March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Message from Carlos Quesada, executive director of Race and Equality

Washington DC, 2020, May 21st. Today we commemorate once again the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a day that we at the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), take as an opportunity to remember our universal rights to equality and non-discrimination. This message must be echoed in a context of growing intolerance, hate, and superiority speech that do not contribute to the development and well-being of our society.

We have been commemorating this day since 1966, in memory of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, when police opened fire and killed 69 people who were protesting peacefully against the Apartheid Pass Laws. Since then, racial discrimination has subsided considerably in Africa and also in Latin America.

This year, Mexico ratified the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, thus joining Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Antigua and Barbuda; and also ratified the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, which entered into force with this ratification.

Also in Mexico, the inclusion of the Afro-descendant self-identification question was achieved for the first time in the 2020 Census. However, it was included late in the process, so Afro-Mexican organizations had to start their awareness campaigns just a few months before the census, which is being carried out this month. Currently, the campaign continues with great force led by the Collective to Eliminate Racism in Mexico (COPERA, for its initials in Spanish) along with Race and Equality and in alliance with some government agencies and Afro-Mexican organizations.

In Panama, we are concerned that the census scheduled for May 2020 was postponed until the first quarter of 2021, due to delays with the bidding process. This implied that all progress made on the 2020 Census was suspended, and adjustments to the next steps represent a great challenge. This is because there are several actions that must be carried out such as updating the budget, cartography, and identifying and hiring personnel, among many other duties. However, this period has allowed for the promotion of self-identification among Afro-descendants in both rural and urban communities.

In Colombia, the number of social leaders assassinated in 2019 was alarming: at least 253, of which 91 were Afro-descendant and indigenous leaders, according to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ, for its initials in Spanish). Patterns of structural racial discrimination continue to prevent Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities from having effective enjoyment of their economic, social, and cultural rights compared to the rest of the Colombian society. It is a matter of concern that given this situation, the Colombian government has not guaranteed an adequate statistical estimate of the Afro-Colombian population. This is reflected in the 2018 Census, where the black, palenquera and raizal population was reduced by 31% compared to the 2005 Census. The Government is also not offering the conditions needed for the implementation of the Peace Agreement with an ethnic-differential approach.

In Brazil, between January and February 2020, 38 trans women were killed, of whom 75% were Afro-Brazilian. This figure is particularly worrisome because it is 90% higher compared to last year’s figures. In general, most LGBT crimes are committed against Afro-descendants, according to data from the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA, for its initials in Portuguese).

In Cuba, there is still no implementation plan for the International Decade for People of African Descent. We have managed to document that the majority of the activists who are victims repression by the Cuban Government are Afro-descendants, such as Juan Antonio Madrazo, Marthadela Tamayo or Nancy Alfaya. From the State’s side, there is no opening to recognize the existence of racial discrimination on the island.

From Race and Equality, we will continue to make visible, fight, and denounce the marginalization and injustices that Afro-descendant populations face in the Americas. We will continue to work, especially in the company of our counterparts in the region, who, from their communities, contribute to tehe construction of a more equal society.

Aymara Nieto’s Story: A Female Political Prisoner of the Cuban State

Across Cuba, children love to dance and act in their school plays. But for Aymara Nieto’s two daughters, ages 7 and 12, something is always missing when their school puts on a pageant. Their mother has not been able to watch them perform since 2018, when she was arrested for exercising her right to protest.

“The girls want to have their mother there for their school activities, and that has been taken from them. They have had to be so strong to live with what is happening,” according to Aymara’s mother Griselda Muñoz.

For a while, Aymara’s daughters could visit her once a month in El Guatao prison, where they could hug her, exchange letters and tell her about the milestones that she could not be present for. But in March of this year, Aymara was transferred to the El Manati women’s prison in Las Tunas, over 400 miles from her children in Havana. No explanation was given for this transfer, which will make it almost impossible for Ayamara’s mother and children to visit her.

