Attacks against independent journalists escalate alarmingly in Nicaragua and international community reacts

Attacks against independent journalists escalate alarmingly in Nicaragua and international community reacts

(Picture: Oscar Navarrete, La Prensa).

Washington, D.C., December 6th, 2018. Attacks against journalists, editors, and media owners perpetrated by authorities and supporters of the government party FSLN have increased in the last two months in Nicaragua, according to testimonies of reporters and organizations.

The Violeta B. de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH, for its initials in Spanish), counted a total of 77 violations of freedom of expression in Nicaragua between October 20th and December 3rd. Between April 18th, the day the current human rights crisis began, and December 3rd, there have been a total of 497 cases of assaults, harassments, arbitrary arrests, espionage and non-routine inspections.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its initials in Spanish) denounced last week that police forces “are no longer content to obstruct the work of journalists,” but “they are now directly taking violent actions against journalists they consider too critical of the government.”

Nicaragua is going through a human rights crisis caused by the government-led repression of peaceful demonstrations across the country. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), this repression has left as of now at least 325 dead and more than 2,000 people injured. Additionally, hundreds of persons are political prisoners and more than 50,000 citizens have fled to Costa Rica.

Recent aggressions

The last attack on the media was reported on December 3rd, when police officers forcefully entered the headquarters of Radio Darío in the city of León. According to the staff members who were inside the building, a group of policeman forced them to stop the radio broadcasting and handcuffed them under threat of imprisonment.

“It was all a police operation, a huge outpouring of force and vehicles. They surrounded the block where we are located for three hours,” Aníbal Toruño, director of Radio Darío, told the journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro on the television program Esta Noche.

Toruño blamed the First Police Commissioner of Leon, Fidel Domínguez, for ordering the arbitrary procedure and stated that authorities are “trying to destroy the emotional and psychological stability of workers to disintegrate the staff of Radio Darío.”

Radio Darío has been besieged by the authorities and supporters of the FSLN since the beginning of the crisis. On April 20th, the radio installations were burned completely by two well-known cadres of the ruling party. After that, three of the radio collaborators, Leo Cárcamo, Henry Blanco and Audberto Gallo, as well as Toruño, were granted precautionary measures (No. 693-18) by the IACHR.

Toruño assured that the radio will continue transmitting its regular programming now from other facilities, “assuming [we have] the constitutional right to free expression.”

Also on December 3rd, in the morning, government media reported that supporters of the ruling party made a formal accusation before the  Office of the Public Prosecutor against Miguel Mora, director and owner of Channel 100% Noticias for “inciting hatred and violence” through the news programming that his channel transmits. They also accused him, despite a lack of evidence, for the disappearance and alleged murder of Bismarck Martínez, a citizen who supposedly died during the month of June.

Mora, who has been harassed and detained six times by police agents, denied the accusations and assured that authorities are trying to use a “legal” device to imprison him and silence the reports of human rights violations committed by the government that are transmitted on his channel every day.

“This is being done to censor and silence the independent media of this country… this is part of the dirty smear campaign that has the sole purpose of censoring 100% Noticias and me as its director,” Mora denounced, according to La Prensa newspaper.

On several occasions during the last eight months, Channel 100% Noticias has been censored by the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (Telcor, for its initials in Spanish). A week ago, Telcor ordered two cable companies to remove the channel from its programming grid in satellite signal.

A week before, on November 30th, Radio Mi Voz from León announced that it would temporarily close operations because of multiple police invasions of the radio station. Its director, Álvaro Montalván, who was arrested and beaten by policeman in the same context, said that the security of the radio’s staff made him make that decision.

Nowadays, the situation is so serious that RSF noted that several journalists have had to leave the country due to constant death threats and persecution, and warned about the possibility that more journalists should follow the same path.

Back in April, the journalist from Bluefields, Ángel Eduardo Gahona, was shot and killed while broadcasting on Facebook Live about an anti-government demonstration. Although Brandon Lovo, 18, and Glen Slate, 21, were found guilty of the crime, both their relatives and Gahona’s family point out that the real murderer remains unpunished.

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) strongly condemns the violations of freedom of the press and freedom of expression that the government of Nicaragua has committed against independent media, media directors, and journalists who expose the complaints of Nicaraguans victims of State repression through their news programs and articles.

