Out of Egypt – our fellow African country up north – comes the disturbing news report that four HIV positive men and one of their friends had been convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for being HIV positive and thus assumed to be homosexual. The defense lawyer for the five, Adel Ramadan, said the judge convicted the men of the “habitual practice of debauchery,” a term imported from the British colonial times but now used in the Egyptian legal system to denote consensual homosexual acts. The Egyptian Daily News reports as follows:
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), 12 men have been arrested since October 2007 in a spreading hunt for people suspected of being HIV-positive. “The arrests began when one man, stopped on the street during an altercation, told officers he was HIV positive. Police arrested him and the man with him, beat and abused them, and began picking up others whose names or contact information they found through interrogating the first detainees,” HRW reported.
All the men were charged with the “habitual practice of debauchery,” a term which in Egyptian law includes consensual sexual acts between men. According to HRW, Doctors from the Ministry of Health subjected all the detainees to forcible HIV tests without their consent. The organization said the Forensic Medical Authority performed forcible and abusive anal examinations on the men to “prove” they had had sex with other men.
A prosecutor informed one of them that he had tested positive for HIV by saying: “People like you should be burnt alive. You do not deserve to live.”
In addition to reports of abuse while in detention, the prisoners who tested HIV-positive were held in hospitals, chained to their beds, for months. After a domestic and international outcry, the Ministry of Health ordered the men unchained on Feb. 25.
Why do we not get to read about this flagrant abuse of human rights in our local papers? While the newspapers report every move from Zimbabwe, every farm invasion and every utterance from Mugabe’s thugs and while opposition parties and now even the ANC seems to be clamouring for President Mbeki to “do something” about Zimbabwe, there is not a peep from anyone about this scandalous abuse of the rights of innocent and defenseless individuals in another African country.
Is it perhaps because the victims of this abuse are not white, heterosexual farmers, but gay HIV positive men? Or is this silence caused by an unnecessary and callous sensitivity for the religious convictions of those in charge of the USA supported dictatorship in Egypt?
If this had happened to white gay men living in Zimbabwe and if the perpetrators were some of Mugabe’s thugs, we surely would have been told about it. Even the notoriously homophobic South African press would have discovered newfound sympathy for the plight of the men and would have written editorials about the need to respect and protect the rights of HIV positive individuals regardless of their sexual orientation. The Democratic Alliance would have issued statement after statement in defense of these poor young men and Gordon Brown would have waded in about the inhumanity of it all.
Yet, this has not happened. Some would rightly point out that we get more news from Zimbabwe and we demand more immediate action from our government on Zimbabwe because it is our neighbour and what happens there affects us directly. They might also argue that more people are affected by the attempts by Mugabe and his security chiefs to steal the election there than by the homophobic persecution of HIV positive men in Egypt.
But the fact remains that in our world there is only space in our tiny little callous hearts for that much moral outrage and at the moment most of that space is taken up by our indignation at the Mugabe regime. Yes, some of this concentration of our energies has to do with the proximity of Zimbabwe to South Africa, but I guess some of the focus on Zimbabwe must also have to do with the fact that white people have been thrown off their farms in Zimbabwe – the rule being that when things happen to heterosexual, HIV negative, white people it is always more newsworthy and more worthy of our moral outrage than when things happen to poor and marginalised individuals like the HIV positive homosexuals in Egypt.
I am not saying that we should not be outraged at the attempts by Mugabe to steal the election up north or that we should not vilify President Mbeki for saying that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe. There clearly is a huge crisis in that country and it will affect us one way or another and the way our President has dealt with this question is nothing short of scandalous.
I am, however, pleading for some perspective. There are many other countries where many evil things happen – often worse than what is happening in Zimbabwe. Egypt is one such country. There is no democracy in Egypt (not even the sham kind that Mugabe has instituted in Zimbabwe) and under the guise of religion, gay men (and now it seems hIV positive men) are persecuted there in a way that would be unthinkable even in Zimbabwe.