Arrest and Trial

Aymara, 43, is a member of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), a group made up mostly of wives and relatives of Cuba’s political prisoners. The Damas protest once a week to demand freedom for prisoners of conscience. Aymara, who had previously taken part in other activist efforts, joined the Damas after her husband Ismael Bori Reñi was arrested for his involvement with the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) in April 2018.

On May 6, 2018, Aymara intended to take part in a campaign called “We All March,” aimed at pressuring the government to release political prisoners. But the march would not go according to the organizers’ plans.

“Right when she left the house, they detained her. Some female police officers immediately grabbed her and started pulling her hair and hitting her without saying a word. They took her to the prison in Santiago de Las Vegas and held her for several days, probably so that her bruises would subside,” says Griselda.

After holding her for fifteen days, the authorities allowed Aymara to see her family. “They’re up to their tricks; they did this to shut me up,” she told Griselda. Sure enough, in March 2019, Aymara was sentenced to four years in prison for the supposed offenses of “assault” and “causing damages.” At her trial, the prosecutor claimed that Aymara “led an act against the revolutionary process” and that while she was being arrested, she “tore a police officer’s clothing and struck her, causing scratches to her neck.”

State authorities did not permit Aymara to have her own lawyer during the trial, failed to adhere to various deadlines and procedures, held the trial behind closed doors and ignored clear signs of bias on the part of the judge.

Life in Prison

Life in Cuban prisons is complex and delicate, especially for a political prisoner. Aymara’s rights to health, food and dignified treatment are not respected. Shortages of medicine are frequent, meals are scant and unhealthy, her family visits are monitored and mistreatment at the hands of guards is frequent. Any attempt to report these violations is punished, including through the use of solitary confinement.

“My daughter’s rights are being violated while time flies by. It hurts me as well; she is my only daughter,” says Griselda.

Aymara’s husband Ismael also remains behind bars; he is expected to be released in late March. The two were previously arrested for distributing informative materials in 2016 and sentenced to a year in prison on charges of public disorder. They were freed in July 2018, but Ismael was re-arrested repeatedly for the rest of the year and eventually sentenced to two more years for “contempt.” The couple have had their requests for conjugal visits, the only avenue for them to see each other, denied for the past four months.

Today

Griselda, aged 63, has moved into Aymara’s house in order to keep it up and care for her two granddaughters. She is the only source of economic support for herself, her granddaughters, Aymara and Ismael. Aymara’s oldest daughter, who is 24 years old, lives elsewhere.

“It’s a very heavy load. At my age, I’m not as spry, but I keep working so they don’t go hungry,” explains Griselda, who has worked as a cook and a receptionist since Aymara’s sentencing. She and her granddaughters attend church each Sunday, which she says is her source of strength to keep going and to fight for her daughter’s release. “Aymara has always been a fighter, that’s why they’re after her so badly. That’s why they locked her up and why they do what they do to her – they know she is true to her principles, the principles of the Damas de Blanco.”

Race and Equality calls on the States of Latin America and the Caribbean to take LGBTI people into account in times of COVID – 19 crisis

In the face of the of the recent crisis, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) reminds States of the importance of safeguarding the health of the entire population regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity; Public policies that encompass the crisis must be thought of from intersectional approaches that address gender and human rights perspectives.

Race and Equality warns about the differential impact on rights that crises like these can have on historically marginalized and socially vulnerable populations such as LGBTI people. “The social reality of LGBTI people in Latin America and the Caribbean is characterized by precarious access to health services, education, work and comprehensive well-being, realities that must be considered by the States when designing virus containment strategies,” says Zuleika Rivera, LGBTI Program Officer at Race and Equality.

“The state of alert starts precisely because, although these measures affect the entire social group, those who have always lived in a state of vulnerability, tend to be mostly affected. For example, trans women sex workers are very affected by the strategies that are being used so far, especially because in order to eat and pay rent in the place where they live, they must work, which not only puts them at risk, but a whole social group in imminent risk, ” she continues.

