Human Rights Day: Continuing on the path towards human rights for all

Human Rights Day: Continuing on the path towards human rights for all

Washington, D.C.; December 10, 2020.- 72 years after the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world has not yet achieved the full guarantee and enjoyment of each person’s inherent rights. In Latin America and the Caribbean, structures that contribute to human rights violations, particularly violations against historically marginalized populations, remain persistent and in some cases are worsening.

This December 10th, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) joins the international celebration of Human Rights Day by reviewing the human rights situation across the region, particularly the countries where we partner with civil society: Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, and Peru.

The killing of George Floyd

Race and Equality added our voice to the global outrage sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black U.S. citizen, at the hands four white police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th. Video of the tragedy on social media sparked indignation and a re-examination of the realities of racism and police brutality in the U.S.

We were heartened by the rapid and forceful response of the international human rights protection system to this travesty, including the June 17th Urgent Debate of the United Nations Human Rights Council on “the current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and the violence against peaceful protest” and the adoption of Human Rights Council Resolution 43/1. We are concerned, however, at the lack of follow-up effort to strengthen the various international human rights mechanisms’ ability to monitor States’ compliance with their obligations in this regard.

COVID-19: a multiplier of inequality

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever that economic inequality and inequality in access to health and education have deadly consequences across the region. It has also made clear that when States fail to design public policies with an intersectional approach, indigenous, Afro-descendant, and LGBTI populations who have suffered historical marginalization and discrimination are the hardest-hit.

In Brazil, for example, the Afro-Brazilian population has seen its most fundamental right to life threatened by the denialism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. Afro-Brazilians have been the population most negatively impacted by the current government’s refusal to implement proper public health measures. During the most critical months of the pandemic, Brazilian women were murdered at a rate of one every nine hours. Of these victims, 73% were Afro-descendant women.

Discrimination for reasons of sexual orientation and gender identity has also manifested itself in the context of COVID-19. In Colombia, a trans woman and sex worker named Alejandra Monocuco died in late May after medical personnel refused to give her emergency care. The personnel, who had been called by Alejandra’s companions when she suddenly became unable to breathe, refused to approach her when they learned that she was HIV-positive and told her companions that she must have been suffering an “overdose.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with the 2020 Census in Mexico, a situation that Afro-Mexican activists fear has affected census-takers’ ability to collect trustworthy data on the Afro-descendant population. Particularly in parts of Mexico not normally thought of as Afro-Mexican population centers, low rates of self-identification among Afro-descendants can lead to undercounting.

Anti-LGBTI violence and hatred

Latin America continues to be the region with the most murders of trans people. In Brazil, where the current government continues to tolerate and encourage LGBTI-phobia, 151 trans people have been murdered this year. In Colombia, Race and Equality has worked with our grassroots partners to record 65 incidents of discrimination, harassment, assault, and murder against people with diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities.

The refusal to recognize LGBTI people’s rights and respond to their demands for justice is concerning across the region. In Peru, for example, the Constitutional Court rejected Óscar Ugarteche’s effort to have his marriage to his husband Fidel Aroche, celebrated in Mexico in 2010, inscribed in the National Civil Registry. Peru also failed to account for the rights of trans and non-binary people when it implemented its quarantine policy known as pico y género,[1] leading to acts of discrimination against this population.

In Panama, civil society continues to demand that the government introduce a law legalizing marriage equality for legislative debate, while LGBTI organizations in the Dominican Republic are leading a campaign for a Law on Equality and Non-Discrimination to protect the rights of Afro-descendant and LGBTI people.

Human rights defenders continue to be murdered

Four years after the historic Final Peace Accords ended more than 50 years of armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels, the country is suffering one of the worst periods of violence in recent memory. The rise in violence is attributable to attacks against social leaders, human rights defenders, and ex-combatants participating in the peace program and to violent murders of civilians, such as the August 11th murder of five Young Afro-Colombian men in the Llano Verde neighborhood of Cali.

According to the Ideas for Peace Foundation (Indepaz), 287 murders of rights defenders have taken place this year as of December 7th. Indepaz reports that 688 such murders have taken place during the current administration of President Ivan Duque and a total of 1,086 have occurred since the signing of the Peace Accords. Colombian civil society continues to call for an urgent response on the part of the State, but President Duque’s government persists in prioritizing its own policy of “Peace with Legality” above the implementation of the Accords. This policy neglects vital elements of building sustainable peace, particularly women’s rights and the rights of ethnic minorities, which had been enshrined in the Accords’ groundbreaking “Ethnic Chapter.”

Repression of civil society

In Cuba, repression of activists, journalists, artists, and human rights defenders has increased as the government uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for restricting the activities of independent civil society. Short-term detentions, raids and searches, confiscations of property, summary trials, and arbitrary criminal charges such as “contempt” or “public disorder” are all wielded against civil society leaders.

In Nicaragua, where the human rights crisis of April 2018 has not yet abated, authorities continue to persecute those who dissent from the current government. In the context of a public health and economic crisis sparked by COVID-19, this repression severely harms Nicaraguans’ fundamental rights. Currently, 109 people remain behind bars as political prisoners stemming from protests. Two recent laws (the Law on Foreign Agents and the Special La won Cybercrime) and the recent effort to punish “hate crimes” with life imprisonment pose acute threats to the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.

Nicaraguan authorities continue to wield repression against those who demand accountability and respect for human rights. Along with their families, these rights defenders are threatened, monitored, and at times prevented from moving freely by the police. Meanwhile, an average of 40 violations of freedom of the press, including both physical attacks and persecution in the courts, are recorded each month.

On International Human Rights Day, Race and Equality reaffirms our commitment to building the capacities of in-country organizations to document human rights violations, defend their rights before the Inter-American and United Nations human rights systems, and advocate for reforms that will lead to the full enjoyment of human rights for all, without discrimination. We call upon all States to comply with their obligations to protect and promote human rights, obligations that are more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic than ever.