Intimidations, persecutions, unjustified temporary detentions, and invasion of media buildings without a judicial order expose the will of the Ortega Murillo regime to break and violate the legitimate liberties and rights that the country’s constitution grants to men and women of the press. We demand that the Nicaraguan authorities completely cease repression against independent press.

LGBTI defenders face great challenges in Latin America

Washington, D.C. December 5th, 2018. During the last decade, the recognition of human rights for the LGBTI community and their legal protections have been strengthened in Latin America. Nevertheless, the LGBTI population still faces serious patterns of discrimination and violence that have been fueled by hate speech expressed by religious groups or circumstantial political issues, according to experts working in the region who held a conversation last week in Washington DC.

During the panel “Defending LGBTIQ Rights in Latin America: Obstacles and Advancements in Law and Culture,” organized by the Inter-American Dialogue, the speakers also focused on problems that further limit access to LGBTI rights, such as racial discrimination and poverty.

Fanny Gómez, Senior Director of Policy & Advocacy at Synergía; Carlos Quesada, Executive Director and Founder of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality); Iván Chanis Barahona, President of Iguales Foundation in Panama; and Abraham Banegas Molina, Technical Officer of Cozumel Trans in Honduras, spoke on Tuesday with Michael Camilleri, Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue to share their opinions and experiences on the topic.

Continued violence and discrimination

The continued violence towards the LGBTI population was a central topic in the conversation held by regional experts, in which different perspectives were highlighted.

According to Gómez from Synergía, in the last 5 or 7 years, there has been progress in terms of protecting people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, ranging from an increase of official statements supporting the LGBTI community to the approval of gender identity laws or same-sex marriage. “But this has not meant that the violence has decreased,” she added.

Carlos Quesada also emphasized that the advances in LGBTI human rights in the region impact the Afro-descendant population differently. Consequently, they are more vulnerable to violence.

“In the specific case of Brazil, every 30 hours a person dies because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and 90% of those people are Afro-descendants,” the director of Race and Equality stated.

Regarding the trans community, Quesada said, violence towards their bodies has become “a disease in the region.”

“On one hand, there are countries like Colombia that have formally created institutions to defend and investigate hate crimes, but they don’t have sensitized staff that can do their job effectively,” Quesada said, noting that situations like these lead to continued violence and impunity.

Abraham Banegas from Honduras agreed that the trans men and women in his country are the “most affected” by violence directed at the LGBTI community.

Hate speech

Banegas also stressed that the “main adversary” to LGBTI rights in Honduras is religious fundamentalism.

“They attack our comrades in the name of God,” the activist said. He regretted that some religious congregations with thousands of followers promote hate messages to their parishioners, politicians, and decision makers.

For Fanny Gómez, the recent growth and strengthening of those “hate messages” promoted by conservative groups also puts the lives of human rights defenders at risk.

“Every time there is a homophobic, transphobic, or lesbophobic message coming from a leader, that means that a person of our community will die after,” lamented Banegas.

Advances in legislation

Regarding legislative advances in the Americas, experts mentioned some resolutions on sexual orientation adopted by the Organization of American States (OAS), or the Advisory Opinion Number 24 issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in November 2017. The latter recognizes that States have the duty and obligation to recognize people’s gender identity and to recognize marriages and families of same-sex couples.

However, Carlos Quesada said that civil society organizations still lack the technical training necessary to be able to use the Inter-American System and the Universal System properly.

“As a challenge, we have to train ourselves on how to use the national legislation but also on how to use the Inter-American System and the Universal System for the defense of the LGBTI population.”

Obstacles in legislation

Ivan Chanis Barahona, from the Iguales Foundation, explained that in Panama “there is no law or any public policy that recognizes gay, lesbian, trans, bisexual or intersex people,” and that the only law against discrimination does not include LGBTI persons.

Recently, according to Chanis, the refusal of the Panamanian authorities to register three same-sex marriages carried out in foreign countries started a national discussion on that issue. The topic has even been debated by the presidential candidates for the 2019 elections. “Panama is a country that has always respected human rights and the Inter-American System, but after this topic came to light, people started to dislike the Inter-American Court of Human Rights because of the Advisory Opinion on LGBTI rights.”

“The States in Latin America and especially in the Caribbean have failed in the modern world to protect their democracies by maintaining policies that are totally discriminatory towards LGBTI population,” Chanis emphasized.

