An Egyptian court for the "habitual practice of debauchery" convicted at least four men. HRW has called on the government to overturn the convictions and to free any person being held pending trial.
"The government should end arbitrary arrests based on HIV status and take steps to end prejudice and misinformation about HIV/AIDS," a statement from HRW read.
In October 2007, police arrested two men who were having a fight on a Cairo street. When one of the men informed police he was HIV-positive, police took them both to the Morality Police and an investigation ensued against them for homosexual conduct.
"These shocking arrests and trials embody both ignorance and injustice," Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at HRW, said. "Egypt threatens not just its international reputation but its own population if it responds to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with prison terms instead of prevention and care."