We commit to continue our work advancing human rights for all people in the countries where we work, regardless of their race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political beliefs. We salute the efforts of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN treaty bodies, and the special procedures of the UN human rights system, and express our hope that they will remain steadfast in their work.

 

[1] Pico y género, which was also implemented in other parts of the region, called for women and men to leave the house on alternating days

International Trans Day of Remembrance: Remembering and reaffirming the struggle for equality and justice

Washington, D.C., November 20th, 2020.- On November 20th, International Day of Trans Remembrance, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) remembers the trans people who have been killed around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the majority of such killings take place according to civil society reports. Race and Equality spoke with six trans activists from across the region who keep the memory of those killed alive and carry on the struggle for equality and justice.

An unimaginable reality

Brandy Carolina was 32 years old when she was stabbed to death by a man in the La Chinita neighborhood of Barranquilla, Colombia. Brandy was known as an extrovert who dreamed of earning enough money to buy a house for her mother, but she was killed for being a trans woman before she could make her dream a reality. Her death and the hateful motives behind it were reported by organizations that defend the rights of Colombians with diverse sexualities and gender identities.

“She never expressed fear beforehand, she was confident in herself, and really, nobody expects to die, it comes suddenly and where you don’t expect it,” said Andra Hernández, a representative of the Boyacá LGBTI Network and a member of Femidiversas. However, Andra pointed out that La Chinita was also the site of two murders in the months before Brandy’s death: the killing of a trans woman on April 16th, and the murder of a lesbian woman on March 26th. “We didn’t expect that someone so close to us would meet the same fate, at the hands of a society that doesn’t respect diversity and difference. You can never be prepared for a death, much less being murdered for being trans,” she said.

Every year, in the lead-up to Trans Day of Remembrance, the international organization TransRespect Against Transphobia publishes a detailed report on the killing of trans and gender-diverse people around the world. This year’s report reveals that between October 1st, 2019 and September 30, 2020, there were 350 such murders. 82% occurred in Latin America, with Brazil (152 murders),[1] Mexico (45), and Colombia (16)[2] atop the list of countries with the most killings.

Dying two times

Santiago Balvin, a non-binary trans-masculine activist from Peru, affirmed the importance of commemorating trans people who have been killed. According to Santiago, these victims continue to suffer discrimination and erasure after their deaths: “There is a feeling of frustration because you can’t do anything – their families don’t recognize their names, the media does not report about their identity correctly, it’s very painful when your sister’s death is treated this way and it keeps happening with impunity.”

Santiago also emphasized the importance to Peru’s LGBTI community of marking the Tarapoto Massacre, also known as the Night of the Gardenias, a targeted killing of transgender people on May 31st, 1989 that is recognized as the worst hate crime against transgender people in Peru’s history. According to Santiago, Peruvian civil society organizations have recorded five murders of transgender people in 2020.

Victoria Obando, a Nicaraguan human rights activist and former political prisoner, told Race and Equality that for her, Trans Day of Remembrance is a day to honor the struggle for trans rights, a struggle in which most of those killed had participated during their lives. “We live in a society that does not recognize us as part of society. It’s a tragedy what the trans population has to go through, especially trans women. They don’t recognize that we are also human beings,” she said.

Nicaragua does not have reliable data about violence against trans people, a failure which Victoria links to the broader socio-political crisis affecting the country. She also denounced the tendency to sideline trans activists in discussions about how to return democracy to the country. “Some people think in terms of categories like ‘special topics’ and see trans rights as something secondary to be kept in a box. As an activist, I have had to fight for acceptance; some people underestimate my abilities because of my identity,” she said.

Exclusion and impunity

Athiany Larios Fonseca, a Nicaraguan trans woman living in exile in Costa Rica, recalls one of the first times she encountered anti-trans discrimination. “My friend and her partner were attacked with stones outside her house; she later asked me why people treat us so badly, and I started to cry. People attack us and even kill us because of this hate, because we are not a woman or a man according to their biological rules,” she told Race and Equality.

Christian King, an activist with TRANSSA in the Dominican Republic, explained that Trans Day of Remembrance “is about recognition and reaffirming our trans companions who have lost their lives to discrimination, transphobia, and prejudices that come from a lack of political will or public policies that protect trans rights and penalize discrimination.”

In the Dominican Republic, the Observatory on the Human Rights of Trans People has registered 49 hate crimes against trans women, of which only 5 have been tried and led to sentences against the perpetrators. Along with TRANSSA, the Observatory advocates for a national Law on Equality and Non-Discrimination, a Law on Gender Identity, and the full implementation of the National Human Rights Plan.

The state’s responsibility

Bruna Benevides, a leader of the National Association of Travestis and Transsexual People (ANTRA)[3] in Brazil, stated that violence against trans people stems from a long historical process by which trans people are rendered invisible, denying them their most basic rights. Bruna placed the blame squarely at the foot of the state, which has failed to respond to trans people’s needs. “We see a growing neoliberal trend around the world, leading to fascism. The specter of “gender ideology” and the belief that trans people, women, and Black people must continue to be subordinated are central to this trend,” she added.

Bruna also emphasized the ways in which COVID-19 has exacerbated violence against trans people, with inequality, unemployment, hunger, and social exclusion all worsening during the pandemic. As TransRespect’s report makes clear, the pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on trans people, particularly trans people who are also excluded from society because they are women, Black or another racial minority, sex workers, migrants, young people, or poor.

Bruna went on: “Sadly, the lack of action and the lack of attention to trans people, the way that we are treated as invisible, leaves us without any state assistance. As a result, we are more vulnerable to violence. This is part of a broader logic that decides who can be killed, who can be discarded, who is not part of the hegemonic structure and can be exterminated easily. We are the country with the most killings of trans people in the world, and this year we are at the top of the ranking once again.”

