UN renews crucial mandate for protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

UN renews crucial mandate for protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

“This is another historic victory, not only for communities of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, but for humanity as a whole.”

(Geneva, July 12, 2019) – In a defining vote, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert focusing on the protection against violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 27  in favor, with 12 voting against and 7 abstentions.

The campaign calling on the Council to renew the mandate of the UN Independent Expert on SOGI was supported by 1,312 non-governmental organizations from 174 States and territories.

“This is another historic victory, not only for communities of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, but for humanity as a whole”, said Paula Sebastiao of Arquivo de Identidade Angolano in Angola and Simran Shaikh, Asia coordinator of the Trans Respect v. Transphobia project, on behalf of 60 human rights groups worldwide. “Following the call from a record number of organizations from every region imaginable, the UN Human Rights Council has reaffirmed its commitment to combat discrimination and violence on grounds of SOGI, and has reminded all states of their obligations towards these communities.”

Created in 2016, the UN Independent Expert on SOGI has been supported by an ever-growing number of States from all regions of the world. The resolution to create and renew the mandate was presented by a Core Group of seven Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Uruguay.

“The renewal of this mandate demonstrates how United Nations States’ support for tackling violence and discrimination against people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities has grown tremendously,” said UN Trans Advocacy Week campaigners. “The Independent Expert is crucial in bringing international attention to specific violations and challenges faced by trans and gender-diverse persons in all regions.”

Although the renewal process had to overcome 10 hostile amendments, the core of the resolution in affirming the universal nature of international human rights law stands firm.

“The existence of a specific UN human rights mechanism looking at SOGI issues is crucial for our communities to be heard at the global level,” added Ryan Silverio of ASEAN SOGIE Caucus from the Philippines. “If the world is truly committed to leaving no one behind, it can’t shy away from addressing the violence and discrimination that we face. Laws criminalizing our identities and actions are unjust, and should no longer be tolerated”.

The UN Independent Expert on SOGI is tasked with assessing implementation of existing international human rights law, by talking to States, and working collaboratively with other UN and regional mechanisms to address violence and discrimination. Through the work of this mandate since 2016, the impact of criminalization of same-sex relations and lack of legal gender recognition, the importance of data-collection specific to SOGI communities, and examples of good practices to prevent discrimination have been highlighted globally, with visits to Argentina, Georgia, Mozambique and Ukraine.

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights celebrates the renewal of this mandate as essential in the protection of human rights for Afro individuals with diverse SOGI. In consequence, it is rewarding to count with an Independent Expert who is bound to face the multiple and intersectional forms of violence and discrimination by SOGI, such as those motivated by racial prejudices.

We hope that all governments cooperate fully with the UN Independent Expert on SOGI in this important work to bring about a world free from violence and discrimination for all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“We are very thankful to the seven States in the Core Group who tabled the resolution to renew the mandate” said Andrea Ayala from El Salvador. “Their support comes at a crucial moment in our region, where any sign of progress on inclusion and equality is being countered with violence, persecution and hate speech, a dangerous rhetoric about ‘gender ideology’ and sometimes blatant opposition to the rights of our communities”.

ONU RENOVA MANDATO CRUCIAL DE PROTEÇÃO CONTRA VIOLÊNCIA E DISCRIMINAÇÃO BASEADA NA ORIENTAÇÃO SEXUAL E IDENTIDADE DE GÊNERO

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Organisations signing the statement:

42 Degrees
ABGLT – ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE LESBICAS, GAYS, BISSEXUAIS, TRAVESTIS, TRANSEXUAIS E INTERSEXOS
Accountability International
Amnesty International
ARC International
ASEAN SOGIE Caucus
Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN)
Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos A.C. (ASILEGAL)
Asociación OTD Chile
Caribe Afirmativo
çavaria
CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality
COC Nederland
Colectivo Alejandria
Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA)
Conurbanes por la Diversidad- Argentina
Egale Canada
Equality Australia
ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey
Fundación Afrodescendiente por las Diversiades Sociales y Sexuales – SOMOS IDENTIDAD
Fundacion Arcoiris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual
Fundación Reflejos de Venezuela
GATE
Gender DynamiX
GIN-SSOGIE
Haus of Khameleon
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia
Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum
Human Rights Law Centre
ILGA Asia
ILGA World
ILGALAC – Asociación Internacional de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales, Trans e Intersex para América Latina y El Caribe
International Family Equality Day
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
International Service for Human Rights
Iranti
Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights (KLPH)
Las Reinas Chulas Cabaret y Derechos Humanos AC
LGBTI Support Center
LSVD Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany
Namibia Diverse Women’s Association (NDWA)
ODRI Intersectional rights
OutRight Action International
Pacific Human Rights Initiative
People’s Matrix
People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
Planet Ally
Red Latinoamericana GayLatino
REDTRANS Nicaragua
RFSL, the Swedish Federation for LGBTQ Rights
RFSU
RWS – India’s Diverse Chamber
Stichting NNID
Synergía – Initiatives for Human Rights
The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
the Transgender Liberation Front(abbr. TLF)
Trans Pasefika
TransAction (Aotearoa / New Zealand)
Valientes de Corazón Ecuador
Young Queer Alliance

Afro-LGBTI Network for Latin America and the Caribbean held a private meeting with the IACHR Rapporteurship on the rights of LGBTI persons during the 49th OAS General Assembly

Colombia, July 2 2019.  During the week in which the 49th OAS General Assembly was held in Medellin, Colombia, members of the Afro-LGBTI Network for Latin America and the Caribbean from Brazil, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic met together on June 27th. This meeting included a series of workshops about political advocacy in countries and reinforcing knowledge about the Human Rights Protection System in the Americas. Manuel Canahui and Ernesto Zelayandia, who are currently fellows at the Rapporteurship on the Rights of LGBTI Persons at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), were present for a training on the Inter-American System of Human Rights, as well as its significance for Afro-LGBTI activism in each of the member countries of the Network. During the meeting, the fellows instructed the activists, who are also members of the Institute’s counterpart organizations, about the importance of the Inter-American System, including its organs, namely, the IACHR and the Interamerican Court of Human Rights.

