Race and Equality urges concrete government action to combat the alarming increase in violence against LGBTI Colombians

Race and Equality urges concrete government action to combat the alarming increase in violence against LGBTI Colombians

Bogota, October 6, 2020.– The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is deeply concerned at the rising rates of violence and discrimination against the LGBTI population of Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Race and Equality calls upon the Colombian government to take concrete actions to prevent, investigate, and respond to attacks and killings motivated by anti-LGBTI prejudice.

Although LGBTI Colombians have achieved important recent victories in securing their human rights, including a court ruling that the LGBTI population of the city of El Carmen (Bolívar department) was eligible to receive reparations for abuses during Colombia’s armed conflict as a collective body and another allowing a trans woman to receive women’s pension benefits, the numbers of killings, threats, and cases of harassment continue to grow exponentially.

As of September 15th, the national Ombudsman’s Office had reported 63 murders of LGBTI persons and 388 cases of violence motivated by anti-LGBTI bias. The Office stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, “prejudice and discrimination have been exacerbated, obstacles to accessing justice by reporting crimes have increased, and so have other barriers created by a lack of empathy among officials charged with assisting the population.” To date, Race and Equality has documented 61 attacks against LGBTI persons, among them discrimination in public spaces, denial of rights to health and to nutrition, physical attacks including those with weapons, harassment, threats, and murders.

On September 5th, a man aggressively accosted Bogotá mayor Claudia López, a lesbian woman, and accused her of “teaching improper things to children.” This homophobic act, which the man said he did “in the name of Jesus Christ,” reveals that a climate of discrimination and social exclusion goes beyond official institutions. Despite formal progress, there is still not widespread tolerance for sexual diversity in Colombian society, preventing true recognition and inclusion from taking root.

Alarming numbers of attacks

From January-September 2020, Race and Equality has documented 30 cases in which LGBTI people were killed or severely wounded. Most recently, the killing of Juliana, a trans woman, from gunshots fired by a soldier put the violence facing LGBTI Colombians, especially trans people, into the spotlight. Throughout the country, indicators of violence are on the rise: in Armenia (Quindío department), the Ombudsman’s office issued an official alert about dangers facing the LGBTI population on August 25th. On September 1st, the LGBTI Network in Boyacá department denounced increasing police abuses of sex workers, particularly trans women, on social media. Caribe Afirmativo (Affirmative Caribbean) recently published an open letter to the authorities in the Caribbean region demanding a response to increased murders and attacks against LGBTI people, which have doubled compared to the same period in 2019.

LGBTI leaders face particular risks

Attacks against the leaders of LGBTI organizations indicate the fierce desire by LGBTI-phobic elements to repress pro-LGBTI initiatives across the country. To date, Race and Equality has documented 8 cases of attacks, threats, and murders of LGBTI leaders.

A dramatic example took place when Aurora Iglesias, popularly known as “Zunga,” a trans leader in Florencia (Caquetá department), was threatened with a firearm in her own home and warned to stop her work in the community. On September 17th, a burned LGBTI pride flag was found in front of a leader’s home in Armenia. The home of a gay leader in El Roble (Sucre department) was burned on August 25th. In addition to the direct impacts upon the targeted victims, these acts send a threatening message designed to tamp down LGBTI activism. Incidents such as the murder of Mateo, a trans community leader, and the attempted murder of John Restrepo, a leader in LGBTI conflict victims’ activism, both of which took place in public in broad daylight, underscore the risk facing LGBTI leaders.

Police abuse of sex workers

As Colombia experiences a tense climate of protest and debate about abuses by security forces, serious rights violations committed by the police against LGBTI persons have come to light. Race and Equality has documented 12 cases in which members of the National Police were denounced for attacking trans sex workers. These cases include physical aggression, unjustified seizures of property, and attacks using police service weapons. A common pattern is for police to threaten sex workers with arrest or fines (including arrests or fines for violating quarantine), demand payment, and physically and psychologically abuse those who do not pay, as has taken place in Medellín, Caldas, and Bogotá.

In another highly concerning incident, a young gay man named Juan Luis Guzmán was found dead in a police station under suspicious circumstances. He had been brought to the station after being arrested for breaking the curfew imposed due to COVID-19.

