Egyptian doctors condemned for criminalizing HIV

From New York to Johannesburg to Manila, rights advocacy groups are making fresh calls for the Egyptian government to rein in its functionaries who mistreat people living with HIV/AIDS. "Doctors must put patients first, not join a witch-hunt driven by prejudice," said Joe Amon of Human Rights Watch (HRW), which is equally critical of Egypt's police excesses against HIV patients. Amon's group and more than 100 other organizations active in many countries across the world sent a joint letter to the Egyptian authorities this week expressing their grave concerns over recent incidents of harassment and jailing of men living with HIV. Signers of the letter said they were particularly disturbed by the behavior of doctors who took part in the ongoing police investigations against men held on suspicions of involvement in same-sex sexual relations. "[It's] a breach of trust in a privileged relationship," the right groups said of the doctors' involvement in the police interrogation. Last October, the police in Cairo arrested 12 men because they reportedly were infected with HIV. In a statement, Amon reminded the Egyptian doctors of the oath they took to respect "patients' privacy, autonomy, and consent." As many as five men living with HIV were due to face trials in Egypt beginning this week. The police started rounding up people living with HIV some six months ago. Police, according to activists, are still looking for HIV patients, despite continued protests against such actions. In a statement, HRW said all those arrested have been charged with the "habitual practice of debauchery," a term which in Egyptian law includes consensual sexual acts between men. UN experts on HIV/AIDS say there are troubling indicators of risky sexual behavior in Egypt. Their research shows that rates of condom use is "very low" in the general population. A UNAIDS study indicates that one in four men in Egypt never uses a condom and that HIV testing rates for drug-users are almost zero. Experts say HIV cases are four times more likely among men than women. But women are still at risk of contracting the fatal virus, and a 2005 survey shows that only 6 percent of women in Egypt have comprehensive knowledge about HIV. Some organized efforts to reach out to vulnerable populations have started, but their scope is still very limited. UN experts specializing in the region say focusing national efforts on addressing issues related to men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, and sex workers is "an urgent priority." But, as activists report from the region, there is no sign of urgency on the part of the government to address this situation, nor any visible effort to change the behavior of law enforcers and medical professionals. The recent reports indicate that, when it comes to HIV/AIDS, Egyptian authorities seem to be prioritizing prosecution above education. Recently, an independent probe led by a Cairo-based advocacy group concluded that the Ministry of Health is largely responsible for using doctors in police interrogations against HIV patients. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says it found a document from the Ministry, which is titled "Questionnaire for Patients with HIV/AIDS." It includes "yes" or "no" questions to find out whether or not the patient was involved in same-sex sexual relations. Like many other countries in the Islamic world, homosexuality is considered a taboo and those who practice it are generally looked down upon as social outcasts. According to HRW, doctors from Egypt's Forensic Medical Authority performed "forcible and abusive anal examinations" on the arrested men to "prove" they had had sex with other men. Many among those in detention said they were repeatedly beaten by police and prison guards. One of them told his defense attorney that a prosecutor said to him: "People like you should be burned alive. You do not deserve to live." Egyptian rights activists said at some medical facilities those living with HIV were chained to their beds for months. They were unchained last month, but only after rights advocacy groups started protesting against such inhumane treatment. "It is unacceptable for doctors to perform forcible HIV tests, or to examine people to 'prove' offenses that should never be criminalized," said Amnesty International's Malcolm Smart, who directs the organization's Middle East and North Africa program. To Smart, "doctors who engage in or enable human rights abuses are violating their most elemental responsibilities." In January, an Egyptian court convicted four men of "debauchery" charges and sentenced them to a year in prison. They appealed against their sentences in a higher court, but failed to get a favorable verdict.