On International Trans Day of Remembrance, Race and Equality calls on all states to remember their obligation to protect and promote the rights of all people without discrimination. Faced with a worldwide crisis of violence and murders against trans people, we offer the following recommendations:

  • States should adopt the necessary laws and policies to guarantee recognition, respect, and inclusion for people with diverse sexualities and gender identities
  • States should establish special mechanisms to respond to acts of violence against LGBT people, leading to full investigations, sanctions for those responsible, and guarantees of non-repetition
  • States should utilize official channels and resources to educate the population about sexual diversity and gender identity in order to promote societal recognition and respect for LGBTI people and their rights

[1] Data recorded by ANTRA, a Brazilian LGBTI advocacy organization

[2] Civil society organizations based in Colombia reported an additional 14 cases, for a total of 30

[3] Travesti is a Portuguese term for a person who was assigned male at birth, but who identifies and self-expresses as female, with or without any related medical interventions.

No more silence: Reclaiming our voice on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

Washington D.C., May 17. This May 17 marks 30 years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder, a global milestone that accelerated progress in the recognition of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI). On this date, we commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a day to draw attention to the violence and discrimination that LGBTI people still suffer in our societies.

This year the promoted theme is “breaking the silence,” inviting people from the LGBTI community to no longer be afraid to express their sexual orientation or gender identity to their family or to others in their social circles. The commemoration this year is also framed within a global health crisis generated by COVID-19, which has intensified structural discrimination and evidenced the prejudices that persist in our society.

Historically, the LGBTI population has been stigmatized by a heteronormative society that has not allowed their participation in public spaces. The commemoration of this day is vital to bring to light all the acts of discrimination that endure in our societies and to denounce violence against people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

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“To break the silence is to give a voice to those who have had theirs silenced by stigma, discrimination, social exclusion, and the constant violations of rights that remain in impunity because of States’ lack of political will. To break the silence is to shout with evidence a truth that our States, in most cases, do not want to show or do not take into account. Breaking the silence is saying we are, we exist, and we have rights.”

The fight for equality and justice is a daily job for many people.  It is not just about commemorating this day, but rather it is a fight that persists throughout every day of the year.

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Santiago Balvín Gutiérrez, explains to us the importance of being able to raise his voice as a trans person: “Breaking the silence has enabled my body to speak, my insides to speak, and my experiences speak. They do not remain silent because my life, and the lives of my trans sisters and brothers, do not deserve to be silence because they are different. Breaking the silence means to me that every feeling of oppression is also broken and seeks freedom for everyone, the same freedom that I began to feel when I chose to be myself.”

In recent weeks, we have witnessed latent and structural discrimination in the implementation of public policies by States and their institutions in response to COVID-19 that have exacerbated inequalities. The absence of public policies with a gender focus and the lack of training and awareness of public authorities has reproduced patterns of violence and acts of discrimination against LGBTI people. In many cases, the social distancing policies adopted by States did not consider the poverty, marginalization, and violence that people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identity face on a daily basis. By failing to do so, they exposed this group to harm.

The enactment of “pico y género” in different countries caused serious human rights violations, especially for the trans population. Their vulnerability is on the rise, as they face not only abuse of power by law enforcement, but also unemployment and domestic violence. Many have had to post pone name change trials, postponing a necessary step to protecting their gender identity, and others lack access to medical centers to receive hormone treatment or other medical necessities due to the pandemic.

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Today more than ever, it is necessary to take differentiated and specific actions for the LGBTI population, with forceful strategies to stop cases of abuse and systematic human rights violations of all diverse people. Franklin Quiñones, from the Fundación Arcoíris de Tumaco, believes that breaking the silence implies “making visible and / or denouncing any act of discrimination and / or violence against people with diverse sexual orientations such as the LGBTI population,” which can be achieved “by supporting us in the use of all existing legal human rights protection and communication tools.”

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Likewise, Sandra Arizabaleta, from the organization Somos Identidad in Cali in Colombia, explains that: “it is urgent to break the silence so that we use all community and legal mechanisms in order to enable the free development of the lives of LGBTI people. You can (and should) love beyond a role assignment and genitality.”

The violation of the fundamental rights of LGBTI people is heightened when the effects are combined with other scenarios and realities of the same or worse condition.

The violation of the fundamental rights of LGBTI people is heightened when the effects are combined with other scenarios and realities of the same or worse condition.

LGBTI people who are also members of other marginalized populations experience a different form of discrimination and rights violations. Examples of this are people of African descent with diverse gender identities and expressions who live with extreme violence, without support from the State, in poverty, and without access to basic health services, education, and employment. “Regions such as the Colombian Pacific, where a greater number of Afro-descendants live, are far from being protected with measures that use an intersectional approach,” adds Sandra of Somos Identidad.

The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has shown that despite advances in human rights for the LGBTI population, there are still great gaps and challenges that can only be overcome with the political action of States to guarantee human rights with a differential focus. “In times of crisis, it becomes clear who are leaders and who are not, and bad leadership will tend to exacerbate difficulties for the most vulnerable populations,” says Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality.

“For thousands of people around the world, breaking the silence often means remaining silent. Shouts occur when small gestures can go unnoticed, simple looks demand light or even a weak voice hesitates to echo in certain spaces. To be heard, sometimes we need to be vigilant because there is no point in breaking the silence if there is no one to listen to us, if there are no spaces with sharp ears to capture sounds, but rather gestures, looks. The power to break the silence is only effective when there is the power to listen. Otherwise, we will spend a lifetime wanting to have ‘meaning’,” explains Mariah Rafaela, Research Coordinator at the Conexão G Group of LGBT Citizenship in Favelas in Brazil.

