Egyptian LGBT activist Sara Hegazy, who committed suicide in exile in Canada after being imprisoned in Egypt, suffered "oppression" from power in Cairo, Amnesty International accused Monday. Sara Hegazy " had a hard experience in prison in 2017" , tweeted the NGO, deploring "the oppression" suffered by the activist "because of her political opinions and her activism in favor of LGBT".
Read also: Campaign to crack down on homosexuality in Egypt
In the same tweet, Amnesty quoted the last words the young woman left before her suicide on Sunday: "The experience was severe and I am weak enough to resist. Forgive me . " Sara Hegazy was arrested in Cairo after waving a rainbow flag, an LGBT symbol, during a concert by the group Mashrou Leila in October 2017, whose singer Ahmed Sinno also campaigns for the homosexual cause. She spent three months in prison before being released and went into exile in Canada in 2018. A victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, she was tortured while in detention, subjected to sexual violence, according to many LGBT activists. who have spoken on social media since Sunday.
Furthermore, still according to activists, Sara Hegazy's mother died during her exile without her being able to return to Egypt for the funeral. "She committed suicide," confirmed to her lawyer Amro Mohamed AFP without further details. Since Sunday, the indignant reactions have multiplied on social networks where users have posted many rainbow flags in tribute to Sara Hegazy. "The Egyptian regime has imprisoned and tortured Sara Hegazy for this photo," feminist activist Mona Eltahawy wrote on Sunday, posting a photo of LGBT activist with her rainbow flag at the Mashrou Leila concert.
Human Rights Watch director Middle East and North Africa Sarah Leah Whitson, who had recently met Sara Hegazy, spoke on Twitter of a young woman "clearly in pain, traumatized by her torture." "In case anyone has any doubts, the government of Egypt has killed them," said Whitson. In 2017, Egyptian authorities prohibited the media from "showing homosexuals or promoting their slogans". While homosexuality is not expressly prohibited in Egypt, the LGBT community is regularly targeted by the security forces.