The fellows talked about the work of the IACHR LGBTI Rapporteurship, including the year of its creation and its most important investigations: the 2015 Report on Violence Against LGBTI Persons and the latest Report on the Recognition of the Rights of LGBTI Persons in the Americas. The latter report was launched and discussed in Colombia during the same evening, with the participation of three Afro-LGBTI activists as panelists. After this initial presentation, the activists analyzed the different resources the IACHR has for the promotion and protection of human rights and how they can use them strategically. Public hearings, country visits, working meetings, and precautionary measures, among others, were mentioned.

With all this information given to our counterparts, they also had the opportunity to learn about how they can coordinate the work of different Rapporteurships addressing intersectional issues. This has already happened between the Rapporteurships on Women and Children. Therefore, the possibility of joining the Rapporteurship on Afro-Descendants and the LGBTI Rapporteurship in order to work on issues relevant for the activists was mentioned. Finally, the importance of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as a source of relevant jurisprudence about the protection of rights of LGBTI individuals was discussed. In this way, the Inter-American legal standards about equality and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity were briefly explained to our counterparts, so that they include those standards if they are doing strategic litigation on those topics.

Race & Equality celebrates these types of gatherings in which our counterparts can establish close relations between members of international bodies such as the IACHR. In order to make state-level advances in the guarantee of equal access of Human Rights, it is essential to have these spaces of feedback and training. This makes activists better-informed about available resources that they can access internationally for legal advocacy on Afro-LGBTI issues. Also, it helps international bodies and their officials learn about what other needs are being raised thanks to the work of local human rights organizations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, making this joint work essential for an improvement on generating intersectional analysis and proposals.

Leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean at the 49th General Assembly of the OAS: “We are facing a grave situation of human rights violations””

Over the course of the 49th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), held in Medellín, Colombia from June 25-28, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held various events, particularly with participation by human rights, Afro-descendent, and LGBTI leaders from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic.

These meeting and discussion spaces sought to reflect upon and study the social and political conditions facing human rights in Latin America. These conditions currently have a particular effect upon historically marginalized and invisible populations such as Afro-descendants and LGBTI persons, as do violations of fundamental rights through persecution and harassment by different governments in the region against rights defenders.

We reiterate our condemnation of the absence of Cuban activists who were denied exit from the country by migration authorities, this being a strategy of coercion and repression by the Cuban state to prevent civil society leaders from publicizing the human rights situation on the island.

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The Inter-American Form Against Discrimination was held on June 25. Afro-descendant and LGBTI activists from Latin America took part alongside the re-elected Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons of African Descent and Against Racial Discrimination and Rapporteur on the Rights of Women at the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights.

During their dialogue, activists described the social and political situation with regards to human rights in the region. The president of the Network of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women emphasized the need for women across the region to raise their voices to be heard, speak out, and participate as subjects of human rights. Likewise, the Brazilian activist Rodei Jericó de Géledes expressed the great challenges faced by the Afro-Brazilian population with regards to guarantees and recognition of their rights, especially Afro-Brazilians with diverse expressions of gender and sex, who suffer the highest percentage of homicides worldwide, with Afro-LGBTI people being the most frequent victims.

In a similar vein, the Colombian LGBTI rights activist and director of Caribe Afirmativo Wilson Castañeda indicated that although the Colombian peace process is unique in the world today by virtue of its reaffirmation of the rights of LGBTI conflict victims, Colombian LGBTI persons continue to be crushed by violence and hate crimes, fueled by hateful public discourses and state indifference to the victims. Castañeda told the audience that “peace is costing us our lives.” This dark side of the Colombian peace process includes the announcement by INDEPAZ that 837 social leaders have been killed, with 17 new alleged cases coming recently.

Commissioner Macaulay shared with the audience the importance of the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Intolerance, making clear that the Commission has found that Afro-descendants in the Americas suffer from structural discrimination affecting all social rights to which they are entitled.

The representative of the National Conference of Afro-Colombian organizations, Hader Viveros, stated that Afro-descendants continue to be seen as objects rather than subjects, and thus continue to be victims of discrimination and non-recognition of their true needs. María Martínez de Moschta presented evidence to this point, signaling that over 117,000 people remain stateless in the Dominican Republic thanks to state decisions motivated by senseless racism.

Finally, Christian King, director of the organization Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSA) in the Domincan Republic, and Cecilia Ramírez, director of the Black Peruvian Women’s Development Center (CEDEMUNEP), shared with the participants the importance of being present in international legal bodies such as the OAS General Assembly, highlighting the possibility of using these spaces to bring civil society demands to the fore and to make Latin American social movements’ social and political agendas visible in the struggle for human rights.

Read here the statement of the Afro-Descendant coalition at the OAS General Assembly.