I am therefore waiting for a statement from the DA and from the ANC condemning this barbarous actions by the Egyptian government. What about having a special summit of the African Union where President Mbeki can be appointed mediator in this dreadful affair to try and get the Egyptian dictators to see reason? It will never happen, of course, because those gay HIV positive men in Egypt are not white or heterosexual and they are citizens of a country that are mollycoddled by both the West and by fellow African countries because of their strategic importance and because of their oil.
So the arrests and persecution will continue in Egypt long after Robert Mugabe has retired to his farm in Zimbabwe and Morgan Tsvangirai has taken over State House. And as we say in Afrikaans: nie ‘n haan sal daarna kraai nie. This is how our Western influenced morality works in South Africa.
Strictly speaking Prof, how often do we hear ANY news from Egypt?
So …? Why not start a petition, Pierre, and I promise I’ll sign it. Anything rather than listening to you gaaning aan about white South Africans and their “tiny little callous hearts”.
For one thing, Egypt is not generally seen by us here in the South as an African country (except maybe during soccer world cups). It’s an Islamic state and more part of the Middle East than anywhere else. Besides, Egyptians are Arabs, Pierre, and I don’t think they would like being classified black. As for condemnatory statements from the DA and the ANC, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. Africa, that’s south of the Sahara. Maybe we should wait for our own Muslim community to show outrage? Or do they reserve that for Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians?
Pierre asks?
Why do we not get to read about this flagrant abuse of human rights in our local papers? While the newspapers report every move from Zimbabwe, every farm invasion and every utterance from Mugabe’s thugs and while opposition parties and now even the ANC seems to be clamouring for President Mbeki to “do something” about Zimbabwe, there is not a peep from anyone about this scandalous abuse of the rights of innocent and defenseless individuals in another African country.
Pierre sometimes I think many South Africans including you are caught in a parallel universe of prejudice.
I don’t deny thats theres some flagrant omissions by the press and that this is an example of one. What is weird is that *your* so selective in seeing them.
First, this phenomena is due to a colonial hangover.
If you read Spanish newspapers you never here anything about Africa accept Morocco, that for a breif peroid used to be a colony. But you get copious amounts of info about Argentina, and Mexico.
This applies to Britain. At more or less the time when 17 farmers were killed in Zimbabwe in 2002 South Africa’s 1000th farmer was killed in SA. UK newspapers covered the former farmer for farmer, the latter not at all. These were afterall not Boers.
But even English speaking SA newspapers hardly cover SA farm murders so we cant expect UK ones to do so. Compare this to the farm murder in the Mark Scott-Crossley case. It was covered by every UK newspaper I could lay my hands on.
The relentless xenephobic killings of Somalis since 1997 in SA are a another case in point. How many serious reports can you find about that in SA or international newspapers. Very very few. Somalis dont matter to anyone it seems and besides they are being killed by blacks which makes for even more of a non story.
South African crime only got back onto the UK new agenda with the Ratray killing. The reason I would suggest is that he is a household name to middle England. The Times and Telegraph had in depth analysis pieces. Gito Baloi and lucky Dube’s murders were secondary news items. I was astounded because before this incident I did not even know Ratray existed.
With regards to this specific case, there seems now also to be widespread movement in the West to ‘defend’ liberal traditions. To expect other cultures to respect western values, but this comes at a cost: At the expense of multi culturalism at home and abroad. See movements in Denmark, France, Netherlands and Britain in this regard.
The downside is that in the west and in particular the left there is a reluctance to seem ‘imperial’ about values outside their countries. In other words, let the arabs do what they want homosexuals in Arab countries, that’s fine and dandy. The idea of Universal human values are under threat.
I thought my post tried to make a broader point about selective morality in general and that I included myself in the critique when I stated that: “there is only space in our tiny little callous hearts for that much moral outrage”. What interests me is on what basis the media, politicians and sometimes us ordinary humans decide to make space in our limited universe for moral outrage. Clearly our society prioritise race-based oppression over sexual orientation based oppression, for example and it is also obviously true that in former colonial states the ex colonies are given far more attention than other parts of the world. An even more pressing question: given our limited resources and capacity for moral outrage or ethically inspired action, how SHOULD we choose?