As civil society has consistently documented, police and military forces in Colombia play a major role in reproducing patterns of discrimination and exclusion against LGBTI people. When LGBTI people seek justice by reporting the abuses they suffer, they face greater vulnerability due to a lack of LGBTI-sensitive and gender-sensitive approaches in complaint offices, police retaliations, and/or institutional cover-ups.

Race and Equality joins with Colombian civil society to denounce these violations of LGBTI people’s rights and the ongoing crisis of violence against the LGBTI population. We call upon the government to:

  1. Prioritize investigations of rights violations against LGBTI people, sanction those responsible, and combat impunity. These efforts must integrate an approach that is sensitive to sexual and gender diversity.
  2. Strengthen efforts to educate security forces, especially the National Police, on LGBTI rights; monitor their compliance with LGBTI rights; and improve internal investigations about violations of LGBTI rights to fight impunity.
  3. Ensure that LGBTI people enjoy the right to access justice without discrimination. To make this right effective, efforts to train justice sector officials on LGBTI rights, mainstream LGTBI-sensitive approaches in the justice system, and strengthen monitoring systems will be crucial.
  4. Publicly condemn acts of discrimination and violence against the LGBTI population and implement public policies to combat LGBTI-phobia among the Colombian public.

Race and Equality Launches Manual on Report-Writing for Human Rights Advocacy

Washington D.C., September 21, 2020.– The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is pleased to announce the publication of our manual for civil society organizations interested in writing human rights reports. The goal of this manual is to strengthen organizations’ ability to engage in advocacy at the national, regional, and international levels by preparing them to produce their own human rights documentation and analysis.

The manual is available in the Publications section of Race and Equality’s website. The manual is available in two verions: one that is primarly text-based and one with illustrations to accompany the text. The illustrated version is intended to assist civil society organizations in sharing the manual’s content with human rights defenders.

Through the manual, Race and Equality hopes organizations interested in producing human rights reports will also learn the necessary concepts for using these reports as part of over-arching advocacy strategies to influence international human rights bodies.

“Our experience shows us that human rights reports prepared by victims of rights violations and in-country organizations themselves are essential in pushing governments to respond,” said Pedro León Cortés from Race and Equality.

Content

The manual consists of two parts. The first communicates essential basic knowledge about human rights instruments, the role of civil society in protecting and promoting human rights, and the purpose of human rights documentation. The second includes a step-by-step guide for producing human rights reports, from recording incidents of rights violations all the way through drafting and publishing the report. It also compiles resources for organizations seeking to develop their human rights documentation capacities.

The manual was prepared in order to compile and systematize Race and Equality’s years of experience offering technical assistance and accompaniment to Afro-descendent, LGBTI, and Afro-LGBTI organizations across Latin America as they defend and promote their rights. Race and Equality’s capacity-building approach aims to prepare these organizations to develop their own advocacy strategies and materials.

Race and Equality invites civil society organizations and human rights activists to consult, download, and share the manual so that it can contribute to their efforts for the structural changes that will truly fulfill human rights.

Access the manual (In Spanish only):

Illustrated version – http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Manual-IDH_-web_ilustrado.pdf

Text-only version – http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Manual-IDH_-web_texto.pdf

Social leaders, government representatives, and regional institutions make proposals for justice and violence prevention after the Llano Verde killings

Bogota, September 4, 2020.- The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held a virtual roundtable discussion with social leaders, government representatives, and Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) member Margarette May Macaulay, who is the IACHR’s Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants and Against Racial Discrimination. The discussion was convened in order to discuss proposals for truth, justice, and non-repetition following the killing of five young Afro-Colombians in the Llano Verde neighborhood of Cali on August 11.

The webinar, titled Llano Verde Killings: Analysis and Proposals for Truth, Justice, Reparations, and Non-Repetition, was co-organized with the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). The panelists discussed the particular experiences of Afro-Colombians in Colombia’s armed conflict and the post-conflict context, in which many Afro-Colombians have been forced to leave their ancestral territories and now reside in urban areas where they face discrimination and structural racism.

The discussion generated the following proposals to ensure that the Llano Verde massacre does not fall into impunity and that the Afro-Colombian population does not remain vulnerable to such violations in the future.