Race and Equality, along with the LGBTI civil society organizations with which we work, urges Latin American States to:

– Take measures to prevent violence, with a differentiated perspective that considers the historical discrimination suffered by Afro-LGBI and trans people.

– Open a dialogue for monitoring the context of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity together with civil society.

– Provide trainings to State officials on these issues.

– Include LGBTI people in emergency health planning. LGBTI representatives and voices need to be included, as well as sex workers, in all social protection plans, especially in access to emergency income.

Finally, it is an obligation of States to join us in breaking the silence against discrimination, violence, and indifference through affirmative actions that guarantee the recognition of the rights of LGBTI people.

Race and Equality launches practical guide for requesting precautionary measures at the IACHR

Washington, DC.  May 8, 2020.  The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) has released “Precautionary Measures at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Function and Process,” a manual to assist activists and human rights defenders with the process of soliciting precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

“This educational tool can provide support to civil society organizations who face the risk of serious human rights violations when they prepare requests,” remarked Carlos Quesada, Race and Equality’s Executive Director.

The guide consists of two documents: one aimed at attorneys and legal experts, and an illustrated guide that follows four characters through the process of requesting and receiving precautionary measures, designed to explain the steps of the process to grassroots activists.

“We assembled this guide to ensure that activists who lack experience in the Inter-American legal system can access the precautionary measures process. For each step of the process, the guide provides the reader with a ‘theory review’ where the illustrated characters explain what each step implies and a ‘practical review’ that explains the steps of preparing and filling out each requirement. All the cases used as examples in the guide were created as educational examples; in no way do they correspond to real cases,” explains Christina Fetterhoff, Senior Legal Program Officer.

The guide, now available to download from Race and Equality’s website at www.raceandequality.org/publications, aims to build capacity among users of the Inter-American Human Rights System and in so doing strengthen the System as a whole.

According to Caitlin Kelly, Legal Program Officer for Latin America, “Precautionary measures are a vital tool for protecting human rights and for taking concrete steps to protect people at risk of fundamental rights violations. Race and Equality strives to make this tool and the Inter-American system as a whole more accessible to grassroots activists in the region, as part of our broader efforts to allow these activists to take the lead in demanding their own rights. We hope that it will be very useful to our partners.”

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights is an organization that works with organizations and activists in Latin America to protect and promote the human rights of marginalized populations, particularly people suffering rights violations due to their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Race and Equality provides capacity-building to grassroots organizations so that they can become effective political actors and promote structural changes in their home countries.

Race and Equality organized a webinar for activists to share the effects of COVID-19 on the LGBTI population in Latin America with UN Independent Expert on SOGI

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held a webinar with the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (UN IE on SOGI), Victor Madrigal, and leaders, activists, and members of LGBTI civil society groups from different Latin American countries to discuss and better understand the current conditions amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, titled “The reality of the Afro-LGBI and Trans populations during the current health crisis caused by COVID-19 in Latin America,” that was held on Thursday, April 23, began with opening remarks from Mr. Madrigal, speaking about the statement on COVID-19 released by the UN Expert on March 26 and the motivations behind it. “We must have a clear understanding of when these measures have a differentiated impact on our communities and populations,” he states, explaining the need to understand the disproportionate and unequal impacts of the pandemic, as well as the importance of sharing experiences throughout communities for mutual support, and the importance of States including these communities when designing what measures should be taken.

Trans activist Santiago Balvín from Peru cited the numerous cases of violence against trans women that emerged due to the “pico y género” measure that was implemented, restricting the movement of the population based on their gender. “From the beginning of quarantine until April 10 when this policy ended, in the course of about 25 days, more than 15 transphobic cases occurred by part of the police or armed forces,” stated Balvín, also pointing out that even though the policy was repealed, in the official communication it was said to be due to the high agglomerations of women and not because of the complaints of violence and discrimination against the trans population.

Colombia has taken the same gender-based measures in different cities, using “pico y género” and leaving the movement of people in the hands of the police. As activist Victoria Daza of the LGBTI Working Table of Cartagena details, this has placed their right to food and health at risk, making it hard for the trans population to access these needs. The Ministry of the Interior promised to provide aid to LGBTI organizations in a campaign called “Colombia is with you,” but until now, no food or supplies have been received.

In other regions of the country such as the Colombian South Pacific, worries are even greater, as this region finds itself impoverished and without the necessary infrastructure to deal with a crisis of this scale.  Sandra Arizabaleta from the organization Somos Identidad in Cali states that “violence and historical State abandonment have left their marks on this part of the country.” She gives the example of Tumaco where “at this time they do not have any health services to attend to people who contract COVID-19.” The projected duration of the pandemic and delay in protection of the most vulnerable populations, such as LGBTI people, is extremely worrisome for activists in this region.

Christian King, Executive Director of TRANSSA, a trans organization in the Dominican Republic, also expressed his concern about the lack of information or specific action being taken within the current conditions. “In our country they are only sharing the numbers. They do not share any information about the population or specific sectors where these people are from.” The lack of knowledge and specific legislation to protect trans people in the Dominican Republic is even more critical during times like these.  No special measures have been taken to help the trans population, and policies such as curfews jeopardize their means of living.

While the majority of States have been implementing different plans to combat the spread of COVID-19, the unstable state of national politics in Brazil have left containment efforts up to the local government.

“Brazil, is one of the 4 countries in the world that ignored the recommendations of the health agencies in order to strengthen neoliberal policies, taking advantage of this moment of a world crisis to remove more labor rights, and to implement more negative measures,” said Bruna Benevides of the Brazilian National Association of Travestis and Transexuales, ANTRA.