Regarding the specific case of Honduras, Banegas said that in the new Criminal Code, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was penalized more lightly, and a Honduran law prohibits same-sex marriage.  Besides, a recent reform to the Code for Children established that same-sex couples cannot adopt children.

“In Honduras, legislation is being adjusted to block LGBTI rights,” the activist complained.

However, he said that they are currently working on an “Equality and Equity Law,” a legal instrument that could provide more protection for the rights of the LGBTI population in Honduras if it is approved by Congress.

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LGBTIQ community is more vulnerable after the start of the crisis in Nicaragua, according to activists

Washington, DC. November 30th, 2018. The LGBTIQ community has been traditionally discriminated against, however, since the human rights crisis started in Nicaragua last April, the violations of their human rights have worsened. According to activists who spoke with the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), this community has suffered from discrimination and harassment in a more targeted and systematic way in recent months.

“Being gay or lesbian in Nicaragua, especially in this context where violence is more socially justified, puts us in a more vulnerable condition,” says Alex, a 25-year-old gay man who lives in a small city in northern Nicaragua. According to the young activist, they’re vulnerable “not only because we don’t agree with a totalitarian political system, but because we are considered sexual deviants.”

Alex adds that “in the street, they will not only attack you because you’re ‘Blue and White’ but they will also call you a ‘Blue and White’ faggot or a ‘Blue and White’ lesbo”.

He is one of thousands of citizens who joined the peaceful protests that at first demanded the annulment of reforms to the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute. The movement took the streets demanding justice and respect for human rights after the brutal governmental repression that has left as of now at least 325 dead, more than 2,000 people injured, and hundreds of persons who are political prisoners. People call them “Blue and White” because they use the Nicaraguan flag as a symbol of protest.

“Since I started participating in demonstrations, I’ve been being persecuted and attacked,” Alex shares, adding that groups of government-aligned men continually pass by his house on motorcycles and shouting phrases like “coup-plotter” or “faggot, we’re going to kill you.” “They put a lot of emphasis on my identity and my sexual and life choices”.

Francisca, a lesbian woman who prefers to omit her real name, explains that before the crisis, the LGBTIQ community had made significant progress regarding respect and equality. “But in these times of crisis, many things in which we had advanced, have receded,” she remarks.

Just like Alex, Francisca participated in the civic demonstrations. Soon after, she began to receive threats and was victim of an intense intimidation campaign through social networks.

“They threatened me directly, they told me things like ‘this is the dyke,’ or ‘look, we know where you live, get ready,’ or ‘we’re going to show you what a man is, maybe that’s how you will get well.’ They even sent lists on WhatsApp and Facebook saying I was pro-abortion and a crazy feminist.”

This situation, plus a telephone call in which she was warned that her capture was imminent, forced Francisca to flee her home. “I’ve been away from my house for almost five months, missing my family, missing everything I left there. I had to leave only with a backpack,” she stated.

Francisca now lives in a different city with her girlfriend. But the fear of being imprisoned is constant. Alex’s situation is similar. According to the activist, those who decided to stay in Nicaragua must live “practically in hiding.”

“I’ve been away from my house for almost five months, missing my family, missing everything I left there. I had to leave only with a backpack”. A 33-year-old lesbian woman.

On October 13th, the Nicaraguan Police prohibited any type of mobilization that was not authorized by that institution. One day later, a group of 38 citizens and activists were arrested by police officers for carrying out a sit-in without having requested such permits.

“We are in greater danger since there are no longer mobilizations. The State and its repressive machine have a greater ability to find you, look for you, and do anything with your life. Repression, arrests, and extrajudicial executions, including those for LGBT defenders, are more focused now,” explains Alex.

More aggressions

Transgender women have also suffered different types of aggression. “There are cases of transgender women who have been kidnapped by the police or paramilitary forces, who have been savagely assaulted, beaten, and left lying in the streets”. The aggressors threaten that the attacks are a demonstration of what will continue to happen to the ‘Blue and White’ people, says Dámaso Vargas, a 25-year-old transgender woman and activist from Managua.

One of the forms of protest that Dámaso exercised was abandoning the public education system. She was a senior high school student this year. “I disagree with everything that’s happening and for me, leaving school is also a way of saying that I will not continue to validate a State that is not really doing the work it should be doing,” she affirms.