The IACHR should pressure the Colombian government to give answers

Erlendy Cuero Bravo, coordinator of the Cali chapter of the Nacional Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES), asked Commissioner Macaulay to make an official visit to Llano Verde, an area that the Commissioner visited once before in October 2018 along with Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño. Such a visit would allow the Commissioner to make recommendations to the Colombian State regarding truth, reparations, and reforms to guarantee non-repetition in her official capacity. “Peace cannot be built starting at the national level – it has to be built from within Afro-Colombian territories to be in line with the communities’ needs,” said Erlendy.

Listening to Afro-Colombian youth and ensuring their right to education

Yeison Tobar, coordinator of AFRODES’ youth initiative Semillero (Seedbed), discussed the need for both the Colombian government and civil society organizations to strengthen ties with young Afro-Colombians, listen to their concerns, and involve them meaningfully in development projects. “Many times, the response is ‘young people don’t want to do anything,’ but there’s not enough effort to look into the lives of young people or their beliefs and emotions,” said Yeison.

Yeison also said that young people in Colombia need greater access to education, including higher education and technical education, along with assistance to finish their studies. According to Yeison, “the best bet for young people is education.”

Improve living conditions and ratify the Convention Against Racial Discrimination

Commissioner Macaulay expressed her willingness to accompany an official truth and justice process for the Llano Verde killings, emphasizing the need for “comprehensive reparations,” that go beyond monetary compensation and address the living conditions of Afro-Colombian communities, including schools, universities, health centers and hospitals, and public transportation.

The Commissioner also called on the government to examine all acts of violence against Afro-Colombians thoroughly and bring those responsible to justice. She reminded the government that the Colombian State is obligated to guarantee the rights of Afro-descendants and indigenous people, which includes the duty to combat discrimination against these groups. She also reminded the audience that Colombia is one of the countries which has not yet ratified the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.

Economic opportunity and institutional presence

Cali city councilmember Fernando Tamayo stated that the Llano Verde massacre should not be viewed as an isolated incident, highlighting that community members had reported the presence of criminal groups and insecurity before the crime. For Tamayo, increased economic opportunity is a key step towards preventing such crimes. He highlighted two projects in the city’s development plan: a supply center in the eastern portion of the city and the proposed building of the District University of Cali. He also called for increased investment in institutions so that they are present and accessible throughout the city.

Respect for the Peace Accords

Luz Marina Becerra, secretary general of AFRODES, agreed with the previous speakers about the lack of educational and job opportunities that makes young Afro-Colombians “easy prey” for criminal groups, especially drug-dealing networks, and fosters violence. Luz Marina called for the Colombian Peace Accords to be fully implemented, including through improved living conditions for Afro-Colombians to reduce their vulnerability to crime. She also spoke about the importance of peace-building efforts led by Afro-Colombian women and efforts to apply traditional Afro-Colombian knowledge to healthcare and family well-being. She offered AFRODES’ Mujeres que Sanamos Mujeres project (Women Making Women Healthy) as an example.

Implementation of Law 70 and the Anti-Discrimination Law in urban areas

Alí Bantú Ashanti, an Afro-Colombian lawyer and member of the Racial Justice Collective, insisted on the need to develop specific implementation plans for Law 70 (which governs Afro-Colombians’ and indigenous people’s collectively held land) in urban areas, given that it was formulated with rural land in mind. Likewise, he argued that Law 1482, known as the Law Against Discrimination, has not had the expected impact, in part because it is not integrated with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Rejecting the efforts of some Colombian media outlets to downplay the Llano Verde killings by linking the five victims to criminal activities, Alí spoke of the role of structural racism in de-valuing Black lives: “The capitalist system has positioned Black people as subjects who can be killed, as lives that don’t matter, as mere criminals.”

International Accompaniment

Colombian Senator Alexander López closed the webinar by stating that international accompaniment is necessary for truth, justice, and non-repetition processes, including in Llano Verde. He affirmed that Law 70, the “Ethnic Chapter” that addressed Afro-Colombians’ rights in the Peace Accords, and all other legal instruments must be respected and fully implemented in the fight against structural racism and discrimination.

