The Trap : Punishing sexual difference in Egypt

D.A. Hamid

In this report, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, documents a four-year period in which Egyptian police have escalated a targeted crackdown on people whose sexualities or sexual practices, actual or perceived, differ from those considered normative in Egyptian society. Especially if they were homosexual or men who practice sex with men, or those suspected as such, or transgender persons. The report tries to clarify that the late campaign, related to the arrestation of more than 75 people against the backdrop of the 'waving the rainbow flag' incident. This report follows the journey of some of those arrested, from entrapment to imprisonment, in order to analyse the patterns of this security campaign against those considered to have non-normative sexualities. The report also analyses the roles of different actors in the criminal justice system, including the police, prosecution and Courts of Appeal, as well as the legal loopholes employed by this campaign and the way in which it violates a number of established legal and constitutional principles.