The situation in Latin America

LGBTI civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean expressed to us their concern about the containment strategies used by States without taking into account differential and rights-based approaches.

In Peru, for example, they have expressed concern about the impacts of the measures taken so far by the State to prevent the spread of the virus.  These strategies impact LGBT people who mostly live from informal work, as is the case of the trans population. In addition, the self-financing of trans and LGBTI foster homes is in danger.  “If the LGBTI population has to continue working or needs treatment for HIV / AIDS, how are they going to mobilize? Or if someone gets sick who guarantees that they will not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity? ” added Santiago Balvín, an independent trans rights activist.

On the other hand, Peruvian LGBTI organizations have shown concern about the actions of Congress and what that may mean for LGBTI rights in the country, since it is a time when the rights of said population could be limited.

In the Dominican Republic, the trans organization TRANSSA has expressed uncertainty because the State has not declared a national emergency, which puts the lives of many people in the country at risk, including LGBTI people. Likewise, they pointed out that the LGBTI population with informal or independent work will be the most affected if a curfew or a national quarantine is decreed, then highlighting the state of collective panic over the disinformation in the networks about COVID-19. They also have shown concern about access to health for the population with HIV / AIDS.

In Brazil, many of the same worries were expressed by civil society organizations who explain that the State has not taken any serious action to prevent the spread of the virus and has not recommended or imposed any type of quarantine.

Given racial inequality within the country, the Afro-descendant population can suffer more serious impacts in relation to COVID-19, since they live in situations of great precariousness and are the most dependent on the health system. Many of these populations live in favelas, removed from their homes, without access to water or health, or are sex workers. Some communities have been without clean water or basic sanitation for weeks. “Mental health is another serious concern as many struggle with anxiety or depression or have a higher tendency to develop anxiety or depression, and given all the information on social media, it could lead to an increase in episodes of mental health, not to mention the detrimental effects of isolation and confinement ”pointed out, among other things, Bruna Benavides, secretary of the political coordination of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals, ANTRA.

Some local organizations, such as ANTRA, have published recommendations for trans people who work in the informal labor market at the following link: https://antrabrasil.org/cartilhas/

In the case of Colombia, the exponential growth of the confirmed cases of people carrying COVID-19 is worrisome.[1] Although the National Government has enacted measures related to the closure of maritime and ground borders, and has promoted measures for education and work from homes to promote isolation, the lack of social and economic measures that take into account the conditions =of the most marginalized and vulnerable population is still troublesome.

In Cuba, uncertainty regarding the actions that the government may take continues.  To date, no state of emergency or quarantine has been declared. Citizens are concerned that the government is not taking drastic measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and that there is no focus on self-responsibility and self-care about preventive measures that citizens can take.

Recommendations to States

Race and Equality and our counterparts call on the States of the region, and in accordance with the curfew measures that have been declared in some areas of the region, request the surveillance and protection of the human rights of those who could be most affected by these events that could affect their lives and personal integrity.

Likewise, we urge states to include LGBTI populations in their national plans to combat COVID-19 taking into account the differential impact of the crisis and to continue informing the population about the progression of the virus, as well as the services available for this population’s particular needs.

We call on States to protect the economic income of the poorest households[2] and those unable to telework; measures that allow the flexibility of payments of bank and financial obligations; policies that guarantee adequate treatment and protection for people over 60 years of age, especially those belonging to the LGBTI[3] sectors, and measures that ensure access to sanitary conditions to prevent the spread of the virus, such as access to public toilets, especially for migrants, sex workers, the homeless, and imprisoned people[4].

Additionally, we call on States not to use the health crisis to implement legislation that limits or presents setbacks in the area of ​​human and LGBTI rights.

We call on the LGBTI population to follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and the WHO, remain calm, and apply preventive measures.

[1] As of March 19, 2020, at 12:00 noon, 93 cases of people carrying COVID-19 have been registered, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.

[2] LGBT people often face poverty, social exclusion, and lack of access to housing. LGBT people are often expelled from their families and schools, and in some cases they cannot even get jobs that pay the minimum wage. This situation could push them towards the informal economy or criminal activity.