Senator López mentioned the fact that 9 million conflict victims are listed in the official registry, of which 14% are Afro-Colombian. He also alluded to the controversy about the 2018 Colombian census, which counted nearly 1.4 million fewer Afro-Colombians than the 2005 census due to failures in the National Statistics Office (DANE). “This has important implications, because the more that the Afro-Colombian population is reduced in official counts, the fewer public policies and resources will be devoted to them,” he reminded the audience.

To see a full recording of the webinar, click here.

Race and Equality launches informational material to increase knowledge about and advocacy before human rights protection mechanisms

Washington D.C., August 28, 2020. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) shares today with civil society and activists in Latin America and the Caribbean informational material about the Organization of American States (OAS) and its respective organs, as well as about the United Nations (UN). The objective of this material is to contribute to the increase in knowledge about and advocacy before these bodies for the defense and protection of human rights.

“As an organization which seeks to strengthen the capacities of civil society in the region in the defense and protection of human rights, Race and Equality presents this material that addresses the functioning of human rights protection mechanisms in the Inter-American System as well as in the United Nations, with the hope of generating greater access to these on the part of our partners,” stated Christina Fetterhoff, Senior Legal Program Officer at Race and Equality.

The material consists of three videos that speak about the functioning of the OAS, the Inter-American System, and the UN, respectively. Through the presentations of four animated characters and with the help of illustrations, the videos explain the work that each of these bodies carries out, as well as indicating the advocacy spaces and mechanisms available for civil society for the defense of human rights.

Each video is reinforced with a didactic material which, in an approachable way, offers more details about those advocacy spaces and mechanisms for civil society participation. Furthermore, they include the links to the official websites of the OAS and UN where people can find more information.

All of this informational material is in addition to the guide titled “Precautionary Measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Procedure and Function” (in Spanish only) which Race and Equality launched in May 2020 with the goal of orienting lawyers and human rights activists on the process to request precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

You can access the videos (in Spanish only) at the following links:

OAS: https://bit.ly/2QdZzTc

Inter-American System: https://bit.ly/2FIp90O

UN: https://bit.ly/31hwddc

The didactic materials are available here (in Spanish only).

Race and Equality: The Cuban government must grant political prisoner José Rolando Casares Soto full and unconditional liberty

Washington, D.C., August 20, 2020.- On Wednesday, August 19, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) confirmed that Cuban political prisoner José Rolando Casares Soto was released under conditional liberty via a phone call with Mr. Casares. As an organization dedicated to defending and promoting human rights, we celebrate the fact that Mr. Casares, an activist and member of the Cuban Youth Roundtable (Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana) has been released from prison and can rejoin his family; however, we continue to insist that the Cuban government grant him unconditional liberty and rescind his convictions, as well as that of his wife Yamilka Abascal Sánchez.

Mr. Casares was one of the activists whose stories were highlighted in our report Premeditated Convictions, which examined the Cuban government’s strategies for criminalizing its opponents. In July 2016, Mr. Casares and Ms. Abascal attempted to defend a friend who was being detained by the police. As a result, Mr. Casares was arrested and detained for a week. During his detention, he was forced to undergo a strip-search and interrogation. Authorities informed him that he would be charged with “assault” and “resistance,” but he was not informed of any proceedings until six months later, when he and his wife were summoned to trial.

Sentencing

The couple were tried together in a trial that was closed to the public and did not include guarantees of due process. Ms. Abascal was convicted of “contempt” and served a two-year “limitation of liberty” sentence in their home, while Mr. Casares was convicted of “assault” and “sexual obscenity.” This second charge emerged due to the police’s claim that he had taken off his own clothing while being arrested, when in fact he was forced to do so as police searched for a flash drive containing information about the Cuban Youth Roundtable.

Mr. Casares was originally sentenced to five years’ correctional labor without internment. On March 24, 2017, he was ordered to present himself at the state-run Civil Construction firm of his municipality but refused to do so in protest of his conviction. As a result, his sentence was changed to five years in prison.

