The Cairo 52 were men arrested on May 11, 2001, aboard a floating
gay nightclub called the Queen Boat, which was moored on the
Nile in
Cairo,
Egypt.
[ ]
Charges
Of fifty-two men arrested, fifty were charged with "habitual practice of debauchery" and "obscene behaviour" under Article 9c of Law No. 10 of 1961 on the Combating of
Prostitution
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
. Another two were charged with "contempt of religion" under Article 98f of the Penal Code. All fifty-two men pleaded
innocent.
Treatment of Arrest
According to the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the men were subjected to beatings and
forensic examinations to "prove their homosexuality". All 52 men were kept for twenty-two hours a day in two cramped cells with no beds.
Trials
The trials of the Cairo 52 lasted five months. The defendants were vilified in the Egyptian
media, which printed their real names and addresses, and branded them as agents against the state. The trials were condemned by international
human rights organizations, members of
US Congress and the
United Nations. Lawyers for the defense argued that the cases should be dismissed on the grounds of
false arrest, improper arrest procedures, falsified evidence and police intimidation. During the trial, homosexuality was characterized as "un-Egyptian".
On November 14, 2001, twenty-one of the men were convicted of "habitual practice of debauchery", one man of "contempt for religion", and another, accused of being the "ringleader", was convicted of both charges and received the heaviest sentence, five years'
hard labour. A fifty-third man, a teenager, was tried in juvenile court and was sentenced to the maximum penalty of three years in prison, to be followed by three years of probation.
In May 2002, those convicted were released pending a second trial; both the guilty and not-guilty verdicts were overturned, provoking international outrage. In July 2002, fifty of the men began a second trial (the other two men had been convicted of contempt for religion, and their sentences were upheld). This trial, held at Qasr-al-Nil Misdemeanors Court in Cairo and presided over by Judge Abdel Karim, the same judge who had presided over the first trial, lasted only fifteen minutes, ending when Karim
recused himself. The trial was then moved to September. The retrial ended in March, 2003. Twenty-one men were handed three-year jail sentences and twenty-nine were acquitted.
Cairo 52 in the media
The Cairo 52 were featured in a documentary by After Stonewall Productions, narrated by
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''.
Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
, entitled ''
Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World''. Egyptian director
Maher Sabry
Maher Sabry ( ar, ماهر صبري; born 11 April 1967) is an Egyptian theater director, playwright, film director, producer and screenwriter, poet, writer and cartoonist.
Biography
A gay activist, he was the first director to portray gay and ...
's film ''
Toul Omry'' (''All My Life'') was inspired by the events. One of the Cairo 52 men is featured in
Parvez Sharma
Parvez Sharma is a New York-based Indian filmmaker, author, and journalist. He is a recipient of the 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship in the film/video category. He was amongst the 173 fellows selected from 3000 applicants in the 94th year of the fe ...
's documentary ''
A Jihad for Love
''A Jihad for Love'' (preceded by a short film called ''In the Name of Allah'') is a 2008 documentary film and was the world's first film on Islam and homosexuality. It took a total of six years to make and premiered at the Toronto International F ...
'' (2008).
References
*
Sir Elton joins Egypt gay protest" ''
BBC''. Monday 18 March 2002.
* Long, Scott.
Cairo 52 sentencing today"
''Q''. ''
Daily Mail & Guardian
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
''. November 14, 2001.
Interview with Film Maker Maher Sabry on his Cairo 52 filmArchive National Sexuality Resource Center,
San Francisco State University.
*
Egyptian rights group 'cannot protect gays'" ''
BBC''. Monday 11 February 2002.
*
Uneasy alliances" (Editorial) ''
The Boston Phoenix''. August 22–29, 2002. - Mentions Cairo 52 in regards to U.S. foreign policy.
Gilligan, Heather Tirado.
Panel: Horrific conditions for gays in Egypt"
Archive ''
Bay Area Reporter''. June 5, 2008.
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2001 in Egypt
LGBT in Egypt
Legal history of Egypt
Male homosexuality
People prosecuted under anti-homosexuality laws
Prisoners and detainees of Egypt
Quantified groups of defendants