Additionally, there are four trans women who are currently imprisoned in the men’s penitentiary system of La Modelo for having participated in the civic demonstrations, according to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, for its initials in Spanish).

A case that has been broadly reported by national media is that of Victoria Obando, a 27-year-old trans woman and former student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua), who barricaded herself in her university as a way of protest. She was arrested in late August and the authorities now accuse her of several crimes, including terrorism, murder, fire, kidnapping, armed robbery, and carrying out death threats.

“Victoria says they strip her in front of the rest of the inmates, policemen boo her and tell her things like ‘people who stay here are virile man, machos,’ knowing that we don’t want to feel that way and we don’t feel that way,” explains Dámaso, who says she feels powerless and sad in the face of such a situation.

Sexual violations have also become a form of repression. CENIDH has registered 12 cases of men and women who were victims of sexual violence during illegal detentions or kidnappings committed by parapolice men and police officers.

“Those are very terrible testimonies that currently can’t be brought to justice in this context precisely because there are no institutions that can investigate the authorities,” explains Wendy Flores, a lawyer at CENIDH, during the conversation “Women resisting repression” which was organized by DeHumo last week.

In the same conversation, Tania Sánchez denounced that a man tried to abuse her sister, Kisha López, a trans woman imprisoned in La Modelo. “Kisha defended herself and hit him with a broom in the ribs, because she says that regardless of what she is, they have to respect her,” Sanchez said.

Indigenous people

For indigenous communities, belonging to the LGBTIQ population results in a double factor of vulnerability, according to a gay Miskitu man who prefers to identify himself as Arturo.

Since 2013, 23 people from the LGBTIQ community have been murdered in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.

“Many people of different sexual orientation who are in the universities have been persecuted, have been watched over, because they (government-aligned people) fear that this issue that is happening in the western part of the country can start here also among young people,” says Arturo, a 35-year-old attorney.

According to the activist and lawyer, in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua “the crisis is not only 7 months long.” He says that the situation of persecution “has remained throughout time due to the same exclusion and discrimination that the State powers have imposed on the indigenous communities.” And he provided the example that since 2013, 23 people from the LGBTIQ community have been murdered. “Persecution of this community is in the background of the crisis,” he reveals.

Arturo himself affirms he has been attacked and threatened on social networks, both for his sexual orientation and for “being a defender of human rights, specifically for promoting the collective rights of indigenous people.”

Their work will continue

Although human rights violations in the current context of crisis in Nicaragua are not exclusive to the LGBTIQ community, the activists who spoke with Race and Equality insisted on the need to make visible their problems and challenges.

As Alex mentioned, “the actions that we take every day, the meetings, the mobilization strategies, the contents spread on social media, the demands of our political prisoners, mainly those who belong to the LGBTIQ community, that is our motivation.”

Human rights defender was stripped of her Nicaraguan nationality and expelled arbitrarily by the authorities

Washington, D.C., November 27th 2018. Ana Quirós Víquez, Director of the Center for Health Information and Advisory Services (CISAS), a Nicaraguan citizen with dual nationality, was illegally expelled from Nicaragua on Monday, November 26th, after immigration authorities annulled the Nicaraguan nationality she had acquired 21 years ago.

The decision of the authorities is clearly arbitrary. Quirós, who was attending an appointment at the General Directorate of Migration and Foreign Affairs (DGME, for its initials in Spanish), was informed by a migration officer that a legal resolution annulling her Nicaraguan nationality had been issued. In addition, the authorities told her she was forbidden from returning to Nicaragua for the next five years. She was not allowed to exercise her right to defense or to appeal the decision, even though these rights are guaranteed under Nicaraguan law.

During an interview given by Quirós to the journalist Carlos Salinas from Confidencial, the activist stated that the authorities told her that the reason for the annulment of her nationality was because she had two nationalities (from Nicaragua and Costa Rica), and only citizens from Central American countries can have both Nicaraguan and Costa Rican nationality. When she asked the authorities if Costa Rica was not a Central American country, the officers remained silent.

Quirós, who is also part of the National Feminist Articulation and a member of the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB, for its initials in Spanish), was born in Costa Rica but has been living in Nicaragua for more than 40 years and was nationalized as a Nicaraguan citizen in 1997.