She also outlined that underreporting cases has been a State policy used as justification to manipulate the population into believing that everything is fine. “Such policy directly affects the impoverished, black people, elderly, people with disabilities, women, people living with HIV, LGBTI+, indigenous people and others that have more risk factors due to the precarious nature of their lives. Black people are the majority among the dead and are more likely to have complications,” she concludes.

The event, that counted with more than 500 participants following through Zoom and Facebook live, brought to light the need for more action to aid members of the Afro and LGBTI communities throughout the current health crisis. The IE on SOGI ended the event stating that the IE SOGI Mandate is at the service of all LGBT organizations, encouraging civil society groups and activists to submit reports and information on the effects of COVID-19 in their home countries.

With our partners, Race and Equality urges States to include LGBTI representatives in emergency public health planning and actions to combat COVID-19, taking into account persons with diverse gender identities and their particular needs during these times. States should provide aggregated data on these populations in order to better serve the most vulnerable and marginalized, such as the Afro-LGBI and trans populations. With this, States should also take differentiated measures to attend to the needs of LGBTI persons in the informal labor market who find themselves at a higher risk for contraction.

Race and Equality calls on Latin American States for more inclusive measures to be taken for transgender people

Washington D.C., March 31st 2020. Today we commemorate the International Transgender Visibility Day, a day to celebrate transgender lives and raise awareness about the discrimination this population faces. On this day, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), wants to give visibility to the issues transgender people face throughout Latin America.

All over the world, racism and other forms of discrimination marginalize and ostracize the trans population. This makes access to health services, education, work, and housing extremely difficult.  Unfortunately, States limited disaggregated data on the situation of trans people rendering them invisible from groups targeted for public policies designated to support vulnerable situations, especially in Latin America. Combined, these factors place them in vulnerable situations where they are more susceptible to different illnesses, addictions, and violence.

Violence against the trans community in Latin America

The trans community continues to face severe incidents of violence. For example, Brazil remains the leading country in trans homicides around the world with 127 registered cases[1], closely followed by Colombia who ranks third, with 21 recorded crimes against this population[2].  According to data collected by the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA) in Brazil, there was a 90% increase in the first bimester of this year (38) compared to the same period last year (20).[3] According to these statistics, in some countries, to identify as trans is to sign a death sentence.

In Perú, the trans community continues to face large amounts of violence and discrimination. During the 2020 congressional elections, Gahela Cari, the first transgender candidate to run for Congress in Peru, tried to cast her vote when a member of the National Jury of Elections (JNE) refused to recognize her gender identity. Similarly, members of the polling station in Lambayeque harassed Fiorella Mimbela, an LGBTI+ activist, when her legal name and image were spread around social media networks.[4] These are not isolated acts but part of a wider pattern of rejection and violence the Peruvian trans community faces.

In the Dominican Republic, LGBTI organizations have recorded around 48 transgender homicides since 2006. Out of these 48 only 5 have verdicts, demonstrating the trans community not only faces high levels of violence but also faces barriers in access to justice. A more recent case shows that strangers are not always the perpetrators of these heinous acts. Willianny, a trans woman, had both her hair and breasts cut off by her own family members before her funeral, a repudiation of her identity. One LGBT activist, Yimbert Feliz Telemin, commented that “in the Dominican Republic being trans is worse than being a street dog.”[5]

Continual work must be done in order to combat the discrimination and violence against the trans population. Race and Equality calls on all Latin American and Caribbean States to sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention Against all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance[6] and, for States that have not done so, legally recognize the gender identity of trans and non-binary people in accordance with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Advisory Opinion 24-17[7]. Additionally, we remind States that many members of the trans community are sex workers and depend on their profession to survive. We call on States to safeguard their rights and guarantee they will not be the object of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment.

Gender Identity

Much of the discrimination against the trans population is also created from the lack of recognition of their identity.  As ANTRA describes it, it is not only the denial of their name, but their identity, “an appropriation by a society that frequently prefers to expose rather than welcome.”[8] Oftentimes, countries such as the Dominican Republic do not allow trans people to legally change their name while other countries place hurdles such as high costs, long bureaucratic processes, or as in Peru, require the process to be through the courts. Having the correct documentation is just the first step of many to demarginalize trans people from different public spaces. 

In countries where name recognition is legal, there continue to be issues with the lack of information regarding the process, both in relation to the necessary procedures and what to do in cases of discrimination. In rural areas all these issues are exacerbated. Bruna Benavides from ANTRA in Brazil notes that there is little investment in training or capacity building programs for trans leaders, so that they can provide the necessary assistance for people to complete the rectification of their documents.

Trans people during the pandemic

In collaboration with our partners we also ask for the inclusion of trans people in all public policies created due to COVID-19, not only at the local and state level, but also at a federal level, especially those developed to aid low-income, self-employed, and unemployed people. During this time, the stigma and discrimination against the trans population has become more visible. We call on States to guarantee their access to health and put in place protocols that will ensure they are treated humanely and not discriminated against because of their gender identity.

[1] Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais do Brasil (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de educação (IBTE). “Dossiê Assassinatos e violência contra travestis e transexuais no Brasil em 2019”. 2020.

[2] https://www.rcnradio.com/colombia/colombia-tercer-pais-en-america-con-mayor-riesgo-para-personas-trans

[3]Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais do Brasil (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de educação (IBTE). “Dossiê Assassinatos e violência contra travestis e transexuais no Brasil em 2019”. 2020.

[4] https://larepublica.pe/genero/2020/01/27/elecciones-2020-gahela-cari-y-fiorella-mimbela-denunciaron-discriminacion-y-transfobia-en-lima-y-lambayeque-transgenero-atmp/?fbclid=IwAR19ssnwXobbu2OkKcjMSZGvPqvRDKc2nkP0N93Hky31Wcz-Smb6nBYdB8s

[5] https://plumasatomicas.com/lgbt/familia-mutilo-senos-cabello-mujer-trans/

[6] To date only Uruguay and Mexico have signed and ratified this Convention. Avaiable at: http://www.oas.org/es/sla/ddi/tratados_multilaterales_interamericanos_A-69_discriminacion_intolerancia.asp

[7] https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_24_esp.pdf

[8] Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais do Brasil (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de educação (IBTE). “Dossiê Assassinatos e violência contra travestis e transexuais no Brasil em 2019” 2020.