49ª OAS General Assembly

The statement of the Afro-Descendant coalition was represented by Erlendy Cuero Bravo afro colombian activist of the National Association of Afro-Colombians Displaced (Asociación Nacional de Afrocolombianos Desplazados – AFRODES).

Discussion: “The Implementation of the Peace Accords: Social Innovation and Development in Afro-Colombian Territories”

Afro-Colombian leaders held the discussion “The Implementation of the Peace Accords: Social Innovation and Development in Afro-Colombian Territories” on June 25 during the General Assembly. Costa Rican Vice-president Epsy Campbell, Angela Salazar of the Colombian Truth Commission, and Margarette May Macaulay of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights also participated.

Leading the discussion, Vice-president Campbell called upon leaders to continue struggling, building, and working for peace despite being faced with Colombia’s “labor pains” as the social and political conflict drags on. Commissioner Salazar stated that the role of the Afro-descendant population in the implementation process is challenged mostly by the lack of recognition for Black history and experiences in Colombia.

The conversation, which centered upon the systematic killing of social leaders, brought up the deaths of over 400 activists according to the national Ombudsman’s office. Recalling the recent case of María del Pilar Hurtado, all those present condemned this trend.

Audes Jiménez, Afro-Colombian leader and representative of the Network of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women, said, “While President Iván Duque is occupied with the immigration of Venezuelans into Colombia and his migration policies, a genocide against social leaders is underway in Colombia, and this must be in he attention of the General Assembly.” She added that in the Caribbean coastal region, killings, attacks, and persecution continue, especially against ethnic groups defending their land and territorial rights.

Francia Márquez, another Afro-Colombian leader, stated that Afro-Colombian people feel abandoned and ignored by the state, allowing Black, indigenous, and campesino communities in the country to be wiped out by violence as they work tirelessly to care for the Earth. “Peace requires us to think of alternative development“. In the name of ‘development,’ we are being killed, threatened, and treated as a military threat,” she said. 

It was also clear that structural racism causes women to continue being killed and victimized: “we are furious because we are speaking about peace into an empty discourse, peace has still not arrived to our territories, and we have been the ones suffering deaths,” she added.

Nixón Ortíz, LGBTI activist and director of the Arco Irís Afro-Colombian Foundation of Tumaco, remarked that the lack of commitment from the Colombian state to implement the Peace Accords has led to foci of violence in Afro-descendent territories, which remain unprotected and unattended. “We want to say that we have been resisting with our bodies, songs, and dances. Our weapons are our traditions. But the lack of governance in the territories puts whole populations at risk,” he added.

Finally, Father Emigdio Custa Pino, Secretary General of the Nacional Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations (CNOA), invited the audience to continue struggling, building, and resisting despite the deaths of leaders, to assume the responsibility of those no longer present, both for those present and those who are to come.

Discussion: “Where is Nicaragua Heading? Challenges to Human Rights in the Context of Crisis”

A Nicaraguan delegation traveled to Medellín to participate in the General Assembly and interact with the diplomatic missions in attendance. These civil society members, human rights defenders, and ex-political prisoners participated in the event “Where is Nicaragua Heading? Challenges to Human Rights in the Context of Crisis,” organized by Race and Equality alongside CEJIL.

The opening remarks went to the Vice-president of Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell, while the panel consisted of Marlin Sierra, executive director of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), Azahalea Solís, member of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, Lucía Pineda, head of 100% Noticias news and former political prisoner, Roberto Desogus, Nicaraguan lead for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Sofía Macher, member of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts on Nicaragua.

During the event, which went on for over two hours, the first three panelists described their experiences defending human rights and working in journalism in the case of Lucía Puneda, while the panelists representing international bodies described the ongoing work of monitoring from outside the country, as well as their commitment to returning once the authorities choose to authorize their missions.

The following day, Lucía Pineda participated in a breakfast with Colombian and international journalists from digital, print, and television outlets. Throughout her stay in Medellín, after having spent almost six months in prison for reporting through 100% Noticias, she was interviewed by various outlets interested in telling her story and making visible the demands of the Nicaraguan people.

The photo exhibition “Put Yourself in My Shoes” launches at the OAS

During the 49th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), human rights activists from several Latin American countries participated in the premier of a photography exhibition titled “Put Yourself in My Shoes.” The exhibit is the result of a collaboration between Race & Equality and Edgar Armando Plata, M.A. of Universidad del Norte (Colombia).

The exhibit illustrates the work of activists and rights defenders, exploring their fundamental role in defending and advancing human rights. It is on display at the Colombo Americano Institute of Medellín and will be open until August 2019.

Launch of the CIDH Report “Recognition of the Rights of LGBTI Persons” : Afro-LGBTI Perspectives from an Intersectional Lens

At the 49th General Assembly of the OAS, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) presented its recent report “Recognition of the Rights of LGBTI Persons,” a look at the state of rights for people with diverse sexual and gender expressions. Activists from Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru, and Colombia spoke of the grave situation of vulnerability and violation of fundamental rights that LGBTI persons continue to face throughout the region. The Afro-Peruvian trans woman activist Belén Zapata stated that hate crimes and violence against LGBTI people in Peru are not criminalized, with no laws penalizing these acts despite several documented cases. “We must not continue dying and having our killers out in the streets committing other crimes,” she said regarding the killings of trans people.

The Afro-Brazilian trans leader Alessandra Ramos state that LGBTI people in Brazil are faced with a grave situation of vulnerability and rights violations, particularly because the government of Jair Bolsonaro does not recognize people with diverse sexual orientations or gender experessions. She said that Brazil is the leading country in killings of trans people, with 163 trans victims of hate-crime killings last year. Faced with this situation, she expressed “We exist in order to resist, and we resist in order to continue existing.”

