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Criticizing Its Treatment of Gays Indian Sodomy Ban Challenged in the Delhi High Court |
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By Rex Wockner International News Report Egypt Denounces Europe for Criticizing Its Treatment of Gays
On November 14, Cairo's Emergency State Security Court handed down verdicts in the cases of 52 men detained since May because of alleged homosexual activity. Twenty-three of the men were sentenced to between one and five years hard labor and 29 were acquitted. The men were charged with obscene behavior and contempt for religion. Police say they were arrested in and around the gay club Queen Boat on May 11. International human-rights activists maintain that many of the men were nowhere near the club when they were taken into custody on May 11 and following days, and have denounced the prosecutions as a sham. Indian Sodomy Ban Challenged in the Delhi High Court
"The social effects [of the statute] drive gay men underground, with a devastating impact upon the AIDS prevention effort," the group added. "Once underground, they become extremely vulnerable to AIDS because it becomes difficult for them to negotiate safe sexual behaviours. It also becomes difficult to identify and target this population for AIDS prevention efforts through education and medical services." Section 377 punishes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" with up to life prison. |
Egyptian President Husni Mubarak's
government has denounced Europe
for having criticized Egypt's treatment of gays 