[3] The lack of family support and social rejection accentuate the conditions of loneliness, isolation, poverty, and lack of access to housing and health services for LGBTI elders.

[4] “Inmates of La Picota protest against measures against the coronavirus (Covid-19)” https://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/bogota/internos-de-la-picota-protestan-por-medidas-contra-el-coronavirus-covid19/20200318/nota/4023683.aspx

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[5] See www.antrabrasil.org.

Cuban Institute for Radio and Televsion censors same-sex kiss

On February 29, the Cuban TV program Pensando en 3D (Thinking in 3D) showed the film Love, Simon, which tells the story of a gay teenager who falls in love with a classmate. Over the course of the film, Simon learns to accept his sexual orientation and comes out as gay to his friends and family. Despite the film’s core message of acceptance, Pensando en 3D censored the climactic scene in which Simon, played by Nick Robinson, shares a kiss with Bram (Josh Duhamel).

Across social media, the Cuban LGBTI community expressed shock and indignation at this censorship. Activsts called for a public protest in front of the Cuban Institute for Radio and Television (ICRT, in Spanish), located in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, on Sunday, March 1st. The “kiss-in” protest aimed to reject this stigmatization of LGBTI love, call for an apology from the Institute and demand another showing of the film without censorship.

Yadiel Cepero, an activist from Matanzas province, led the charge for the kiss-in and told Race and Equality that debate about the censorship and the LGBTI community’s demands took place across Cuban social media. As March 1st approached, several activists received threats of harm if they attended the protest. Despite these threats, and knowing that Cuban State Security would seek to break up the protest, LGBTI activists set out to assemble in front of the Institute.

Jancel Moreno, who planned to report on the kiss-in for Cuba’s independent media, was intercepted by two officers on the road to Havana. According to Moreno, “two men calling themselves Lieutenants Alejandro and David told me to come with them. They held me in a building off the road between Matanzas and Bacunayagua bridge for several hours to prevent me from reaching Havana.”

Also on Sunday, the activist and artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was also preparing to attend, posted on social media: “I am surrounded by political police trying to prevent me from going to the kiss-in outside ICRT, but I’ll see everyone there!” His partner, the activist Claudia Genlui Hidalgo, was struck by police officers as she tried to prevent them from detaining Luis Manuel.

The same day, the ICRT posted a statement on their website apologizing for the censorship:

“In response to this mistake, a review was conducted with the employees who edited the scene. The omission of the scene did not stem from any homophobic positions on the part of the ICRT or the leadership of Cuban Television, as some have implied on social media.”

TheICRT also decided to re-broadcast the film next Saturday, with the kiss scene included. Energy for the kiss-in dispersed after the apology, but some activists chose to persist, stating that the protest was about more than the particular scene.

As the protest grew closer, LGBTI activist and director of the independent outlet Tremenda Nota Maykel González Vivero received a threat from a social media user calling himself Elpidio Valdés. The message read, “let’s see if you can even make it out of your cheap house.”

González Vivero, another independent journalist, wrote on his Facebook page that the kiss-in had been cancelled due to the ICRT’s apology, but others stated that ICRT leadership should be pushed to disseminate the apology over the airwaves. Around twenty activists eventually assembled in Vedado, where State Security and police officers were already waiting. Local buildings had also been decoated with Cuban flags and posters with Revolutionary imagery.

Cuba’s LGBTI community remains outraged at the censorship, which is merely the latest incident of Cuban TV programming giving offense to LGBTI people and members of racial minorities. We call upon the Cuban state to respect its internatinoal commitments to cease discrimination against LGBTI people among public officials and to educate all Cubans about the human rights of LGBTI persons.