The activist, a 62-year-old woman, went to the DGME at 10 a.m. last Monday, to respond to a citation that she received two days before. Although the document did not explain what the reason for the citation was, she was warned that if she didn’t show up she would face legal consequences.

“The appointment in Migration was almost nothing. They told me that my nationality was canceled. I asked what the next step was and what my status was. They did not answer me. It was not until later in the afternoon that they read me the resolution to expel me from the country,” Quirós told reporters a day later from the capital city of Costa Rica.

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A group of feminists, human rights defenders, and journalists remained for hours outside of the DGME after Quirós entered the building, but the authorities refused to give them any information about Ms. Quirós. The activist, however, had been transferred by noon to the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, better known as El Chipote.

“They put me in a temporary holding cell that is actually just a seat with bars,” said Quirós, who was fingerprinted and photographed during the detention. “They didn’t interrogate me, I wasn’t physically abused. But I did receive multiple verbal assaults, threats and constant intimidation,” she told journalists a day after she was expelled from Nicaragua.

At 6 pm on Monday, the General Consul of Costa Rica in Nicaragua, Oscar Camacho, stated on social media that the Costa Rican authorities had been informed that the Nicaraguan authorities were going to expel Quirós from Nicaragua

“They took me handcuffed in a bus, surrounded by armed police and accompanied by people from Migration in other vehicles to the southern border at Peñas Blancas. They insisted on not removing my handcuffs until we arrived, even once I got down from the bus I was still handcuffed. They took my shirt and my Nicaraguan hat. The entire way they were harassing me and verbally attacking me,” Quirós denounced.

Directed persecution

Vilma Núñez, President of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, for its initials in Spanish), said that the actions against Quirós are part of “a directed persecution against all the people who support the claims of the people of Nicaraguan”.

Quirós has been one of the most active voices in the defense of human rights of Nicaraguans who demand democracy, justice and freedom in the context of the current human rights crisis that the country is going through.

In fact, the defender was one of the first victims of the repression that broke out in April. On the 18th of that month, during the first protest that took place in Managua, a mob of Government’s supporters hit her with a tube in her head, arms and the rest of her body. The picture in which she appeared covered in blood was distributed quickly through social media.

In the months that followed, Quirós said she was victim of “multiple threats in a systematic manner,” stating that “they came to visit our neighbors to ask where I was, and whenever I went to the airport they retained me in the migration offices, interrogating me,” she said from San José.

For the moment, the activist assured that she will continue to denounce from Costa Rica the human rights violations that occur in Nicaragua. In addition, she raised the possibility of suing the Nicaraguan State for its arbitrary expulsion from the country.

More women intimidated

On Monday, three Nicaraguan-based activists working with the Collective of Women from Matagalpa were also summoned by the DGME: the Swiss citizen Beatriz Huber and the Spanish sisters Ana and María Jesús Ara. The three of them were asked to sign a document in which they pledged to not participate in any more political activities if they wanted to remain in the country, according to the feminist defenders who accompanied them.

Juanita Jiménez, of the Autonomous Women’s Movement (MAM) of Nicaragua, warned that the process against Quirós and the three other activists from Matagalpa is framed “in that discourse of visceral hatred and disqualification that the Government is carrying out against the Nicaraguan feminism movement.”

Jiménez recalled that the last week, authorities denied authorization to feminist groups and citizens from the UNAB to march on November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights strongly rejects Nicaragua’s expulsion of the human rights defender Ana Quirós. This is another act of repression that comes from the Nicaraguan dictatorship that has plagued the country for more than seven months and that has been systematically demonstrated through assassinations, violations of the freedom of expression and social protest, intimidation of the media and independent journalists, excessive use of force by parapolice groups and police officers, irregular judicial processes and an atmosphere of collective fear that makes the freedom of the Nicaraguan people impossible. We ask the international community to continue to denounce the situation in Nicaragua and to keep paying attention to the serious humanitarian crisis that the country is going through.

Public Announcement: Ongoing Crisis in Nicaragua

Washington, DC, November 23, 2018 – The International Institute of Race, Equality, and Human Rights strongly condemns and rejects the resolution issued today, November 23, 2018, by the Nicaraguan Police regarding the march convened to commemorate the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women by the Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco [White and Blue National Unity] (UNAB), which had been announced was to be held on Sunday, November 25 in the city of Managua in protest over the violation of Nicaraguans’ fundamental rights for the last seven months by the Ortega-Murillo regime.

