"People like you should be burnt alive"

Al Arabeyeh reports that an Egyptian court sentenced five Egyptian men to three years in jail for being homosexual. (The news of the arrests and sentencing were reported elsewhere in February). Two of the men are HIV positive.

Since the Egyptian law has nothing explicitly about homosexuality, the men were convicted on charges of habitual "debauchery," which now covers sex between consenting adult men (I'm sure they will extend it to women when the national security of the state demands it). The men were beaten in prison and were subjected to forensic tests to prove their homosexuality (they are so advanced about these things in Egypt. They watch so many CSI episodes). They tested them for HIV without their consent. Not only that, but they tied them to their hospital beds while they were at it. I guess they were worried they might run around the hospital wards biting the good citizens and infecting them. You know, like vampires.

One prosecutor told one of the men when he was informed that he is HIV positive: "People like you should be burnt alive. You do not deserve to live."

If Egypt is going to throw in jail all Egyptian men who have sex with men, they will need many more prisons.

The criminalization of homosexuality will be a black spot on Egypt's history. Just like the long bread lines. Many Egyptian organizations condemned the arrests and bad treatment of the men. That is a bright spot in the fight against injustice.

The criminalization of AIDs is a disaster!!! Othering and demonizing patients who are HIV positive or have AIDS will not help protect Egyptians. But this is not about protecting Egyptians at all. It's about the state scapegoating the weak to consolidate its power uber alles.