Race and Equality – on the occasion of its fifth anniversary – holds reception acknowledging Mexico’s ratification of the Inter-American Conventions against Racism and against Discrimination

Washington, D.C., February 19, 2020. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) recognized the United Mexican States for its ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance and the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, during a reception held this past February 13 at the Art Museum of the Americas (AMA). The event also marked Race and Equality’s fifth anniversary of working for human rights in the Americas and featured the presence of the diplomatic mission of Mexico to the Organization of American States (OAS).

The reception gathered together various ambassadors and representatives of OAS Member States with members of DC-based NGOs. It also featured the participation of Luz Elena Baños, the illustrious Ambassador of Mexico to the OAS, and Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, the President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

In her remarks, Ambassador Baños signaled the importance to the current government of Mexico of working alongside historically vulnerable communities and making use of the tools necessary to guarantee respect, integrity and dignity for all people regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation, among others. “In this context, through the OAS and, in particular, through the [established] rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) people, we reiterate our commitment to ensuring that all people may exercise their right to a life free from discrimination and violence.”

Ms. Mitzi Bowen and Mr. Carlos Quesada of Race and Equality signaled the importance of ratifying these two conventions to address the discrimination that the Afro-descendant and indigenous population face in Mexico. Similarly, they commended the leadership of the Mexican government in ratifying the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, as it allows for the Convention to enter into full force in the region, giving voice to many sectors of society that suffer from discrimination and intolerance because of their sex, sexual orientation, political opinions, migration status, birth or stigmatized health condition, etc.

Mexico is currently working towards eradicating any and all forms of discrimination. The ratification of both Conventions is another example of the many actions taken by the leadership in favor of ethnic groups and other vulnerable populations.

Mexico is the fifth country of the region to ratify the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, and the second to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance.

Race and Equality congratulates the United Mexican States once more and hopes to continue working alongside ethnic and LGBTI partners to contribute to the development of a more inclusive Mexico, free from discrimination.

Race and Equality celebrates the appointment of Trans people to public office in Colombia and condemns acts of discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation

On December 26, 2019, the mayor-elect of Manizales, a city in the Colombian department of Caldas, announced that the well-known trans activist Matilda Gonzalez would lead the city’s Office of Women’s and Gender Affairs. Gonzalez holds a law degree from the University of the Andes and a Master of Laws in international law from American University. She has worked for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)’s Rapporteurship on the Rights of LGBTI People, the LGBTI rights organization Colombia Diversa and the Office of Childhood and Adolescence in the Colombian Family Welfare Institute.  In addition, she has consulted for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) and for the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO).

In another groundbreaking appointment, the mayor-elect of Bogotá recently named Deysi Johana Olarte Navarro as the city’s Deputy Director of LGBTI Affairs. As a political scientist at the National University of Colombia, Deisy studied gender-based violence, national and international policies on transgender issues. She is also recognized for her extensive career as a grassroots activist, working with trans people in Kennedy, Ciudad Bolívar and Santa Fe, which are all among Bogotá’s most marginalized areas.

In Colombia, transgender people not only suffer daily acts of direct violence and discrimination but also face prejudices that limit their access to work, education, and health. In turn, they suffer criminalization, segregation, marginalization, and poverty. The appointments of these trans women represent breakthroughs for equity, diversity, and inclusion. As directors of important public bodies, Ms. Gonzalez and Ms. Olarte will have the power to formulate and implement public policies that seek to guarantee the rights of women and LGBTI people. Race and Equality celebrates and encourages the appointment of people with diverse gender identities to executive positions. Such appointments are an opportunity to transform society’s image of what is possible, put the human right to political participation into practice, and advance the rights of the entire LGBTI population in Colombia.

However, there is still much to do. Conservative groups in Manizales responded to Ms. Gonzalez appointment with a campaign that filed more than 2,500 petitions to the Mayor’s Office asking for her dismissal.[1] The groups claim that Matilda is not suitable for the role because she was not ‘born biologically as a woman,’ a discriminatory argument ignoring the reality that there are many different possibilities for gender identity. Women’s life experiences, including their experiences of gender, are all different, making it impossible to judge their gender based only on the sex assigned to them at birth. Several bodies, including the Colombian Constitutional Court,[2] have recognized that a person’s internal and individual experience of gender differs from biological sex and that an environment which prevents someone from expressing their gender identity violates their dignity and their right to freedom of expression.