After the order to appear on March 24, Mr. Casares did not receive another official communication from the court or the Ministry of the Interior (which oversees the penal system) and did not learn of his new sentence until he was arrested off the street, on his way to buy medicine for his children, on August 3. The five-year sentence is noteworthy for being longer than the 1- to 3-year sentences typically given to political prisoners.

Three years of suffering

Mr. Casares was held in Kilo 5 Prison in Pinar del Río until August 2019, when he was transferred to the Kilo 4 Penitential Center, a minimum-security facility. During his imprisonment, he suffered complications from a dental implant that was broken during his arrest, along with an intestinal prosthesis that he has had since childhood. On May 11, 2020, he was transferred to a hospital after suffering severe stomach pains for several days. At the hospital, he learned that he had a kidney stone. He received an injection for the pain but was not given any other treatment.

Mr. Casares has spent three years of life in prison, separated from his wife and children, for no reason other than his political beliefs. When he was arrested August 2017, his daughter was only 1 year old, and his younger son had just been born in April. “At last our children will enjoy the love from their father that they lost for three years … I will continue demanding the liberation of all political prisoners who are still incarcerated unjustly,” Ms. Abascal wrote on Facebook. During the family’s ordeal, Cuban security officials threatened her with the loss of custody of their children if she continued to denounce her husband’s treatment.

On August 18, the government finally approved Mr. Casares’ latest request for conditional liberty, allowing him to return home. However, he is still subject to various restrictions.

Upon being freed, Mr. Casares emphasized that other prisoners who have committed no crime remain in Cuban prisons and that he plans to continue exposing the inhumane conditions in which political prisoners are held.

Irregularities

Race and Equality has presented petitions to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Mr. Casares and Ms. Abascal’s behalf, documenting how both of their detentions were arbitrary in violation of Cuba’s international obligations.

Among the irregularities documented were the lack of a legal justification for their arrest, the lack of a court order to keep them in prison, authorities’ failure to inform them why they were being held, and Mr. Casares being held incommunicado for seven days without court oversight. The Cuban state has plainly violated their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

These rights violations are retaliation for the couple’s work with the Cuban Youth Roundtable to denounce the government’s abuses and seek electoral reform. Race and Equality demands that Mr. Casares be granted full, unconditional freedom and that his fundamental rights be respected.

Race and Equality condemns the murder of five young Afro-Colombians in Cali and issues recommendations for ensuring truth and preventing future killings

Bogotá, August 14, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) condemns the killing of five young Afro-Colombians, whose families had been previously victimized by Colombia’s armed conflict, in the Llano Verde neighborhood of Cali. As an organization working to protect and promote human rights, Race and Equality expresses our solidarity with the mourning families and community. We stand alongside the community to demand that this crime not fall into impunity and that the government adopt the necessary measures to prevent such tragedies from reoccurring.

The five victims have been identified as Jean Paul Cruz Perlaza, 15; Leyder Cárdenas Hurtado, 15; Juan Manuel Montaño, 15; Álvaro José Caicedo Silva, 14; and Jair Andrés Cortez Castro, 14. The five had left their homes on the morning of Tuesday, August 11 for a community activity; their bodies were discovered at the end of the day in a nearby sugarcane field, showing signs of torture and execution-style gunshot wounds.

Just two days later, on August 13, another person was killed and fifteen more were injured in the same neighborhood when an unidentified person set off an explosive device. According to local media, the bombing was an attempt to attack the local police division.

Contextualizing the events

 Race and Equality calls for full reparation of the victims’ families and community, along with measures to ensure that such tragedies do not reoccur. To be effective and to comply with Afro-Colombians’ human rights, these measures must take into account the particular circumstances of Afro-Colombians who were displaced by the armed conflict. These communities suffered grave rights violations and the loss of their ancestral territories; today, they continue to suffer further incidents of displacement, threats, attacks, murders and assassinations, forced recruitment by illegal groups including drug traffickers, sexual exploitation, and a lack of educational and work opportunities.