In the resolution, communicated by the Chief of the Directorate of Public Security of the National Police of Nicaragua, General Commissioner Luis Fernando Barrantes refuses to authorize it, while the National Police, in a clear abuse of power, classifies said initiative as a “vandalistic act” and “terrorist” with “coup aims” that envisages “affecting Nicaraguan families and the tranquility of the country.”  In addition, it states in a threatening tone “. . . that the National Police does not authorize nor will authorize public mobilizations by persons, organizations, or movements that participated in and are being investigated for their actions in the failed attempt at a  . . .”

As an institution that works in favor of the respect, guarantee, and protection of human rights, we repudiate said police communiqué, as it does not acknowledge, decontextualizes, and once again violates the right of Nicaraguans to protest peacefully to denounce the innumerable acts of harassment and repression committed by Nicaraguan authorities since April, in an attempt to foster a false sense of normalcy in the country when acts of harassment and intimidation in all public spaces continue being committed by the police, clearly endangering any possibility for regaining Nicaraguans’ tranquility, for whom this repression has given no respite.

Likewise, we denounce the indifference of the Nicaraguan State, which refuses to accept the existence of the victims of this humanitarian crisis from among the self-convened population, who today comprise more than 500 protestors, students, and activists who have been detained under conditions that endanger their lives, [physical] integrity, and due process, as well as the approximately 325 assassinations that continue to be shrouded in impunity and the acts of intimidation that are daily visited upon women, those who have been tried for the April incidents, journalists, human rights defenders, LGBTQI persons, and the community in general.

Race & Equality also vehemently condemns the acts of intimidation, assault, and harassment committed by the National Police in recent hours in different places in the city of Managua and other departments, which demonstrates that nothing is normal in Nicaragua.  The arbitrary nature with which the police continue to act provokes an environment of fear and insecurity among the populace.  We therefore demand the prompt release of the two Radio Darío collaborators, Omar López and Eduardo Patricio Amaya, who were kidnapped this morning.  Amaya was granted protective measures by the IACHR, MC 693-18.  We hold the State of Nicaragua responsible for any situation that violates [the] lives, [physical] integrity, and human rights of both Radio Darío employees.

We urgently call on the international community to take a stance in response to these acts that gravely violate the fundamental rights of the Nicaraguan people, who continue defenseless due to the dictatorial excesses committed by the current government.  Likewise, we call on the international community to raise its voice against the abuses that are ongoing against Nicaraguans by a regime that continues to be reluctant to uphold its international human rights commitments. 

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.

Nicaraguan human rights defenders will talk in Geneva about the evolution of the crisis in their country

Seven months after the current human rights crisis started in Nicaragua as a result of the government’s repression of peaceful protests, a group of human right defenders will hold a public conversation in Geneva on November 28th with the aim of making visible the consequences and permanence of the crisis. The crisis continues now with the prohibition of civic demonstrations and the prosecution of hundreds of protestants, students and activists who have been arrested for participating in protests and are being subjected to trials in which the guarantees of due process are disregarded.

In the conversation, organized by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), the human rights defenders will describe their own experiences during the crisis and the risks they face in their daily work.

Special emphasis will be placed on the situation of injustice and defenselessness faced by populations that traditionally experience discrimination, such as women, indigenous persons, Afro-descendants and the LGBTI community. These groups have been repressed for defending democracy and demanding justice and respect for human rights.

The human right defenders will also refer to the situation faced by hundreds of political prisoners, who have reported torture and ill treatment in prisons and detention centers. According to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, for its initials in Spanish), of the 602 citizens imprisoned as of November 14th for participating in the protests, 563 are men and 50 women, of which 4 are transgender women.

The image of “normality” that the Nicaraguan government intends to establish both nationally and internationally contrasts diametrically with the vision that human rights defenders will provide that day, which is that in Nicaragua “nothing is normal”, since the violations of human rights committed by the Nicaraguan authorities are systematic and remain unpunished.

Nicaragua will be evaluated by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2019. This review will offer human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and the international community an important opportunity to peacefully influence the crisis that today overwhelms the Nicaraguan people.

