of a representative for the security and under the absence of a representative of the ministry of Labor and social affairs as well as the press.

The main result of the meeting is a call to open the door for membership to the society since there are 30 applications pending for the society to decide upon.

In a statement, the society said "the general commission of the human rights society in Syria held its meeting. It discussed the report submitted by the board's council and approved it after recommendations and proposals were approved. By the end of the meeting the society elected its board." The statement mentioned names of the board members adding that "The board has met and elected Haitham al-Maleh as its chairman, (he was the only candidate), Salim Khei Beyck as a deputy chairman, Nuhad Nahhas as a secretary and Mrs. Rzan Zeitounah and Fund's secretary."

The society circulated its annual report which said that several incidents have had negative impact on the performance of the society especially "the explosions of September 11th and its consequences on the whole world conditions especially human rights " and " the setback in the small democratic movement after President Bashar al-Assad assumed his post of office and the taking oath ceremony and the promises mentioned in it. Forums used to be open at that time were closed. several activists of the forums and the civil society committees were arrested. Even three were arrested from our own society. Besides the suspicious attitude we receive from the authority and the bad financial conditions of the society."

The report spoke about the peculiar situation they are in regarding the licensing status of the society with the ministry of social affairs and labor. The report said "The society started following up due licensing measures through the ministry of social affairs and Labor. In this regard, the chairman of the society and his deputy visited the minister of social affairs ( Mrs. Ghada al-Jabi) to discuss the issue of licensing. Despite the good welcome by the minister, however the answer came negative and two days after the legally required answer date -- 62 days after applying; a matter which makes our society legal according to the law. We have sent an appeal to the minister to this effect. And the answer was negative for the second time. This made it imperative for us to follow up our measures through the administrative judiciary."

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