On International Women’s Day, Race and Equality Honors the Work of Women Human Rights Defenders

To mark March 8, International Women’s Day, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) wishes to highlight the fundamental role played by women human rights defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. In a region where rates of sexual and gender-based violence against women are extremely high and multiple forms of discrimination are entrenched, women human rights defenders are key in the fight for the defense of women’s human rights. Likewise, they are at the vanguard of promoting and protecting the rights of others.

Although the vast majority of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),[1] women in the region continue to suffer inequalities that negatively impact their full enjoyment of human rights. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), more than 3,800 women in 33 countries in the region were murdered because of their gender in 2019.[2] This violence stems from structural inequalities which profoundly affect all women, but especially women members of historically marginalized groups like Afro-descendants and the LGBTI community. For example, according to the Network of Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women, Afro-descendant women are victims of multiple forms of violence, which is often racialized. Likewise, the current discourse on gender ideology in the region, driven by in large part by conservative religious groups, has led to more discrimination against lesbian, bi-sexual, and trans women, as well as more hate crimes and murders. Finally, poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, as in other regions in the world, has a feminine face, as women are less likely to have access to higher education and work outside of the home than their male counterparts. When women do work outside of the home, they are paid, on average, 17% less than men.[3] All of these factors make the work of women human rights defenders of utmost importance. But, they are also facing some grave challenges.

In Colombia, where the post-Peace Accord reality for human rights defenders is startlingly alarming due to the high rate of murders of defenders and impunity for those murders, women human rights defenders are among the most vulnerable. As the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently documented, the number of women human rights defenders killed in Colombia in 2019 increased by 50% over the 2018 number.[4] Afro-descendant and rural women defenders are at generally greater risk, just as they suffer greater vulnerabilities in terms of overall enjoyment of their human rights.

In Cuba, independent women activists are facing an increase in repression and de facto house arrests, as well as reprisals and threats against themselves and their family members. Travel restrictions arbitrarily imposed by the Cuban government routinely prevent independent activists from participating in advocacy activities outside of the island and the application of these against women continues to grow. Furthermore, Cuban women are clamoring for an Integral Law against Gender Violence – a proposal which has been rejected by the National Assembly – and they continue to face difficulties in accessing decent, well-paying jobs.

In Nicaragua, the crisis that began in April 2018 has had a profound impact on women. Women human rights defenders, such as the Mothers of April, have played an important role in the opposition movement, as many have lost their children to the violence of the crisis. There has also been an overall increase in violence against women and femicides, as a result of the crisis. Furthermore, women in Nicaragua also face disproportionate economic consequences due to the crisis, as many have been left as heads of households, with male family members killed, imprisoned, or fired from their jobs because of their political ties.

In Brazil, the situation of violence against women is extremely concerning, especially against Afro-descendant and trans women. Our partners have documented that in the first two months of the year 38 trans women have been killed in the country.[5] This high level of violence makes the work of women human rights defenders – especially those working on behalf of diverse communities of women – all the more difficult and important.

Race and Equality calls on all Latin American and Caribbean States to honor the human rights commitments they have made under CEDAW and other applicable international human rights treaties, to respect and protect the rights of women. We likewise reiterate our support for women human rights defenders, especially those of our partner organizations and in the countries where we work, who so courageously and tirelessly fight to promote and defend the rights of women and others in the region on a daily basis. We thank you and assure you that you are not alone in your work towards a safer, more just, and equitable society for all.

[1] OHCHR. Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard: CEDAW, https://indicators.ohchr.org/ (last accessed Mar. 4, 2020).

[2] ECLAC. Measuring femicide: challenges and efforts to bolster the process in Latin America and the Caribbean, Nov. 2019, available at: https://oig.cepal.org/sites/default/files/femicide_web.pdf.

[3] UN News. More women in Latin America are working, but gender gap persists, new UN figures show, Oct. 28, 2019, available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/10/1050121.

[4] UN News. Colombia: ‘Staggering number’ of human rights defenders killed in 2019, Jan. 14, 2020, available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/01/1055272.

[5] See www.antrabrasil.org.

Human Rights Day: We Remain Committed to the Defense of Human Rights in Latin America

Washington, D.C. December 10, 2019. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights today joins the celebration of International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly. Seventy-one years after the approval of the document that marked a milestone in the recognition of the inherent rights of all human beings, establishing that they should be respected without distinction as to race, color, religion, sex, language, political opinions, origin, or any other condition, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality)continues to advocate for the compliance with and defense of said Declaration.

On this day, we remember that the human rights situation in Latin America is critical, and therefore, urgent action by the States is needed to effectively monitor and guarantee the rights of its citizens, especially those populations that have historically been marginalized.


In Cuba, we are concerned about the situation of political prisoners and the harassment and repression against independent activists and journalists. The case of political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer García, General Coordinator and founder of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba – UNPACU (Patriotic Union of Cuba), is alarming, seeing as three months have passed since his arrest, he is yet to be granted a trial, and he is ill-treated in the cells of the prison in which he is detained. His situation is especially worrisome because he could have the same fate as several other independent activists who have been convicted of common crimes upon expressing their opinions. For example, the Dama de Blanco (Lady in White) Martha Sánchez is currently in prison under a sentence of four and a half years. Similarly, the situation of independent activists and journalists suffering from travel restrictions without any legal justification is alarming.  This violates every Cuban citizen’s right to freedom of circulation. Regarding this situation, we support the proposal for a peaceful and symbolic demonstration in favor of the right to free circulation that will be held this Tuesday at the José Martí International Airport terminal. We recall that any demonstration or peaceful expression of an individual constitutes an inalienable right under international law.


