CAIRO: The Criminal Court of Kafr El Sheikh has reinforced the death sentence of 10 rapists, and a 15-year prison term handed down to a 17-year-old minor issued in January 2009. In 2006 the 11 men had kidnapped 28-year-old Fatma Mahmoud Amin at gunpoint from her home in the rural province of Kafr El Sheikh, then gang-raped her for three consecutive hours in the open fields. In a press conference, Prosecutor Mokhtar Shalaby said that the maximum sentence was given to the rapists on account of the brutality of the crime, which involved kidnapping under the threat of arms and a gun battle with police as they attempted to arrest them. Hafez Abou Seada, head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and member of the National Council for Human Rights told Daily News Egypt that this case sets an important precedent because it is the first time 11 men receive the maximum sentence for rape in a single case. However, he added that the death penalty would not prevent such crimes from happening again. "The death penalty for drug dealing, for instance, has not deterred offenders. Such rulings are forgotten by public opinion. A better alternative would be a life sentence to make a lasting example of the criminals, he said. His sentiments were echoed by Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who pointed out that this constitutes almost half of the death penalties handed down in Egypt annually. "This ruling sends the wrong message and absolves the government of its duties of actively preventing sexual violence especially against women, he said. Abou Seada said that the 10 death penalties do not reflect the degree to which each of the defendants is guilty. "For example those who planned and instigated the attack should be given a different punishment to the actual rape. Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, member of Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Center, welcomed the verdict, saying that it complies with Sharia. "This heinous crime must be punished with the maximum penalty in order to rid society of these individuals and achieve justice for the woman and her family, he said. Over the past decade, rape-related laws have been amended several times. In 1999 Article 291 of the penal code allowing rapists to go free if they marry their victims was repealed. Parents of rape victims have used the law, which dates to 1904, as a way to regain family honor. Rapists have used it to escape punishment. According to government statistics, 20,000 cases involving rape and sexual harassment are reported in Egypt every year, averaging a shocking 55.5 cases a day. Bahgat clarified that this ruling has now been officially sealed by Egypt's Grand Mufti, but that it can still be appealed.
