IN A TIME OF TORTURE The Assault on Justice In Egypt's Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct Human Rights Watch Copyright © 2004 by Human Rights Watch. All rights reserved. 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Henkin, Bruce Rabb, and Malcolm B. Smith. I used to think being gay was just part of my life and now I know it means dark cells and beatings. It is very, very difficult to be gay in Egypt. I’ll tell you something. Some things that happen in your life you can forget. And there are some things that you can never forget, even for one minute. You forget the good times; you may have been happy in a moment, and you forget. But the black days you can’t forget. If it’s inside you, you remember every minute. And [the day I was tortured] was a very black day in my life. … It hurts me to remember. I don’t sleep at all. If I sleep I would dream about the trial. If I have to go back to prison, I will kill myself. What do they want from us? I have no one to talk to, no one to ask. No one who can understand. What do they want from us? Why do they want our lives? —Ziyad (not his real name), a defendant in the “Queen Boat” trial, interviewed by Human Rights Watch in 2003. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Justice at Stake: An Introduction 1 A. Summary 1 B. Methodology, Terminology 4 C. Creating a Moral Panic 6 D. Key Recommendations 8 II. Homosexual Conduct and the Law: The Conditions for a Crackdown 10 A. Khaled’s Story 10 B. The Development of “Debauchery” 13 C. “Dance, Khawalat, Dance”: Growing Harassment and the Dangers of Community 16 III. Scandal and Stigma: The Queen Boat Trials 22 A. The First Defendant 23 B. “Some Salt in the Dish”: Police Prepare the Case 25 C. “While I was Beaten, Time Stopped”: The Queen Boat Raid 30 D. Detention and Defamation 37 E. Trial and Retrial 41 IV. In the Wake of the Queen Boat: Assaults on Privacy and Community 49 A. Introduction to an Informer: A Birthday Party in Al-Haram 49 B. “Of Course the Police Would Trump Something Up”: A Party in Boulaq Al-Dakrour 52 C. Torture in Damanhour: The “Beheira Perverts’ Organization” 55 D. “I am Broken By This”: An Apartment in Tanta 61 E. Hafez Celebrates Again: Twelve Men in Agouza 65 F. “They Thought That This Was Personal Freedom”: A Wiretap in Giza 68 V. Exploiting Solitude: Entrapment Over the Internet 73 A. Raoul’s Story 73 B. Sex, Lies, and Cyberspace: Identities of an Entrapper 74 C. Arrest and Interrogation 78 D. “The Country of Hate” 81 VI. A Flawed Mirror: Prejudice and the Workings of Justice 88 A. A Moulid in Tanta 88 B. Fear, Loathing, and the Law: The Effect of Stigma 91 i. Surveillance, Arrests, and Harassment 92 ii. Without Protection of the Law 94 iii. Failure of Due Process 96 VII. Bodies and Evidence: The Motives, and Medicine, of Torture 101 A. Shebl and Naguib's Story 101 B. Pressure for Proof, Power of Stigma 105 C. Medical Torture: Forensic Anal Examinations and the Assault on Bodily Integrity 107 i. Medicine and Myth 107 ii. “Dignity” and “Consent” 113 VIII. Conclusions 116 A. Legal Standards 116 i. The Right to Privacy and the Right to Freedom from Discrimination 116 ii. The Right to Freedom from Torture 119 iii. Health Professionals and Torture 120 iv. The Right to Freedom From Arbitrary Arrest and Detention 122 v. The Right to a Fair Trial 123 vi. The Right to Freedom of Expression 124 vii. The Rights to Freedom of Association and Assembly 125 B. Recommendations 125 i. General 125 ii. On Freedom of Expression and Communications 126 iii. On Fair Trials 126 iv. On Arbitrary Detention and Torture 126 v. Recommendations to Other Agencies and Countries 128 APPENDIX: Laws Affecting Male Homosexual Conduct in Egypt 129 A. Relevant Articles of Law 10/1961 on the Combating of Prostitution 129 B. Moral Panic and the Criminalization of “Debauchery” in Egyptian Law 131 C. “Habituality” 135 D. “Advertising” and “Inducing”: Other Provisions 137 E. Police Supervision and Institutionalization 141 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 144 I. Justice at Stake: An Introduction A. Summary “Every place we were held, somebody beat us,” the twenty-five-year-old told Human Rights Watch. “We asked, why is it us who are getting beaten? It was like they weren’t dealing with human beings at all. … Like we weren’t even animals, just mud or something they could kick around.” Another man said, “They punished me only because of my sexual orientation and they condemned me as a criminal for my entire life. … In brief, they killed every beautiful hope and future I ever had.” A young man in his twenties told Human Rights Watch, “I don’t understand why they do these things to men who hurt no one. I don’t understand why they must hunt us down. …I am a human being. Aren’t I? Tell me that I am. No, I know I am. I just can’t believe this happened to me.” The questions multiplied, but one echoed again and again.