“Stopping the violence against Afro-Colombian communities requires us to recognize and confront the factors that underly it: historical patterns of structural racism and racial discrimination that deny Afro-Colombians the conditions to ensure equality and to claim their rights as Afro-Colombians,” according to Pedro Cortes, Race and Equality’s advisor in Colombia who leads the organization’s work accompanying Afro-Colombian organizations in denouncing rights violations and advocating for justice before the national government and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

Race and Equality has issued a set of recommendations to Colombian authorities, designed to ensure that the government’s response to the killings take into account the victims’ experiences as Afro-Colombians, address the particular impact of violence upon young Afro-Colombians, and protect the rights and safety of the victims’ families and community.

Race and Equality has also requested that the IACHR, United Nations human rights treaty bodies, and United Nations special procedures all take action to ensure that the government’s response brings justice.

Read our statement and the recommendations here.

Race and Equality publishes eight recommendations to protect the Afro-descendant population in Latin America from COVID-19

Washington D.C. August 6, 2020.– As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reverberate across Latin America, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) set out to analyze the impact of the pandemic on the region’s Afro-descendant population. Based on the results, the organization has formulated eight recommendations for States, human rights institutions, and international bodies to develop pandemic responses that are in line with Afro-descendants’ needs.

Race and Equality conducted this research through several webinars, virtual meetings, and dialogues with Afro-descendant leaders between March 27 and May 17, 2020. Public statements from Afro-descendant civil society in the region and declarations from anti-racial discrimination mechanisms within the Organization of American States (OAS) and United Nations systems were also consulted.

According to data from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Afro-descendant population in the region totals 130 million people, representing approximately 21% of the region’s population. So far, no entity has published official data on how many Afro-descendants how been infected with, or died from, COVID-19. Civil society organizations, however, have conducted their own studies and revealed high levels of vulnerability and inequality affecting the Afro-descendant population.

A lack of vital health information, difficulties in accessing national health systems, and acts of violence by both police and illegal armed groups are all major obstacles to Afro-descendant communities as they face the pandemic. “We thought it was critical to understand Afro-descendants’ situation in the pandemic because from there, we can decide on actions to support our counterparts. We can also make better recommendations to States, human rights bodies, and international organizations about how to guarantee their rights,” said Elvia Duque, Race and Equality’s Legal Program Officer and the leader of the study.

Race and Equality developed eight recommendations for combatting structural racism and racial discrimination; improving health and education systems, especially with regards to gaps between urban and rural communities; guaranteeing human rights; and gathering trustworthy statistics to study the pandemic through an intersectional lens. The recommendations emphasize the need to implement these recommendations through consultation and coordination with Afro-descendent leaders.

Readers can find the results of the study and consult the recommendations here.

Race and Equality denounces harassment against members of the Christian Liberation Movement in Cuba and demands respect for freedom of expression on the island

Washington, D.C. August 3, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) denounces the harassment and threats committed this weekend by Cuban State Security against a family that are members of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL, for its initials in Spanish). These threats were intended to silence leaders of this independent civil society organization on the island.

Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepcion, National Coordinator of the MCL and former political prisoner, denounced that on July 31 and August 2, State Security agents approached different members of his family, who are part of the MCL, to demand that they leave the organization and threatened them with criminal prosecution and fines if they continued participating in actions supporting the MCL or Cardet Concepcion.

The first of these acts occurred on July 31, when a State Security agent who identified himself only as “Elio” arrived at the workplace of Yaimaris Vecino’s father. Vecino is the spouse of Cardet Concepcion. “Elio” told Yaimaris’ father to ask his daughter to leave the MCL or else her husband would return to prison.

This is not the first time that Cuban authorities have taken actions against Vecino. In the past, including the months that Cardet Concepcion was in prison, she was cited and interrogated on various occasions by State Security agents, who have even come to the clinic where she works to interrogate her there.

The second act of repression occurred on Sunday, around 1pm, when two officials from the Political Police came to the home of Yordan Marino Fernandez, Coordinator of the MCL for Holguín and Las Tunas, and Vecino’s cousin. The police forced him to report urgently to the police station in Velasco, the town where he lives. Once there, the activist was interrogated by two State Security agents, who threatened to charge him with a common crime.

According to the report, the agents told Marino Fernandez that they were not going to allow any member of the MCL to leave the country and that they would economically suffocate the organization until it disappeared. They also threatened to fine Marino Fernandez’s spouse and threatened their son. Before allowing him to leave the station, the agents ordered Marino Fernandez to stop his involvement with the MCL and not to support Eduardo Cardet Concepcion, or else both would go to prison.

