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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

Egyptian medical doctors have been conducting forensic examinations on men suspected of engaging in sex with other men in Egypt. The forensic examinations are part of a larger targeted campaign by the government of arresting, torturing, and imprisoning men suspected of having sex with other men. A recent Human Rights Watch report documents 179 cases of men being prosecuted for the “habitual practice of debauchery,” which is the official legal charge against them.

The role of doctors in investigating these cases raises several concerns about the use of medical skills to inflict harm on detainees. The doctors have performed unnecessary and often painful forensic anal examinations for use in court proceedings. The exams are conducted without consent and are a violation of physical integrity and the rights to privacy protected under international human rights law. In addition, the forensic tests are frequently inaccurate, a fact that the government has acknowledged in recent statements. The science underlying the forensic exams are based on a book published 1857. According to the Human Rights Watch report, these tests are “obsolete, nineteenth-century medical mythology about the physiological effects of anal intercourse. They are virtually valueless as investigative tools.” Nevertheless, numerous allegedly gay men have been sentenced to prison terms citing the findings of flawed forensic exams.

Reports also indicate that doctors are failing to address the health of detainees who have suffered torture. It appears that many detainees are subject to torture to pressure them to “confess” to the crime of debauchery. In some cases, doctors appear more interested in performing forensic exams than in investigating and reporting any physical wounds relating from torture.

Dual loyalty refers to a situation in which medical professionals have simultaneous obligations to the patient and the state. The International Dual Loyalty Working Group, an initiative of Physicians for Human Rights Watch and South African medical professional issued guidelines that state that the “health professional should not perform medical duties or engage in medical interventions for security purposes” (Guideline 14). Doctors should never engage in a medical intervention that is not in the individual’s therapeutic interest, even when requested to do so by security officials.

While homosexuality is prohibited by Islam and is a cultural taboo, homosexual activity is not expressly illegal in Egypt. Amnesty International states that “the imprisonment of people solely for their perceived or actual sexual orientation constitutes a violation of the right to freedom from discrimination as guaranteed in international treaties.” Human Rights Watch has expressed concern about the arrests and convictions of individuals for “debauchery” because that provision of the law is being understood to criminalize consensual, non-commercial homosexual sex. Gay men have been singled out by Egyptian authorities, in what may be considered to be an effort to cleanse Egypt of “immoral behavior.” Undercover police and informants have been using aliases on Internet chat rooms and gay personals-advertisement sites to solicit suspected homosexual men into meeting them, where they are then arrested and charged.

Discrimination against a particular group violates non-discrimination protections in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Egypt ratified the ICCPR on 4 August 1967.

The government’s use of forensic medicine to provide grounds for convicting people for consensual homosexual activity is intrusive and degrading. The health professionals who administer the tests are in violation of the Oath of Athens, which was unanimously approved by the International Council of Prison Medical Services in 1979. The Principles of Medical Ethics, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1982, also outline ethical codes which apply to physicians treating prisoners.

(Sources of information about this issue alert include: Afrol News, Amnesty International, BBC News, Human Rights Watch, and Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture. The Human Rights Watch report, “In a Time of Torture: The Assault on Justice In Egypt's Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct” is available online at: http://www.hrw.org)

The Oath of Athens: Health professionals working in prison settings have agreed:

• To abstain from participating in any form of torture
• Not to engage in any form of human experimentation amongst incarcerated individuals without their informed consent.

The Principles of Medical Ethics:

• It is a gross contravention of medical ethics, as well as an offence under applicable international instruments, for health personnel, particularly physicians, to engage, actively or passively, in acts which constitute participation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to commit torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Principle 2).
• It is a contravention of medical ethics for health personnel, particularly physicians, to apply their knowledge and skills in order to assist in the interrogation of prisoners and detainees in a manner that may adversely affect the physical or mental health or condition of such prisoners or detainees and which is not in accordance with the relevant international instruments (Principle 4a).

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

• Article 13: Each State Party shall ensure that any individual who alleges he has been subjected to torture in any territory under its jurisdiction has the right to complain to, and to have his case promptly and impartially examined by, its competent authorities. Steps shall be taken to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any evidence given.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 10: All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.
• Article 17(1): No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his [or her] privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his [or her] honour and reputation.
• Article 7: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 05: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Article 09: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
• Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his [or her] honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send faxes, letters, or emails:

To the government:

• Urging the government to put an end to forced forensic tests, which have no medical bearing and constitute a violation of the individual’s right to bodily integrity and privacy as protected in international human rights law; and
• Urging the government to uphold the non-discrimination standards as provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to refrain from prosecuting individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation.

To the Egyptian Medical Association:

• Requesting that they conduct a serious discussion of the ethical implications of physicians participation in forensic examinations to determine consensual homosexual activity; and
• Suggesting that they consider adopting a statement that reaffirms their commitment to international human rights standards and medical ethics and clarifies their position on physicians participating in forensic examinations to determine consensual homosexual activities.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency Mohammed Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdeen Palace
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 2 390 1998
webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
Salutation: Your Excellency

The Honorable Farouk Seif El Nasr
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Midan Lazoghly
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 2 355 8103
Salutation: Dear Mr. Minister:

Professor M. El Zawahry
President
Egyptian Medical Association
"Dar El Hekmah"
42, Kasr El-Eini Street
Cairo
Egypt
Salutation: Professor El Zawahry:

COPIES SENT TO:

Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt
The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington,DC 20008
Fax: (202) 244 5131
embassy@egyptembdc.org
Salutation: Dear Mr. Ambassador

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

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