CONTEXT

Egypt’s human rights situation is at its worst since 2014, as it has become even more evident since the recent state security’s arbitrary detainment of at least 3000 people following demonstrations in late September. In this general context, the situation of LGBTIQ+ community has also worsened in the last 5 years. The number of people arrested annually and referred to trial in such cases increased five-fold in the period. After a rainbow flag was raised at the music band Mashrou' Leila’s concert in New Cairo in September 2017, police arrested 75 people. 71 cases were heard in first- and second-instance courts in 2018. Most defendants in these cases were sentenced to one to three years in prison, some had to leave the country.

Egypt law does not explicitly criminalizes consensual sexual relations between persons of the same-sex, posing as a woman, posing as a man, and consensual sexual acts between adults. But it does have several provisions that criminalize any behavior or the expression of an idea that is deemed to be immoral, scandalous or offensive to the teachings of a recognized religious leader.  Law 10/1961 on combating prostitution is largely used, particularly Article 9 (c). The existing legal framework and policies are inadequate to protect the human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons and create barriers to access redress and justice. Moreover, LGBTIQ+ persons and related activities are vulnerable to complaints, police reports, monitoring, and surveillance. 

This year only, LGBTIQ+ activists, defenders, and individuals, have been submitted to arrests and torture, as it has been the case for Malak El-Kashif (who has been released in May 2019), Eman Al-Helw and Hossam Ahmed - the latest two are still being preventively detained with no date of trial. Not only are they suffering from the wild-scale repression on activists and freedom of expression, but they are also facing discrimination and abuses by the Egyptian authorities due to their perceived “non-binarity” (i.e they don’t fit in the traditional roles, behaviors or appearances assigned to men and women in the Egyptian society).

Forced anal and physical examinations are also widely practiced by Egypt security forces, especially in ‘debauchery’ cases (LGBTIQ+, sex workers…). These practices are recognized as “a form of cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment that can rise to the level of torture” according to UN experts and international Human Rights organizations. They violate the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Convention on Human and Peoples' Rights. Forced anal exams are invasive, intrusive, and profoundly humiliating. As the UN Committee against Torture has emphasized, they “have no medical justification and cannot be performed with the free and informed consent.”

On another level, the situation of people living with HIV in Egypt is also extremely worrying. According to UNAIDS there are 22’000 cases of people living with HIV in Egypt with 3’600 new cases in 2017 only, which reflects the limitation of the Egyptian state in the field of awareness, testing, counselling, prevention and treatment. Officials at state-run testing and counselling centres regularly discriminate against people living with HIV, as most of the medical staff in the country. Access to treatment can be very difficult, due to bureaucratic processes, discriminations, and shortages of medicines that can sometimes last up to a few months.