Race and Equality Congratulates Caribe Afirmativo for the Release of its Report, “Enterezas”

Washington, D.C. October 24, 2018. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) congratulates Caribe Afirmativo, a civil society organization in Colombia, for the release of its report, “Enterezas” (“Strengths”). The report is the result of intensive field work to highlight the voices of lesbian, bisexual, and trans women of the Caribbean region of Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras and proposes strategies to improve the response to violence committed against these women.

The report was presented during a conference in Barranquilla, held from October 22-24, where lesbian, bisexual, and trans women from the eight departments of the Caribbean region of Colombia participated. The women, who represented various local civil society organizations, had the opportunity to share experiences and network. They also heard from various representatives of Colombian and international organizations that work to improve the rights of LGBTI persons, including Race and Equality, PROMSEX from Peru, and Aireana from Paraguay. A representative from the Rapporteurship on the Rights of LGBTI Persons from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also participated in the conference, as well as the Mexican activist Amaranta Gomez.

Violence against lesbian and bisexual women is not well understood or documented, and therefore, the violence against these women as well as trans women all too frequently remains in impunity. Caribe Afirmativo’s report is a significant step to help these women access justice and make public all types of violence they suffer.

Race and Equality emphatically denounces violence motivated by prejudice against lesbian, bisexual, and trans women and reiterates our commitment to support them in efforts aimed toward the promotion and recognition of their rights.

More information about the report here:  http://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/2018/10/22/mujeres-lbt-del-caribe-se-reunen-encuentro-regional-enterezas/ 

 

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights together with Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA), and the Observatory on Human Rights of Trans Persons request the immediate and effective investigation of the trans-femicide of Marisa Félix Sánchez

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), express its concern about the severe acts denounce by the civil society organizations Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA) and the Observatory on Human Rights of Trans Persons ( in Spanish ODHPT) related to the trans-femicide of Maris Félix Sánchez who was known as “Haitianita”.  Marisa (registered as Richard Félix Sanchez), was a trans woman, afro-descendant, Haitian, sex workers of 30 years old.

According to complaints made by local organizations the acts took place on the early morning of October 15, 2018 in the municipality of Verón, Punta Cana where Marisa worked as sexual worker since 2015 at the Barceló Avenue of Verón. The public information available suggest that the body of Marisa was found on the same area. Sex workers, coworkers of the victim, assured that they saw Marisa leave with a client wearing a red t-shirt in a motorcycle, they also saw the same person arriving with her dead body. On images that are circulating through social media, it is possible to see Marisa’s bloody body, with a deep wound on the cranial area, with evident signs of violence. 

Similarly, according to public information available, the local police went to the area and found a condom, which allows arguing that the acts could have been preceded by sexual violence.

Race and Equality, together with TRANSSA and, the Observatory on Human Rights of Trans Persons consider that the killing of Marisa is related to a deep-rooted context of crimes motivated by prejudice; specifically, a trans-femicide motivated to the female gender identity of the victim. Likewise, we notice with concern that this act is part of a severe context of physical and sexual violence, and killings of trans women that have been denounced systematically by local organizations like TRANSSA and the Observatory on Human Rights of Trans Persons.

Race and Equality call the attention to the local authorities to initiate an effective investigation of the acts immediately, taking into consideration the context of physical and sexual violence, that maid leads to the conclusion that it was a trans-femicide. All of these, in spite of the legal limitations on the Dominican frameworks that do not include the crime of trans-femicide, nor the gender identity of trans women as a relevant element of analysis during the criminal procedure. 

Because the aforementioned legal limitations, and to avoid impunity, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, call the attention to the local authorities to take into consideration the differential factors that are involved in the case, as the gender identity, race, vulnerability as sexual worker, and the nationality of the victim. We consider it is fundamental to analyze the best application of the articles related with homicide in the Dominican context. Similarly, we call the local authorities to have in mind that the facts could have been related to sexual violence either because of rape or sexual aggression, this is an independent aggression that must be thoroughly investigated.

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights on a joint statement with TRANSSA and, the Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de Personas Trans, extend a call to the Office of the Attorney General, the General Attorney Jean Alain Rodríguez, the Unit of Integral Attention of Gender Violence, Intrafamily and Sexual Crimes of Verón, Punta Cana, and to its public prosecutor, to investigate the acts, taking into consideration the multiple differential elements of the case. Likewise, we extend a call to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and its Rapporteurship of the rights of LGBTI persons, Women, and Afro-descendant persons; and the United Nations offices on the Dominican Republic and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to monitor the situation and follow-up the case closely. 