Race and Equality rejects any form of discrimination that seeks to limit the rights of transgender people and urges national, regional, and local leaders to appoint people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities to public office, especially to the offices responsible for promoting and guaranteeing the rights of the LGBTI population.

[1] Conservative groups request the resignation of the Women’s Secretary of Manizales: https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/grupos-conservadores-piden-renuncia-de-matilda-gonzalez-en-manizales-452142

[2] See Colombian Constitutional Court decisions T-143 (2018), T-804 (2014), T-363 (2016), T-476 (2014) and T-562 (2013), among others.

Five years working towards inclusion, equality, and diversity in Latin America”

Five years after the founding of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), it is valuable to take a step back and revisit our beginnings, the work we have done and how it has changed, the achievements we have made and the challenges that still face us.

In November 2014, an opportunity arose to create a new organization dedicated to fighting racial discrimination and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Two months later, in January 2015, Race and Equality was born. To this day, we are the only organization in the region addressing these two issues and bringing a lens of Afro-LGBTQ intersectionality before the Inter-American and universal human rights systems.

Five years ago, we began working in Washington, D.C. with eight counterpart organizations in Cuba, Colombia, Brazil and Peru. Today, our team includes twenty-five people in Washington, Bogota and Geneva, collaborating with over fifty partners in eight countries through organizational partnerships and contractual agreements. Today, we work not only on issues of discrimination, but have expanded to address violations of civil and political rights, especially in Cuba and Nicaragua, and to assist with the integration of racial and ethnic data into national census processes, as we have done in Panama, Peru and Mexico.

Race and Equality’s methodology emphasizes building the capacity of our partners so that they can utilize both the Inter-American and universal human rights systems. We have helped our partners become familiar with regional and international human rights protection mechanisms and learn to utilize them. In this model, we work behind the scenes to support our partners, who are the protagonists and the drivers of change.

In the Inter-American system, we have supported local organizations so that they can take part in thematic hearings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), document and denounce human rights violations and raise awareness about the issues facing the Afro-LGBT population. We work closely with the IACHR’s Rapporteurship on Persons of African Descent. We have secured precautionary measures from the IACHR for partners in Cuba, Colombia and Nicaragua and provisional measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for partners in Nicaragua.

In the universal system, we have facilitated the participation of activists from the entire region in United Nations mechanisms where they can advocate first-hand for their rights and the rights of their communities. Our partners have engaged with High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, the Universal Period Review (UPR) process and country reviews by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

We have responded to the severe human rights crisis that has gripped Nicaragua since April 2018 by providing technical support for the documentation of human rights violations, shining a spotlight on the situation of political prisoners and organizing meetings between local activists and international human rights actors. In Cuba, we continue to highlight the constant rights violations that our partners suffer solely because of their beliefs and to push for the Cuban government to honor its international obligations. In Colombia, we are working to monitor the implementation of the Ethnic Chapter of the Peace Accords and the situation of the Afro-LGBTQ community, in light of the persistence of violence and the crisis of killings of social leaders.

One of our proudest achievements during these last five years was the ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance by Costa Rica and Uruguay. These two ratifications allowed the Convention to come into effect.

We continue to grow as an organization, although unfortunately we do so for all the wrong reasons: the situation for human rights across Latin America is concerning. Over the last five years, racial discrimination has worsened in across the region. Leaders are legitimizing racist, homophobic and transphobic discourse, putting under threat the rights that marginalized people won in the previous 10-15 years. Backsliding on civil and political rights is evident in recent events in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil and Chile, to mention only a few. Despite these many challenges, we are confident that Race and Equality is well-positioned to offer technical assistance to our partners and continue making the human rights situation in the region visible on the international stage.

I want to thank everyone who has trusted us and trusted in our abilities: our partners and especially our donors, whose support allows us to confront human rights violations effectively and efficiently.