Finally, the Afro-LGBTI Network of Latin American and the Caribbean made a public statement with regards to human rights impacts, violations, and structural discrimination affecting Afro-LGBTI people in the region based upon their sexuality, race, and ethnicity.

Read here statement of the Afro LGBTI Network of Latin America and the Caribbean

Pride Day: The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

Washington, June 28th, 2019.  On June 28th, millions of people around the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Stonewall is considered a historic event for the LGBTI movement in the world, and is named after an event that took place in a gay bar located in New York called Stonewall Inn.

At that time, many North-American states treated homosexual relationships as crimes, and in New York people were forced to wear clothes according to their biological sex. Bars could not even sell drinks to homosexuals or anyone who would challenge cisheterossexuality. Many police raids used to happen in which owners, employees and customers would be arrested.

On June 28th, 1969, police entered the Stonewall Inn bar and began arresting employees and customers. However, instead of simply submitting, on that day the people decided to resist. Customers started throwing coins at the policemen, resisting the very common police raids. Then the revolt intensified and even Molotov cocktails were thrown at the door.

This unexpected reaction of people who were tired of all the repression of that time began a series of protests in the following days. A year later, these people organized the first Pride March. However, by telling this story you can risk making some figures who led those episodes and who were extremely important for the history of the LGBTI movement invisible. This is the case of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson.

Silenced Voices: Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson

Sylvia Rivera was one of the emblematic figures in the revolts started at the Stonewall Inn, and is recognized as one of the activists who were in the front line of the riots, being essential to the agitation and mobilization of the protesters.

Sylvia was born in 1951 in New York. She was poor, Latina and a sex worker. Her parents were two immigrants from Puerto Rico and Venezuela, and she suffered abuses by the police all her life. She was abandoned by her father in the first years of her life and her mother committed suicide when Sylvia was only 3 years old. She started living on the streets when she was 11 years old.

Sylvia was a close friend of Marsha P. Johnson: black, transgender, poor and a sex worker. Born in New Jersey in 1945, she arrived in New York at the end of the 60s. Although very little is known about her childhood, it is known that Marsha was a great political activist: she would shout in the streets, mobilize marches, give interviews and just like Sylvia, she would be constantly criminalized.

Both Rivera and Johnson were at the front line of the Stonewall resistance processes, but they were more than that. A year after the Rebellion, Johnson and Rivera founded the organization Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), which provided shelter, food and clothing for some 50 trans people living on the street in conditions of poverty. Marsha and Sylvia supported this project with the money from their own sex work. However, in an interview in 1989, Rivera says that when she and Marsha asked for help from other organizations in the community made up of teachers and lawyers (white and upper middle class) that could help with some resources, those people turned their backs. There was nobody to help them.

In fact, as the LBGTI movement would grow, mostly gay men, usually white, would assume leadership and ostracize trans people like Johnson and Rivera, because they believed that figures like them, with all their unusual clothes, on the one hand, could bring them more disrespect to the community and, on the other hand, would make difficult the argument that there was no difference between gays, lesbians and heterosexuals.

The apex of the tension was in the March of 1973, when Rivera was booed while she reminded that, were it not for the drag queens, there would be no gay liberation movement and that they were the front line of the resistance.

For an intersectional pride

The story of the involvement of people like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in the Stonewall Riots highlights how the LGBTI community cannot be seen in a homogeneous way, as if all experiences were the same and, above all, as if rights reach the LGBTI population in the same way once achieved.  They don’t. More than that, this story explores the limits of alliances inside the LGBTI community, which cannot use trans people only as a bridge to conquer rights or status.

Besides that, Marsha and Sylvia embody intersectionality in their lives, evidencing the importance of considering several social markers to think about the processes of constructing identities, such as race, class, nationality, ethnicity, identity and expression gender, sexual orientation, among other axes of oppression.

Johnson and Rivera give us the opportunity to reflect that, rather than just including, for example, references to gender in race debates and vice versa, intersectionality should be a tool to make a commitment to experiences, knowledge, struggles and agendas policies that emerge from the resistance to the various axes of domination and oppression. This is even for evident for those who are in the lower spheres of recognition of humanity – as was the case of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and continues to be the case of so many black and Latin trans persons, who continue to figure as the victims of many human rights violations.

In these 50 years of the Stonewall Riots, Race and Equality wants to renew our commitment to the resistance of people whose lives are marked by oppression based on their race, identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, class or nationality, and we take this opportunity to invite the entire LGBTI community to engage in a struggle for equality that does not close its eyes to those who do not enjoy white, gender, male and class privileges or any conditions that allow them to experiment a humanity that is not experienced by all. The struggle for equality cannot leave behind those who need it the most.

HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS URGE THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO RESPECT & PROTECT THE IASHR

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 29, 2019 – The undersigned organizations express our concern regarding the State’s rejection of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ recent resolution with respect to the Dominican Republic, in which the Court reiterated its jurisdiction to hear cases against that State. The Inter-American Court determined that the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal decision TC-256-14, which, according to the State, would prevent the Court from making any ruling concerning the country, is invalid under international law.

On April 26, the Dominican State affirmed in a press conference that it will continue not to recognize the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court on the basis of the TC-256-14 decision, despite the Court’s recent resolution. The current president of the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal and the former president of the Republic, Leonel Fernández, have made similar statements. It bears noting that in 1999, President Fernández himself formally accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on behalf of the Dominican State. In addition, while different political actors have spoken out against the Court’s resolution, prominent legal experts have supported its conclusion, asserting that the Inter-American Court maintains its jurisdiction and that, constitutionally, its decisions are as binding as those of the Constitutional Tribunal.