I for one would not choose to focus on farm murders in South Africa as I do not see it as a pressing human rights issue. This is because the farmers are NOT being persecuted or murdered by the state or agents of the state, but by fellow citizens completely independent of the state, they are not targeted because they form part of a group that have traditionally been marginalised and oppressed and the scale of the killings is modest compared to the kind of mass murder that happens in many parts of the world. That is why I would not focus on gang killings in Colombia, say, but will get upset about female genital mutilation in Sudan. Human rights is by its very nature “imperialistic, though, and in the end all condemnation of practices are informed by one’s own moral compas and one’s view of who is oppressed and who is not. I do not think white farmers are particularly oppressed. In fact, I think many white farmers are more oppressor than oppressed.
Yes were all guided by our own moral compass, but one would hope that ideology would not so cloud our judgment as to make us into monsters.
>This is because the farmers are NOT being persecuted or murdered by the state or agents of the state, but by fellow citizens completely independent of the state
If this was true it of course would mean that in stateless Somalia, nobodies rights could be violated.
> they are not targeted because they form part of a group
On what do you base this statement Pierre? I simply do not buy that these are all only economic crimes. In too many of them murder was not necessary to rob yet it happened. And surprisingly many of these crimes include torture. Are you saying we are just witnessing a wave of criminals with a particularly imaginative sadistic bent?
> that have traditionally been marginalised and oppressed
that depends how far you want to calibrate your timeline into yesteryear. Looks like your world started in 1948 which is pretty much the year the BBC thinks South Africa miraculously appeared. And looking forward they will pretty much pass your marginalised test as well… With bigoted arguments like yours history is almost bound to repeat itself again.
>the scale of the killings is modest compared to the kind of mass >murder that happens in many parts of the world.
What are you comparing it to Pierre? What examples? Do you know how many farmers there are in South Africa? Do you know the ratio of farmer to murder?
In most rural societies on this planet homicides is a rare occurrence. Also in ours. Farm murders are significant events owing to farms duality, preeminence in a rural economy and its isolation.
>That is why I would not focus on gang killings in Colombia.
Are you comparing farm murders to gang on gang violence?
Female genital mutilation certainly is a deserving cause. (Did you know the practise is alive and well in our own Northern province?)
But unlike you I feel that anybody that is murdered is actually a bit opressed. I’m sure there are some horrible farmers like there are horrible Sunday Times columists, and horrible black South Africans. But they still have rights.
Another question for you. Why do our own and overseas press not cover the many killings of Somalis in this country?
Here is one little fact to measure the level the murder of farmers against. From 1994 to 2001 we had 1000 dead. According to the TRC, from 1948 to 1994 there were around 24,000 political deaths in SA. That is deaths on all sides (ANC, PAC, Azapo, civilians, IFP, security forces, homeland security forces and civilians).
10,000 of these are from 1990 to 1993.
Now, it has to be said that I have grave doubts about the TRC numbers. I think the real numbers are significantly higher, but still its an interesting comparison.
According to Sharyiah laws, one has to die for adultery, debauchery and fornication. That does not only happen in Egypt. What about the ‘Beauty’ pageanist who had to be stoned because she fell pregnant without being married? But what about the Sjahs and their Harems? Seriously, there must be something wrong in the Mid-East – things dangling between men’s thighs, and then looking for something to blame when their lusts get the best of them. But that is not all. I saw a video-clip the other day, a small boy caught at stealing in Iran. The sentence? He was to be held down by his own father, so that a car can crush his small little arm of the hand he used to steal with. What a pity!? Lets not get carried away with whiteness and homophobia in measuring publication (or lack thereof) – crimes agaisnt humanity are crimes against humanity, nothing less. But, … so it would seem, the UN Security Council has its hot favourites. And …, now that SA is in the ‘hot’ seat there. What can we expect? Hello Bob Mugabe – who, incidentally, still has legislation in force that outlaws homosexual practices.
And talking of homosexuality and Zim. Mugabe’s bete noire (excuse the pun) Peter Tatchel has published an article in the Guardian.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2008/04/zims_bad_neighbour.html
HIV AIDS is really a very scary disease. until now, there is no know cure or vaccine for it. the only we can prevent it is through safe sex.