Egypt arrests more men despite protests

SUMMARY: As rights groups protest the sentencing of 23 Egyptian men to prison for alleged gay sexual activity, reports indicate more arrests.

While international groups protest Wednesday's sentencing of 23 Egyptian men to prison for alleged gay sexual activity, reports out of that country indicate four men were arrested last week on the same charges.

According to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the four men were arrested on Nov. 10 for "the habitual practice of debauchery" -- the same oblique charge used to convict the 23 men on Wednesday. The Central Vice Squad in Giza, a suburb of Cairo, confirmed the arrests.

The men will be detained until at least Dec. 30, when a hearing is scheduled.

Citing the euphemistic charges, reports of torture in jail and police fabrications about details, IGLHRC's Program Director Scott Long said, "This new case is eerily similar to the Cairo 52 case."

"Cairo 52" refers to the men who had been on trial for four months until Wednesday, when 23 were sentenced to jail and 29 were acquitted. The court's ruling cannot be appealed, and the jail sentences reportedly involve hard labor.

"It is becoming clearer that persecution of homosexuals is a major human rights issue in Egypt," Long added.

New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement to Reuters on Thursday criticizing the trial as a "miscarriage of justice."

"The government prosecuted these men in an unfair trial, apparently in order to distract public attention from their own unpopular policies, and to placate conservative elements in Egyptian society," said Joe Stork, Washington director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.

A French foreign ministry spokesman expressed France's concern about the verdict.

"We hope that measures of clemency will intervene in their favor," said Bernard Valero in a daily briefing to journalists, adding that France will continue to monitor the case.

Before Wednesday, some groups had suggested they would urge a tourism boycott of Egypt in the event of a "guilty" verdict for the men. According to Faisal Alam, founder of the gay Muslim group Al-Fatiha, no group has yet made an official endorsement of such a boycott.

"But many of our members do strongly feel that a boycott is necessary," he said in an e-mail message to the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network.