As human rights organizations, we are concerned about the position expressed by representatives of the Dominican State, as it forms part of an effort by the State to limit access to justice for all people living in the Dominican Republic. It is important to point out that there are currently more than 86 cases of human rights violations with respect to the Dominican Republic before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which deal with issues such as women’s rights, political participation, the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, due process, and the right to an effective remedy before the law, among others, which could eventually be decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Given the Dominican State’s position, these victims may see their possibilities of justice and reparation seriously affected.

Over the years, both the IACHR and the Inter-American Court have been essential pillars for the defense and protection of human rights throughout the continent, and have contributed significantly to the advancement of human rights in our countries. Thus, for example, the organs of the Inter-American human rights system (IAHRS) have developed international human rights standards in the fight against corruption in countries such as Guatemala and Honduras, which have contributed to initiatives such as the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) or the Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). Likewise, they have been fundamental in the defense and guarantee of the rights of diverse groups such as LGBTI persons, persons deprived of their liberty, Afro-descendants and indigenous people, children, adolescents, people with disabilities, human rights defenders, and migrants, among many others.

It should be noted that, beyond the great uncertainty for the victims who already have received judgments in their favor, the position of the Dominican State with respect to the competence of the Inter-American Court limits the possibilities of all persons residing in Dominican territory to obtain redress for violations of their human rights in the absence of a solution at the national level. For them, the IAHRS may be the last hope of finding justice, truth and redress.

For all the above reasons, the signatory organizations, all of which work in the defense of human rights, urge the Dominican Republic to recognize its international obligations, legal certainty, and avoid limiting the guarantees of protection.

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International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

While commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, we remember the unmet obligation of all countries, especially those in Latin America and the Caribbean, to support persons with diverse sexual identities and gender expressions, as well as to acknowledge and protect their rights. Respect for these rights must be the base for creating public policies and programs that create diverse, peaceful, and just societies.

Although there has been considerable progress in the recognition of LGBTI rights for people around the globe, violence that endangers the physical and moral integrity of those who express diverse sexual orientations or gender identities is still prevalent. A general lack of concern and complicity on the part of the general population perpetuates and makes it impossible to overcome structural violence against LGBTI people. In addition, the lack of access to health, education and work services of these individuals reproduces dynamics of poverty, discrimination and violence.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, acts of hate and discrimination are often based in religious beliefs or principles. These dogmas frequently restrict identity to binary gender norms that do not recognize diverse expressions, and prevent this population from asserting their rights in social and political spheres.

The Experience of LGBTI People in Latin America 

The outlook for LGBTI people in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2019 continues to be discouraging. They are facing the threat of losing advancements that were already fought for and won because of efforts of fundamentalist groups that are continuously spreading misinformation and stigma against LGBTI individuals.

Similarly, it is concerning that intolerance continues to be one of the main motives behind murders committed against LGBTI people, which are often carried out with excessive cruelty. Statistics on these crimes are mostly collected and analyzed by civil society, while States show a lack of interest in collecting this information or in adequately documenting and investigating these crimes.

Brazil, for example, is a country with one of the highest rates of murders of trans persons, according to a report presented by Brazil’s National Association of Travesties and Transsexuals (ANTRA) and the Brazilian Trans Education Institute (IBTE). The report documents that in 2018 alone, a total of 163 trans individuals were violently murdered because of their sexuality and gender expression. According to ANTRA’s president Keila Simpson, these cases occurred during an election period and were motivated by anti-LGBTI speeches given by some of the Brazilian presidential candidates. This situation continues to deeply concern civil society organizations that are working on the defense of LGBTI rights, especially in the context of the current Bolsonaro regime in Brazil. This regime has emphatically refused to denounce or even acknowledge the existence of the concerning violations of LGBTI people’s rights.

Likewise, in the Dominican Republic, the situation for LGBTI people is alarming because of the lack of public policies that promote social acceptance. Civil society organizations have reported many cases of violence against these individuals, but they are not taken into account by state institutions or mass media. According to the last annual report made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, this situation results in greater discrimination against LGBTI people, who also face discrimination based on nationality, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, etc.

The Dominican State’s refusal to acknowledge the rights of LGBTI rights allows for social acceptance of violence and aggression towards these individuals. Even state authorities often do not see this violence as a problem, as described in a report published by Amnesty International and TRANSSA Trans Siempre Amigas on abuse, violence, and police harassment against trans women sex workers. These women are victims of constant acts of violence perpetuated by police agents who are motivated because of prejudices around their gender identity.

During this significant day, it is important to consider the difficulties that people with diverse sexual identities and gender expressions have in accessing justice. Particularly, laws and government programs in most of the countries of the region have partially or completely ignored the specific ways the LGBTI population’s rights are violated. State responses to these violations must be designed for the specific needs of this population. For example, according the Victims Registry (Registro Único de Víctimas – RUV), created as a part of the Colombian peace process, 3.368 victims of the armed conflict are reported and recognized as LGBTI. Most of them are reported as victims of forced displacement, threats, homicides, and crimes against sexual freedom and integrity. However, one person may have been victim of multiple crimes. Colombia must use these statistics to create programs to address the specific needs of the LGBTI population, who have been victimized in multiple ways.   