In Nicaragua, the serious political and human rights crisis that the country has been facing for almost 20 months does not seem to improve. Authorities refuse to respect dissenting voices and continue to violate the human rights of Nicaraguans, including the right to protest, to free mobilization, and to freedom of expression and of the press. To date, about 150 prisoners and political prisoners have been counted, who all go through corrupt trials that lack constitutional guarantees. Nor have international organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) been allowed to return to the country, while local organizations face persecution and the permanent siege by police and government-related groups.

In Colombia, the violence that is experienced after the signing of the Peace Agreement prevents us from thinking about true progress over the inequalities, marginalization, and terror that still exist in the Colombian territories. Today, the systematic assassination of social leaders is one phenomenon that lacerates the integrity of human rights defenders. According to official figures, approximately 343 homicides of social leaders were reported between January 2016 and August 2018; however, civil society organizations report more than 400, of which around 40% were against Afro-descendant and indigenous leaders. To this is added the “statistical genocide” that represents the latest results of the population survey: official figures reported 2.9 million people who recognized themselves as Afro-descendants in the 2018 Census, at least one million less than reported in 2005. This month, after two weeks of national strikes and social mobilizations of the Colombian people that call for immediate and urgent responses to serious violations of fundamental rights from the State, the breach in the effective implementation of the Peace Agreement, and the commitments accepted in matters of truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition, representatives of civil society organizations continue to support the construction of peace through a peaceful route that makes it possible to come together in the midst of differences.

Part of the Race and Equality team along with human rights defenders from Latin America.


During 2019, the persistent violence and discrimination against the Afro-LGBTI population was a problem that was studied more closely by the International Human Rights Protection Systems. This year a hearing was held before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the situation of the Afro-LGBTI population in the Americas, with the presence of representatives from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru. Additionally, the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), Victor Madrigal, met in Colombia with Afro-LGBTI organizations in Cartagena, and Commissioner Margarette Macaulay visited Afro-LGBTI activists from the Favela de Maré in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.  

All these activities are framed in a year in which violence against Afro-LGBTI people has persisted. Brazil remains the country with the highest number of murders of trans people in the world. According to current data from the Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais – ANTRA (National Association of Trans People) in Brazil at least 106 transgender people were killed in Brazil until November of 2019.  Many of these victims are Afro-descendant trans women. In other countries such as Colombia and the Dominican Republic, violence against the Afro-LGBTI population still persists, with the reoccurrence of many homicide cases. Other expressions of violence, as in the case of Nicaragua, are strongly associated with a repressive political and religious context that impacts the lives of LGBTI activists, even reaching measures such as exile, to avoid arbitrary detentions and torture.


In Mexico, Panama, and Peru, the incorporation of racial and ethnic self-identification questions in population and housing censuses remains a great challenge in the collection of real and permanent statistical data that reflects the characteristics of the Afro-descendant and indigenous populations of those States. Civil society organizations have repeatedly denounced the lack of statistical information on ethnic peoples, stating that it is due, among other things, to a lack of dialogue and participatory work, seeking to develop questions of racial self-identification in conjunction with ethnic communities. On the contrary, the censuses contain questions that lack context, which means that they are difficult to understand, and this results in erroneous, incomplete, or not addressed statistical data in them. For this reason, the creation of government plans, programs, or policies for the benefit of overcoming this population’s reality of inequality and social injustice are complex to implement and materialize.

After five years of the founding of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, we remain committed to the defense of human rights in the region, especially in the countries where we work: Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. We continue to work to promote and protect the human rights of marginalized populations, especially those due to national or ethnic origin and sexual orientation or gender identity, in addition to those who think and show distinct opinions. This December 10, we reaffirm our desire to contribute to the construction of an equitable society for all based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

No more impunity! International Transgender Day of Remembrance

On Trans Remembrance Day, The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) stands in solidarity with the struggles of trans women against the various forms of violence they have been victims of, particularly the violence that has obstructed their lives. The fight against the murder of trans people must be the fundamental basis of any discussion on the implementation of policies or recognition of gender identity. This is the most basic task of all States.

Brazil remains the country with the highest number of trans people murdered in the world. The dossier on murders and violence against transvestites and transsexuals in Brazil of 2018, prepared by the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA), noted that, in 2018 alone, 163 murders of transgender people occurred, 82% of them black. The largest number of trans people were killed in the state of Rio de Janeiro, with a total of 16 murders. According to current ANTRA data, as of November 11, at least 106 transgender people have been killed in Brazil this year(2019).

Murders of trans people also occur in all other Latin American and Caribbean countries.  The effort of some civil society organizations to better document this violence has resulted in various regional observatories that monitor violence throughout the region such as: Sin Violencia LGBT, la Red Lactrans, and the ILGALAC, among others. However, these valuable efforts do not replace the duty of States to adequately register and investigate these acts. The UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and gender expression stated in his 2019 report on data collection and management:

“The breakdown of data that allows comparisons to be made between population groups is part of States’ obligations in the field of human rights, and has become an element of the human rights-based approach to data use.”

Accordingly, we highlight the relevance of not only adequately characterizing violence against the trans population, but also having a better characterization that accounts for their socio-economic situation, educational contexts, and racial characteristics, as it appears that in countries like Brazil, the magnitude of gender identity violence, especially violence against trans people, has had a particular impact on people of African descent.

