Egypt steps up HIV arrests

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Jesus H Christ with herpes, is Egypt run by Christian fundamentalists? If not, please explain to me the difference.

Egyptian police have stepped up arrests of persons suspected of having HIV, detaining four men this month in a crackdown that violates basic human rights, two international rights groups said Friday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch and London-based Amnesty International warned in a joint statement that the arrests could undermine HIV/AIDS prevention effort as people in Egypt become increasingly afraid to seek information on the subject.

Police denied making any HIV-related arrests but one police official speaking on condition of anonymity said there is a campaign to get persons registered in hospital records as HIV-positive into treatment in "special clinics." The official said he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The latest arrests bring to eight the number of HIV suspects in detention.

Four men were convicted in mid-January of "habitual practice of debauchery," a term used in the Egyptian legal system for consensual homosexual acts, Human Rights Watch said. Those men have been sentenced to one-year prison terms that have been upheld by an appeals court, the group said.

I suffer from something similar to HIV. I always test negative for HIV, but it is of little consequence. My immune system is shutting down. Should I be arrested?

Rhetorical question: Is there no fucking end to what people will do to others?

Via Yahoo! News.