Challenges for inclusion

To decrease the poverty and marginalization experienced by LGBTI individuals, shared prosperity for all social groups must be promoted. States have a duty to work toward this, given that one of the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to “not leave anyone behind.” Additionally, the five areas for the protection of LGBTI people prioritized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are: 1) economic wellness; 2) personal safety and elimination of violence; 3) education; 4) healthcare; and 5) political and civic participation.

There are still many challenges in the region for protecting the rights of LGBTI people. One of these challenges is the lack of data about the LGBTI population and their needs. If States have no information on LGBTI people, they cannot design programs that will have the needed impact. This lack of data also impedes the development of progressive policies that can achieve the SDGs and the goals of the UNDP.

LGBTI people are victims of intersectional forms of violence that interact with prejudices about their sexual orientation or their gender identity. For example, the violence against an Afro-descendent trans woman who lives in a rural area must be thought from an intersectional perspective that considers these different aspects of identity. This intersectionality is lived by many LGBTI individuals and is not contemplated by States when planning strategies to guarantee their rights. In consequence, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, and intersexual individuals are revictimized because their reality is not adequately analyzed.

Regional governments should start implementing intersectional policies that recognize the multiple oppressive experiences lived by each person. These policies must recognize that individuals do not fall under one category, but experience the world in ways influenced by their many different identities, including race, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. In most cases, these identities interact and are experienced intersectionally. Having separate policies for different population categories continues to isolate people and produces more barriers to access to rights.

Secondly, there must be recognition of the particularly vulnerable populations that require immediate and clear protection from the State. Homicidal violence and violence perpetuated by State armed agents against trans people in general, and Afro LGBTI people in particular, shows the need for a prompt solution. The structural discrimination against this population requires a significant intervention from the States and should be prioritized in the region in order to substantially decrease those cases of violence and abuse.

Finally, the current context shows an increase in the popularity of religious fanaticism, which endangers not only the safety and integrity of LGBTI individuals, but also the development of democratic and secular States. Religious fanaticist ideas are boomerangs that tend to hit their own promoters. Tactics of moral blame, sexual repression, or criminalization of people based on religious beliefs promote social instability and lead to a radicalization of opinions and actions. The defense of a secular State is more important than ever when specific religious groups are trying to violently impose their beliefs on others.

Statement 

The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race & Equality) joins its voice to thousands of organizations working for the protection of LGBTI people’s rights so that “Justice and Protection for Everyone” can be a commitment assumed by the States and a reality for all individuals. In making this commitment, policies and actions have to be made to protect those that have historically been more vulnerable and oppressed by those who have abused their power.

Race & Equality is aware of the importance of listening to the voices of LGBTI people and calls on States to promote education and dialogue so that inequality, discrimination, and marginalization can be eradicated. Likewise, we urge the international community to continue making statements to promote the protection of LGBTI individuals, especially in this moment of crisis for human rights throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

International Women’s Day: WE ARE WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE AND ALL OF US ARE DIVERSE!

On March 8, 2019, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) remembers and stands with the struggle of all women throughout the world for recognition and guarantees of their rights.

Despite the many efforts and clear progress made in the area of rights to improve the state of women in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially as regards the closure of gender gaps, and guarantee women’s real and effective access to health, education, employment, and political and economic participation, the huge challenge remains of overcoming the inequities that persist in virtually all spheres, particularly  when dealing with women who are racialized, ethnic, rural, or have diverse gender identities.

According to the data provided by Michelle Bachelet, the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in an article entitled The State of Women in Latin America: 25 Years of Light and Shadows, 9,300 women die every year from causes related to pregnancy and their deficient gynecological-obstetric practices.  For every 100 men who live in poverty, 118 women live in a similar state, a figure that accounts for a systematic increase in poverty among women in the region since 1997 and up to the present day.

Despite the fact that women’s participation in the labor market has made notable strides, women continue to be a minority presence, marked by a series of “micro-aggressions” related to gender parity, the reason for which, according to CEPAL, women’s participation in the labor market has stalled at around 53%, and the 78.1% of women who work are in sectors defined by CEPAL as having low productivity, entailing worse remuneration, low social security coverage, and less contact with technology and innovation.

As regards women’s political participation, the challenge remains to increasing the presence of women in spaces of power to thereby transform the patriarchal structures that make it impossible for women to have a presence in governments, the management of public and private businesses, and in the development of laws.  “As long as we are not allowed to be decision-makers [or] participate in spaces of power, the possibility of leveling the playing field and building our societies under equal conditions will be a utopia,” notes the chief.  

In the area of gender-based violence, Latin America and the Caribbean continue to present the highest rate of assaults against women, ranked 14 among the 25 countries with the highest indices of femicide in the world.  Approximately 2,100 women are assassinated every year (six per day and 175 every month) for the simple fact of being women, according to what Bachelet indicated.

The foregoing provides a quick glance at the state of women’s rights in the region; nonetheless, a series of factors that run contrary to them have cross-cut the recognition of women’s diversity and the particularity of their conditions vis-à-vis the enforceability of rights; that is, rural women, Afro-descendant women, and those with diverse sexual and gender identities additionally confront other types of violence that we should make visible on this day.

According to the CEPAL report Afro-Descendant Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Debts of Equality, the ‘visibilization’ of the historic presence of Afro-descendant women demands recognition of their concrete experience as women who live within a historical, social, and cultural context of slave-owning and racist societies.  Contexts, therefore, that deepen the inequities faced by Afro-descendant women as compared with other social groups, due to their ‘invisibilization’ as subjects of differentiated policies with particular impacts and thus, worrisome indices of poverty, little possibility to access healthcare, education, employment, and participation in decision-making spaces much lower that that of the rest of the population, further undermined by racist and discriminatory logic that is a product of the historical legacy manifested in the ways in which Afro-descendant peoples develop in society.