Carlos Quesada
Executive Director
International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights

Race and Equality coordinates academic visit of UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Victor Madrigal.

The UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Mr. Victor Madrigal, will make an academic visit to Brazil, which will be coordinated by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights. (Race and Equality), January 20-25, to disclose the scope of the mandate to LGBTI civil society organizations.

As part of this visit, the Independent Expert will partake in two panel discussions on the problems and difficulties of this population in relation to the international standards of human rights. These two events will include a dialogue between LGBTI leaders and the Independent Expert, who will talk about the working tools and mechanisms available to them, as well as how these tools interact with the exercise and guarantees of the fundamental rights of civil society.

Race and Equality organized these events through collaboration with LGBTI civil society organizations. 

January 22, 2020
Dialogue: “Afro-LGBTI Resistance – Intersectional Perspectives for the Human Rights Struggle”
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January 22, 2020
Dialogue: Visibility in times of hate: Challenges for trans inclusion in the multilateral human rights agenda
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91 political prisoners are released in Nicaragua, but harassment continues

Washington DC, January 9, 2020. On December 30th, the Nicaraguan government released 91 political prisoners who had been detained in prisons across the country for anywhere from two to eighteen months. Among the released were sixteen activists arrested for bringing water to a group of prisoners’ mothers who were staging a hunger strike to demand the release of their children.

The move was announced as pressure grows in Nicaragua and internationally for the liberation of political prisoners. The government allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office of the Nicaraguan Human Rights Ombudsman and the Apostolic Nuncio of Nicaragua, Waldemar Sommertag, to take part in the process.

Political prisoners were transferred to their homes and placed under house arrest, according to the Nicaraguan authorities. As a result, they still have judicial proceedings pending against them and restrictions on their movement.

The 16 activists known as the “water carriers” denounced on Wednesday that their judicial process was “completely irregular and marked by a series of restrictions which make it very clear that we continue to be treated as guilty, although we have not been judged.” Their trial is scheduled for January 30.

According to data from the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, by its Spanish acronym), among the 91 released, there are 41 who have already been convicted, 39 who are still being prosecuted and 4 who were detained but never had charges brought against them.

Repression continues

Several former political prisoners have also reported that since their release, they have been threatened and harassed by groups linked to the government and police.

The young Belgian-Nicaraguan Amaya Coppens and her family have suffered several aggressions. On January 1st and 2nd, a group of men aboard motorcycles threw black oil on the walls of their house in Estelí and threw stones at their windows. Police have also lurked near the house constantly since her release.

“The attacks continue on a daily basis. It is difficult knowing that my family is still victimized, but we are trying to stay protected as best we can,” Coppens said on Wednesday.

CENIDH requested that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) examine the possibility of irreparable damage to the family’s rights to life and physical integrity. CENIDH also called for the Commission to urge the State of Nicaragua to cease the “aggressions and harassment by officials and para-police groups” against the family.

Last December, the IACHR granted precautionary measures to Amaya and the other 15 young people detained for bringing water to the protesting mothers, finding that their life and physical integrity were at risk in the custody of the Judicial Directorate in Managua.

Other former prisoners, including Roberto Buchting, have reported constant harassment, including the continuous surveillance of their homes by para-police groups, threats over social media and even invasions of their homes with the intent to intimidate them.

Still in prison

After an extensive review of the lists of released persons, CENIDH confirmed that 65 political prisoners are still to be released.

“Our commitment to the liberation of all people and all of Nicaragua is firmer than ever. Despite the fact that a group of 91 people was released on December 30th, there are still more than 65 political prisoners, including Katherine Martínez and the trans activist Mayela Cruz,” said the group.

Race and Equality demands the immediate release of all political prisoners in Nicaragua, the closure of legal proceedings against them and the cancellation of their criminal records. We call on the authorities to cease repression, harassment and persecution against those who were arbitrarily imprisoned. It is essential that their return home is free from any threat or attack against them or their families.

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