CAIRO: Four more men suspected of being infected with the HIV virus were arrested, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Friday, bringing the total number of recent arrests up to 12. The move comes as part of a wider crackdown on those thought to be carrying the HIV/AIDS virus. Of the four recently arrested, two have tested positive for HIV. One was branded a "danger to public health at his Feb. 12 court hearing and has had his detention extended by 15 days. Another has a scheduled hearing for Feb. 23. All four were forced to undergo HIV testing without their consent and remain chained to their beds in Cairo hospitals. From the 12 that have been arrested in total, four have been handed prison sentences and eight are still being held in custody.HRW, in a joint statement with Amnesty International, have heavily criticized the move and called upon the Egyptian authorities to release the men immediately and ensure they receive the necessary medical care. They have warned that a crackdown could have serious ramifications for the country's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.Hossam Baghat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), told Daily News Egypt, "We are working on a UN level to ensure the release of the 12 men and to prevent what seems to be an expanding crackdown on men suspected of having HIV. Labeling the crackdown "a misguiding attempt to apply Egypt's unjust law on homosexual conduct, Rebecca Schleifer, advocate for the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program at HRW said. "This not only violates the most basic rights of people living with HIV. It also threatens public health, by making it dangerous for anyone to seek information about HIV prevention of treatment, she added.The human rights organization is also extremely concerned about the treatment of those arrested while in custody. After the first arrests were made in October 2007, two men told lawyers that officers "slapped and beat them when they refused to sign statements written for them by police admitting to homosexual activity.Police also subjected the two men to forensic anal examinations, labeled by HRW as "medically spurious, in attempts to prove they had engaged in homosexual conduct. "Arbitrary arrests, forcible HIV tests and physical abuse only add to the disgraceful record of Egypt's criminal justice system, where torture and ill-treatment are greeted with impunity, said Hassiba Hadj Sahroui, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program.Under Egyptian law, homosexual conduct is effectively outlawed under an article which criminalizes the "habitual practice of debauchery [fujur]. This runs contrary to the demands of international human rights law, which describe criminalization of adult homosexual conduct a violation of individual privacy. A Cairo court convicted those arrested in January on charges of homosexuality. However, defense attorneys told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that the prosecutions case was based on repudiated statements, lacked witnesses and reliable evidence. In light of the fresh arrests, UNAIDS has issued a statement urging "all parties concerned to understand that HIV is a condition that requires appropriate treatment and care, as well as a reminder that "any HIV testing should be voluntary and with informed consent, accompanied by counseling.
