Source: BBC News, Human Rights Watch press release, and Medical News Today
Egyptian police have arrested four more men suspected of being HIV positive, bringing the total detained in a recent crackdown to 12, rights groups say.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said last week that HIV-positive Egyptian men had been chained to hospital beds and forced to undergo tests for the virus.

The latest arrests took place after police followed up information coerced from men already detained, HRW said.

The Egyptian interior ministry has not responded to the allegations.

In a joint press release, Amnesty International and HRW warned that Egypt's efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus could be seriously damaged by the arrests.

"This not only violates the most basic rights of people living with HIV. It also threatens public health, by making it dangerous for anyone to seek information about HIV prevention or treatment," said Rebecca Schleifer, who works on HIV/Aids issues at HRW.

The most recent arrests occurred after police followed up on information coerced from men already in detention, according to the Health and Human Rights Program of the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

Two of the newly detained men tested positive for HIV. One had his detention extended by 15 days at his February 12 court hearing, with the prosecutor and judge both claiming he was a danger to public health. Another has a hearing scheduled for February 23. 

As in all previous cases, authorities forced the new detainees to undergo HIV testing without their consent. All those testing positive have been held in Cairo hospitals, chained to their beds. 

“Arbitrary arrests, forcible HIV tests, and physical abuse only add to the disgraceful record of Egypt’s criminal justice system, where torture and ill-treatment are greeted with impunity,” said Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program. 

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, issued a statement Tuesday saying that it is "working with the concerned authorities to ensure that those who are HIV positive receive appropriate treatment and care according to their health needs and that the conditions under which they are treated in hospitals are in accordance with acceptable standards of medical treatment."

While it held back from criticizing the Egyptian government, UNAIDS emphasized the need for compassionate care and treatment.

"All people living with HIV are entitled to such treatment and care without being discriminated against or criminalized based on their HIV status," UNAIDS wrote in its statement.

The UN group added, "Any HIV testing should be voluntary and with informed consent, accompanied by counselling, and carried out under conditions of confidentiality."

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Internnational say a wave of arrests began in October 2007, when two men were arrested after a scuffle in central Cairo.

When one said he was HIV-positive they were taken to the police branch which deals with issues of public morality, HRW said.

Both men said they had been beaten for refusing to sign statements written by the police and subjected to anal examinations to "prove" that they had engaged in homosexual conduct, the group said.

Two more men were arrested when police found their photographs and contact numbers in the wallets of those detained, HRW said.

All four men, who have not been identified, remain in custody pending a prosecutor's decision on possible charges.

Four further arrests were made in November when police raided the flat of one of those being held, which had been placed under surveillance, HRW reports.

Those four men were sentenced to one year in jail in January having been convicted of "habitual debauchery", which Human Rights Watch says is a euphemism used to penalise consensual homosexual acts.

Their lawyers claimed the prosecution had produced no evidence against the defendants, who pleaded not guilty.

All those who have tested positive have been held, chained to their beds, in Cairo hospitals, the rights groups said.

While not explicitly referred to in Egypt's legal code, homosexuality can be punished under several different laws covering obscenity, prostitution and debauchery.

HRW and Amnesty warn that recent arrests violate international law.

"Criminalizing consensual, adult homosexual conduct is a violation of Egypt’s obligations under international human rights law to respect and protect individual privacy and personal autonomy," the rights group said.

In the joint statement Amnesty International said that it "considers that the imprisonment of individuals for actual or alleged consensual same-sex relations between adults in private is a grave violation of human rights, and that individuals held solely on that basis are prisoners of conscience who should be immediately and unconditionally released."

The rights groups urge Egyptian authorities release of all 12 men arrested already and to cease arresting people based on their real or suspected HIV status.

They call on authorities there "to ensure that the men receive the highest available standard of medical care for any serious health conditions."

Full article: BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Egypt police 'widen HIV arrests'
Egypt: Spreading Crackdown on HIV Endangers Public Health | Human Rights Watch (press release)
UNAIDS Working With Egyptian Authorities Regarding HIV Related Arrests | Medical News Today