Finally, we request to have all the criminal procedures exhausted to avoid the impunity of the dead of Marisa, because it is necessary that the Dominican government send a clear message of zero tolerance to the violence against trans women as part of the National Plan against Gender Violence, which was launched on November 8, 2017.

We invite you to follow the hashtag of zero tolerance to theviolence against trans women: #NIUNAMENOSRD

Cuban Officials Disrupt Launch of the Campaign “Jailed for What?” in the ECOSOC Chamber of the United Nations

New York. October 16th 2018. Cuban officials disrupted the launch of the campaign “Jailed for What?” organized by the United States Mission to the United Nations and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the United States Department of State. During the event, which took place at the United Nations building in New York, a large group supporting the Cuban regimen constantly interrupted the speakers by banging on tables, stomping their hands and feet, and yelling statements such as “Cuba Sí, bloqueo no” (Cuba Yes, embargo no) and “Fuera de la ONU” (Get out of UN). Although the noise prevents the speakers from being heard properly in the camera, the disrupt did not prevent your message from being heard.

The purpose of the event was to present the human rights situation of political prisoners in Cuba, as well as describe the systematic acts of repression used by the Cuban government to silence the voices of dissidents. Ambassador Kelley E. Currie, U.S. Representative in the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, gave opening remarks over the shouts of the Cuban officials noting that “Cuba’s political prisoners are a clear and unambiguous sign of the repressive nature of the regime. Their imprisonment represents a blatant affront to the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, in spite of the disturbances caused by the Cuban officials, denounced the government’s use of prison sentences for political and unjustified reasons against those who speak out against its policies and politics.

Additionally, he described how Cuba has exported its repressive tactics throughout Latin American, referring to the cases of Nicaragua and Venezuela. These countries have progressively dismantled democracy within their borders, with Cuban support. Secretary General Almagro also described how activists are incarcerated as a means to keep them quiet and prevent the world from knowing about the difficult circumstances that political prisoners face, pointing out that Latin America is saying the price for not timely addressing these situations that put human rights at risk.

Ambassador Michael Kozak from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor sarcastically thanked the demonstrators for giving an unequivocal showing of Cuba’s respect for freedom of expression and invited the audience to reflect on the worrying situation faced by oppressed Cubans: “You can imagine what it’s like in Cuba – if this is the way the government of Cuba behaves in the chambers of the United Nations, with security present…you can imagine what it would be like to be an individual Cuban citizen trying to speak their mind.”

Against the wishes of the demonstrators, the event was able to continue with the remarks of Carlos Quesada of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), who described how the Cuban governments uses various aspects of its domestic law to criminalize human rights defenders, journalists, and another who expresses opinions against the government. He also expressed that Cuba should respect the right to freedom of opinion and expression and free the 139 political prisoners that are currently suffering in poor conditions and are subject to long hours of forced labor as well punishments that violate fundamental human rights.

Alejandro Gonzalez Raga, a former Cuban political prisoner, described his experience during his time in prison and called for solidarity with current political prisoners. He also indicated the need to urge the Cuban government to allow international human rights organizations to enter the country to monitor the difficult situation. Finally, Miriam Cardet Concepcion, sister of political prisoner Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepcion, presented remarks via a video. She was unable to speak at the event in person because the Cuban government would not let her leave the island.

Race and Equality firmly rejects the acts of intolerance demonstrated today in the ECOSOC Chamber of the United Nations and strongly condemns the constant violations of the rights to freedom of expression, press, movement, and assembly that Cubans are constantly submitted to, especially activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. Additionally, we demand that the Cuban state free the 139 political prisoners that are victims of multiple offenses against their personal integrity. We insist on the need for Cuba to reform its Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Law to eliminate the criminalization of expression and ensure that the right to due process of all Cubans is respected.

We urge the international community to increase efforts to defend and recognize the rights of all Cubans. We reaffirm our commitment to the defense of the rights of every citizen in Cuba and our will to continue fighting for the freedom of all political prisoners.

Watch the event online here: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/jailed-for-what-plight-of-cubas-political-prisoners-meeting-called-by-the-united-states/5849574028001

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