Eygpt

Human Rights Watch Country Profiles: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The following country profiles are derived in part from sections of the Human Rights Watch 2019 World Report that relate to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Egypt: 11 men accused of homosexuality jailed

An Egyptian court has sentenced 11 men accused of homosexuality to jail terms of between three and 12 years, legal sources said.

The defendants were arrested in a flat in the leafy Cairo suburb of Agouza in September last year. The court convicted them of "debauchery and incitement to debauchery", the charges generally used to prosecute alleged homosexuals in Egypt as the law does not formally prohibit same-sex relations.

It sentenced three of them to 12 years, three to nine years, one to six years and four to three years. Egypt's use of the debauchery law to prosecute and jail gay men has drawn condemnation from human rights groups. Read more via AFP