Something similar occurs with lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex women who throughout history have confronted physical and symbolic violence incorporated into the social group that makes it impossible for their sexual and gender identities to be recognized and thus, have their fundamental rights guaranteed.

According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association (ILGA), persons who self-identify as having an identity that differs from cisgender (socially concordant with the sex assigned at birth) or are socially recognized [as such], suffer from innumerable human rights violations.  In particular, in Latin America women are the recipients of a series of violent acts on the part of male chauvinists who stigmatize and/or pigeonhole them in roles in which they are not allowed to freely express themselves and recognize their identity.  It is thus that on average, the life expectancy of trans women is no greater than 30 years; their participation in the labor market lags behind, a high percentage of them work in the informal sector or as sexual workers, and they confront violent and complex processes for accessing health [and] education services and participating in spaces of decision-making and power.

We at Race & Equality call on all of the States of Latin America and the Caribbean to continue working to ensure guarantees and recognition of women’s rights.  Unquestionably, empowered women break the cycles of violence and poverty, decisive factors in making progress in consolidating societies that are more equitable and democratic.  To ensure that result, it is essential to continue working to break historically rooted patriarchal schemas, especially as they relate to women’s participation in decision-making spaces.

We urge the States to not lose sight of plurality and diversity in the construction of what it means to be a woman, in which it is essential to undertake affirmative actions that recognize Afro-descendant [and] rural women and women with diverse sexual and gender identities, in this way breaking the barriers that historically have systematically prevented the inclusion and participation of this group of women in social life and ensured that their future generations were subject to the same vicious cycle of inequality, racism, and discrimination.

LGBTI human rights promoted in Miami’s Ward 4

Washington, DC, February 19, 2019 – Over the course of three days, tens of leaders, defenders, and activists from the LGBTI community on the American continent met in the 4Ward Miami event organized by 4Ward America to share their experiences [and] knowledge and search for opportunities to connect through different activities.

More than 30 speakers participated in the event, held February 16-18, who spoke about the state of LGBTI persons in their respective countries vis-à-vis various topics.  Public officials also participated, such as Fabrice Houdart, a United Nations Human Rights Officer; Susan Harper, Consul General of Canada in Miami; and Congressman David Richardson, a Florida Representative in the United States House of Representatives.

The International Institute of Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality), in addition to being the official sponsor of the event, was a participant, represented by its LGBTI Programs Officer for Latin America, Mauricio Noguera, and several partner organizations: Cristián King, Executive Director of Organización de Transexuales, Travestis y Transgéneros de la Republica Dominicana [Organization of Transsexuals, Transvestites, and Transgender Persons of the Dominican Republic] (TRANSSA); Bruna Benevides, Secretary of the Articulación Política de la Asociación Nacional de Transexuales de Brasil [Political Coordinating Body of the National Association of Transsexuals of Brazil] (ANTRA); and Luna Sharlotte Humerez, President of Organización de Transexuales, Travestis y Transgénero Femeninas de Bolivia [Organization of Transsexuals, Transvestites, and Transgender Females of Bolivia] (OTRAF).

Noguera expounded upon the current state of LGBIT rights in Latin America; Humerez and Benavides spoke on the state of LGBTI women in the Americas, specifically in their countries of origin and in particular spheres, such as indigenous trans women; and King presented on the current state of the LGBTI population with HIV and AIDS in the region, wherein he placed particular emphasis on explaining a law on the topic that is applied in the Dominican Republic.

“It was relevant for our partner organizations to be able to be heard in this type of international forum, to be able to bring information on their countries and present it in this space.  In addition, it was relevant for all of us to come together to dialogue, analyze common problems, establish alliances, and share concerns,” noted Noguera.

Thanks to the support of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State, Race & Equality was able to sponsor the event and facilitate the attendance of the aforementioned international invitees.

The Symposium on LGBTI Human Rights also addressed issues such as environmental sustainability, healthcare, immigration, and sports, all of which were focused on the measure to which they intersect with the various degrees of security, equity, and freedom experienced by LGBTI persons.

Gender- and race-based micro-aggressions perpetrated against Afro-trans women

Washington, DC, February 12, 2019 – Within the framework of a series of training processes put forward by the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality), the second encounter of the dialogue ‘Why Speak About Afro-LGBTI?’ was held on February 12, 2019 in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic with more than 60 activists and human rights defenders participating, primarily Afro-LGBTI persons, from Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic who were convened by the organization Trans Siempre Amigas [Trans Always Friends] (TRANSSA).

This second dialogue space, moderated by Christian King of TRANSSA, began with a focus on the discrimination experienced by the Afro-trans activist Belén Zapata, a member of the Afro-Peruvian youth organization Ashanti, in the process of entering the city of Santo Domingo, in the Las Américas Airport.

The discrimination Belén confronted can be summarized by stating that after she cleared the legal immigration controls and was proceeding to exit the airport, an employee retained her passport without identifying himself or giving a reason for his action, forcing her to stand against a wall for around 40 minutes while being stared at by people in the airport.  Afterward, she was led, together with a group of 10 others (most of whom were Afro-descendants), to other controls and scans in which she was repeatedly checked until [the employees] finally concluded she was not carrying drugs.  Belén received no response to her questions as to the reasons for this procedure; only by the end did she herself deduce she was being submitted to a drug-check.  She was informed that it was a routine check performed on new visitors to the country.