This task, apart from being carried out through adequate investigation and prosecution work from a criminal perspective, must be accompanied by preventive actions in the different areas of rights protection.  Some actions to adopt include the construction of policies that respond to the origin of multicausal violence, the prevention of domestic violence due to gender identity, transphobic bullying in educational settings, adequate health care with a differential approach, as well as actions of transformation and openness in work spaces.

From Race and Equality, and in alliance with the civil society organizations with whom we work in the Latin American region, we will continue to demand that integral political States denaturalize violence against trans people, and the oversight of names and lives that also deserve to be lived with full respect for their dignity and full guarantee of their rights.

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“The situation of violence against Afro-LGBTI people is invisible and systematic in Latin America” Activists warn the IACHR

Quito, Ecuador. November 12, 2019. In the thematic hearing held during the 174 period of Hearings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Quito, Ecuador, LGBTI activists and Afro-descendants from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru presented on the situation of violence, lack of protection, and lack of knowledge of their prevailing rights in each of these States.

Throughout the space, the activists highlighted how Afro-descendants with sexual orientations and non-normative gender identities are at greater risk of suffering from violations of their rights, especially by the States’ general lack of knowledge on the differentiated effects suffered by people living this reality.

Likewise, the activists presented a summary of different cases of murder and violence against transgender people and Afro-descendants, especially those committed with a high degree of cruelty and hatred; in addition to remaining completely unpunished. 

Bruna Benavides, ANTRA activist

“In January of this year, in Brazil, a trans woman had her heart torn out and then replaced by the image of a saint. Her murderer was acquitted of the charge, even though he narrated in great detail how he had killed her and kept her heart at home with a smile on his face,” said Afro-Brazilian activist Bruna Benavides, a member of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals, or ANTRA in Brazil.

According to information given by Benavides, this year alone, 110 trans people were killed in Brazil, 85% of them black. Likewise, the activist reported that 90% of the population of transvestites and trans women in this country are engaged in prostitution due to the lack of job opportunities.

Furthermore, she pointed out that this group of people are recurring victims of different State institutions due to the inaccessibility of appropriate healthcare services and of fair employment opportunities and recognition, as well as having a lack of respect for their identities. In this regard, Benavides added ,“… today we are afraid to walk the streets again, and as a defender of human rights, I do not feel safe despite the progress we have made because our leaders have common policies of racist hatred , male chauvinism…”

In this order, the leader Justo Arevalo representative of the Colombian organizations Arco Iris de Tumaco, the National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations (CNOA), and Somos Identidad, highlighted that contexts of rejection, violence, and discrimination within these communities towards people who assume a non-normative sexual orientation or gender identity create other types of cyclical and systemic violence that threaten the integrity of AfroLGBTI people. An example of this is in Colombia, where there is forced displacement towards cities that sharpen the circles of violence in which these people live.

Justo Arevalo, Colombian activist

“In March of 2019, a report on the realities experienced by Afro-LGBTI people was filed in Bogotá before the Jurisdiction for Peace, whose main findings show that documented violence and impact are blocked by very racial and class-particular relations, typical of the sociocultural, economic, and political environment in which they occur, prejudice as a factor of violence, and the responsibility of illegal armed actors in the face of serious violations of rights against Afro LGBT people, “Arevalo added in his speech.

Belén Zapata, an Afro-descendant trans activist from Peru, alerted the audience of the impact that police abuse has on the lives of Afro-descendant and transvestite people, highlighting that it sets a pattern of deep violence against their right to personal integrity in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

Likewise, the activist referred to the access of healthcare services by trans-descendant Afro-descendant women in the region, which is characterized in its generality for not being efficient or worthy of use by this population.

In this regard, the activist added: “There are still cases in which medical personnel offer inadequate and/or improper care to Afro-descendant transgender women. This pattern is particularly serious in cases of care for Afro-descendant transgender women who perform sex work and are taken in for injuries as a result of physical aggressions. But also, in cases where the request for other services is related to reproductive health or HIV / AIDS. “

Violation of the rights of Afro-LGBTI people is systematic

“As long as we avoid highlighting the intersection between race and sexual diversity, we will continue to perpetuate a system that makes the Afro-descendant LGBTI community invisible; we will continue to have legal structures, public policies, and government institutions that do not protect or guarantee the human rights of the Afro LGBTI population,” added Katherine Ventura, representative of the American University Legal Clinic. She also pointed out that there are patterns of violence that are particular to the Afro-LGBTI population, naming three: 1) Absence of rights’ guarantees focused on the Afro-LGBTI community; 2) Lack of implementation of existing laws and 3) Inadequate data collection, particularly in criminal investigation processes against Afro-LGBTI people.

On this matter, the Commissioners of the IACHR indicated the responsibility of the States to collect data, generate policies, and promote processes that guarantee the reparation, respect, and recognition of the rights of Afro-LGBTI people. In this regard, Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay urged States to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination as an alternative that seeks to address the issues of Afro-descendants with sexual orientations and non-normative gender identities.

To finalize the hearing, the organizations requested that the IACHR to urge the States of Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru to:

1. Urgently investigate cases of homicide and police abuse that involve Afro-LGBTI persons and, consequently, register and characterize them properly.

2. Implement the recommendations of the Afro-LGBTI population that this Commission has made since 2015, particularly those focused on the development of public policies that explicitly include the Afro-LGBTI population.

3. As part of the fulfillment of the objectives proposed in the Decade of Afro-descendants 2015-2024, the Afro-LGBTI population should be included as a beneficiary of justice and development-oriented measures in the region, and it should be requested that all states comply with the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission regarding the importance of providing differentiated data on sexual orientation and gender identity.

4. Suggest the ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Intolerances and the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance to all States.

5. That the Inter-American Commission publish the report of the on-site visit to Brazil in 2018 and the rapporteur on the rights of Afro-descendants and racial discrimination visit Brazil to better know the situation of the Afro-LGBTI population, with effective participation of civil society organizations.

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