The threats against Yaimaris Vecino and Marino Fernandez are especially worrisome because they are very similar to the threats that State Security agents made against Eduardo Cardet Concepcion before he was brutally attacked and convicted of a crime he did not commit in November 2016. The National Coordinator of the MCL served a three-year sentence. He served the majority of his sentence in prison in inhumane conditions and was stabbed by other inmates. He was placed under conditional liberty in May 2019, which he was subjected to until October 2019.

The MCL was founded in 1988 and despite their belief in peaceful change, they have been one of the most persecuted organizations by the Cuban state and its security forces. Of the 75 political prisoners during the Black Spring in 2003, 17 were members of the MCL. On July 22, 2012, their founder, Oswaldo Paya, died under unexplained circumstances after his car was hit by a State Security vehicle.

Race and Equality expresses its concern for the security of Yaimaris Vecino, Yordan Marino Fernandez, and all other members of the MCL, and urges the Cuban state to stop harassing them and to allow them to carry out their work as a political party. We also urge the international community to monitor the situation of MCL members and to demand respect and protection for the rights to freedom of expression and assembly on the island.

Activists from Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia gather to expose the issues faced by Afrodescendant women in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and to urge States to take necessary measures for their protection

Washington, D.C. July 31, 2020. – In celebration of the International Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day on July 25, women activists working to promote and defend the rights of Afro-descendants in Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia gathered in a webinar to discuss key issues faced by Afro-descendant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion highlighted the multiple forms of violence and discrimination on the basis of race, socioeconomic class, and gender faced by these women.

The webinar entitled “Racism and Afrodescendant Women: Post-pandemic Projections” was moderated by Elvia Duque, Program Officer at the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality). The webinar was well-attended by the public, through the Zoom platform (70 participants) and through Facebook Live on Race and Equality’s page (76 shares, 35 comments from different parts of the region.) As of Friday, the Facebook stream had reached 6,396 people, according to the platform’s statistics.

An adverse environment

Echoing the words of Brazilian professor Joana dos Passos, Dr. Elia Avendaño – a PhD in Law and researcher at the Cultural Diversity Studies Program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) – said “Racism is a permanent pandemic” and pointed out that Mexico is facing the COVID-19 pandemic under many disadvantageous situations. At the beginning of the year, the President abolished Seguro Popular, a public health insurance program which covers 52.8% of Mexico’s Afro-descendant population. Dr. Avendaño explained that the repeal was done to make way for the new Institute for Health and Well-being (INSABI), but it won’t be fully operational until the end of the year.

According to Dr. Avendaño, structural inequalities in Mexico place economically-deprived populations and those with limited access to health services at a greater risk of contracting the disease. This includes indigenous persons and Afro-descendants. “To date, we have recorded 42,645 deaths related to the pandemic, but we do not know how many of those who have died were Afro-descendants. Our health care system is supposed to treat everyone who needs help, even if they do not have a health plan. However, preference is being given to those who have a greater probability to survive, and in this case, those with a history of having suffered from inequality, marginalization, exclusion, and poverty are not included,” she said.

Sagrario Cruz Carretero, an anthropologist and investigative professor at the Universidad Veracruzana (University of Veracruz), focused her remarks on the evidence of the rich African heritage found in Mexico to counter the denial of this reality by many sectors of society today, which result in a lack of adequate policies for Afro-descendant communities. “Why is there a denial of Afro-descendant or Black identities in Mexico? This is because of racism and for fear of losing white privilege, which are tools that allow others to obtain better opportunities in life,” according to Prof. Cruz Carretero.

Meanwhile, Astrid Cuero – an Afro-Colombian leader of feminist and anti-racism movements at the Grupo Lationamericano de Estudio, Formación y Acción Feminista (Latin-American Group of Feminist Study, Training, and Action – GLEFAS in Spanish) stated that “the pandemic is racialized.” In the case of Colombia, the pandemic has given way to a resurgence of violence in rural areas, and an increase of murders of Afro-Colombian and indigenous leaders, thus showing the State’s shortcomings when it comes to protecting fundamental rights.