The entire incident experienced by Belén did not last longer than an hour.  The situation itself did not generate any legal consequences against her, no physical violence was employed, and furthermore, the procedures apparently were being justified by a confusing argument of drug-control and standard procedures employed with new visitors to the country.  The responsible parties?  After Race & Equality issued a communiqué and tweet denouncing the situation, Aerodom (the entity that operates the Dominican Republic’s airports) indicated that it is a private entity and that other entities were in fact responsible.  Conclusion?  There is no specific entity that can respond to this situation.

Within the framework of the roundtable conversation, the participants reflected on the normalization of this type of aggression.  Although its effects entail several violations – such as the violation of due process, unjustified restriction of movement, and arbitrary abuse of authority – we view these situations as minor because they do not entail extremely grave physical abuse.  In this sense, we are dealing with what is known as ‘micro-aggressions’ [‘micro-violencias’] that become normalized by the victims, who do not view them as grave or simply because they have no expectation of receiving a response when they denounce them to the authorities.

Belén’s courage was obvious during the conversation as she spoke about this situation, given that some of the attendees at the event had talked about similar situations they had experienced, whether due to their race, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity.  Likewise, the gravity of these incidents was discussed, when the lack of identification from officials and arbitrary nature of the procedures hinders the pinpointing of specific responsibility.  In addition, the group questioned the airport authorities’ lack of coordinated work strategies in this case which, as in other cases, is the result of viewing the response to situations of structural discrimination as being the responsibility of others rather than everyone’s responsibility.

Another situation narrated by an Afro-trans participant illustrated the limitations of her access to healthcare as a trans woman.  The participant described a situation in which she was the object of mockery when she asked to be seen by a urologist for problems associated with her prostate.  For this simple fact she was ridiculed and initially refused copies of the medical exams that had been performed on her, though she was finally able to get them due to her insistence.

Again, while she had access to medical attention and the situation can be described as a simple matter of incorrect attention provided to the user, this type of aggression that can appear to be ‘micro’ in fact has a profound impact on trans persons’ confidence in medical institutions and in this case, that of Afro-trans [persons].  This is a situation in which medical services become tortuous and health or even life itself are put at risk when the refusal of services leads to individuals deciding on their own to stop seeking adequate medical attention.

These two simple reflections on the aggressions visited upon Afro-trans women, while they deviated us from the classic discussions regarding the grave violence committed against the Afro, trans, and LGBTI populations, placed front and center the fact that oftentimes the root cause of the grave violations experienced by these populations is found in daily life, in the degeneration of a service or irregular procedures which, while not leaving permanent traces, have the effect, drop by drop, of wearing away Afro-trans persons’ human dignity and integrity.

Thanks to the support of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State, Race & Equality was able to sponsor the event and facilitate the attendance of the international invitees.

November 20 – International Day of Transsexual Memory

“I am convinced that the engine of change is love.  The love we were denied
is our impetus to change the world.  All of the blows and slights
I suffered cannot compare with the infinite
love that surrounds me at this time.”
– Lohana Berkins (1965-2016), transvestite activist

On the International Day of Transsexual Memory, the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights honors the memory of transsexuals who have lost their lives as a result of acts of intolerance, hate, and discrimination due to their gender identity in Latin America and the Caribbean.  November 20 is also a day to celebrate the lives of transsexuals who, despite social exclusion, limits on exercising their rights, and the absence of social policies that address their basic needs, continue their fight to defend their rights and construct networks of social transformation starting from their local milieus.

Discrimination, violence, segregation against transsexuals, and diverse gender-based segregation constitute a structural aspect of society; therefore, throughout history, their rights have been subject to a vicious cycle of violence, degradation, and oppression that has made it harder for them to enjoy the guarantees of a decent and complete life.

Around the world, transsexuals are subject to mockery, blackmail, physical and sexual assault, and assassination due to their diverse identities.  In addition, they are denied the opportunity to decent employment, medical care in keeping with their needs, and to be seen as subjects worthy of respect and recognition in society.  The stigma to which transsexuals are subject leads to the ‘invisibilization’ of their realities and experiences, as well as ignorance regarding the multiple challenges, barriers, and human rights violations they face.  It is thus that in the majority of countries, data on violence against transsexuals and gender-diverse persons are not systematically produced; therefore, it becomes impossible to calculate the exact number of cases.

Race & Equality observes with concern how the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean continue to have the highest rates of homicides of transsexuals due to motives of prejudice and discrimination, as well as the rationale of machismo and fundamentalist ideas that ignore the diversity, freedom, and autonomy of individuals to identify and define themselves.

Notwithstanding these adverse contexts of violence, we see throughout Latin America experiences of solidarity and leadership that transcend the margins of social exclusion and make known the social demands of transsexuals.  Transsexual leaders are the ones who have been able to impact local public policies, build support networks that have evinced the violence they experience, and above all, generate creative responses for social change from spaces of exclusion.

Race & Equality, within the framework of this commemoration, calls on the States in the region to expand spaces for social dialogue with organizations of transsexuals [and] strengthen the mechanisms for investigating the violence of which this population has been the victim, so as to overcome impunity and jointly define with transsexual leaders social policies of transformation that truly impact their most immediate needs.  We are convinced that transsexuals should continue to be remembered for their transformative acts, rather than for the unpunished violence by which they are eliminated.

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