“Many Afrodescendants don’t have stable jobs and have to live off of the informal economy. The state has not provided dignified and humane ways to allow this population to isolate themselves during the pandemic. How can you expect a poor, Black person to self-quarantine if they have no other option but to go out and work? This is how they are exposed,” says Cuero, who also emphasized that Afrodescendant populations not only are vulnerable to COVID-19 but are also susceptible to violence from paramilitary groups.

Tanya Duarte, who is Afro-Mexican and is the director of the Proyecto Afrodescendencia México (Afro-descendant Mexico Project), assessed that “being able to survive self-quarantine is a matter of privilege and social class.” For example, many families are having to withdraw their children from school because they cannot afford the cost of online classes. She also indicated that racism is strongly affecting migrant Afro-descendant populations that reside or pass through Mexico. These populations are marginalized as a result of the COVID-19 response or end up exposed to organized crime.

Urgent policy action is needed

Joanna Wheterborn, an Afro-Guatemalan member of the Advisory Council of the Network of Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, and of the Diaspora Women (RMAAD in Spanish), indicated that isolation due to the pandemic has correlated with a disproportionate increase in levels of gender-based violence within homes. Wheterborn called attention to the need to update the statistics on the Afro-descendant population in Guatemala and in other parts of the region – “if they do not count us, they do not see us; and if they do not see us, they will not care for us.”

The panelists concluded that racism is a pandemic that plagues Afro-descendant populations, and that the responses to COVID-19 should be addressed with the understanding that Afro-descendant women are one of the priority groups to be included in the programs and plans of the State. In addition, they highlighted the need for accurate disaggregated data by population, including race/ethnicity and gender, to present adequate solutions for Afro-descendant populations.

At the end of the conversation, Elvia Duque urged the public to continue making use of regional and international mechanisms such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Afro-descendants & Against Racial Discrimination, as tools that amplify the voice of Afro-descendant women outside national dialogue – where often their voices are ignored and silenced.

Watch the webinar again here:

A message of unity and strength on the International Day for Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women

Washington D.C. July 24, 2020.– The International Day for Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women is celebrated across the hemisphere every July 25th to commemorate the first Summit of Afro-Latina and Afro-Caribbean Women, held in the Dominican Republic in 1992. The Summit was a key moment for Afro-descendant women’s fight to claim greater visibility and proper recognition for their contributions to culture and society.

Along with our grassroots partners, including the Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y de la Diaspora (RMAAD – Network of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women), the International Institute on Race, Equality & Human Rights (Race and Equality) has designed graphic materials in collaboration with Afro-descendant women activists, including trans and lesbian leaders, from 11 Latin American countries.* These materials recognize the invaluable work of Afro-descendant women in the Americas and their contributions to their homes, their communities, the work of cultural preservation, and the fight to end discrimination against Afro-descendants, women, and LGBTI people.

Race & Equality fully concurs with RMAAD’s core analysis and premises, which describe how Afro-descendant women suffer a triple form of discrimination because of their gender, race, and economic status. We are committed to raising awareness of the challenges facing Afro-Latina women and to reviewing our own practices to determine how we can contribute to Afro-descendant women’s quality of life across the Americas.

Estimates of the Afro-descendant population in the Americas vary from approximately 133 million people (according to the World Bank) up to approximately 300 million people, which would represent about 30% of the region’s population. Having worked to address statistical gaps regarding Afro-descendants in several countries, Race & Equality recognizes that statistics regarding Afro-descendant women’s situation are severely lacking. We call on allies across the region to work for improved data collection, emphasizing that such data is the most basic tool for meeting the needs and demands of Afro-descendant women.

As the COVID-19 pandemic worsens the vulnerability of Afro-descendant women, we commit to lifting up their voices and magnifying their message of strength for women across the world who fight to overcome hardship. We call on states to create and strengthen policies to combat violence and discrimination against Afro-descendant women, for only by working together can civil society and states bridge the gaps facing Afro-descendant women throughout the continent.

*Marianita Minda, who passed away in May, is listed posthumously to honor her work as founder of the Coordinadora Nacional de Mujeres Negras de Ecuador (Nacional Ecuadorian Coordination Group of Black Women)

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