First report on transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people in Peru: A key step for the recognition and protection of diverse identities in the country and the region

First report on transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people in Peru: A key step for the recognition and protection of diverse identities in the country and the region

Washington DC, September 30, 2021.- With the aim of contributing to the promotion and protection of the rights of transmasculine and non-binary persons assigned women at birth (AFAB) in Peru, the Institute on Race, Equality and Rights Human (Race and Equality) launched on September 24, 2021 the first report that demonstrates the situation of this population in the country. The report includes recommendations to the State, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the United Nations Organization to guarantee their human rights.

The report, entitled “Bodies and Resistance that TRANSgress the Pandemic: Transmasculinities and Non-Binary AFAB People in Peru,” was launched through a virtual event with the participation of representatives of the transmasculine and non-binary movement in Peru, including two individuals who helped produce the report, and the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz.

“In Peru, the rights of trans people are not yet recognized, starting with the limitations to access the right to identity, which means that other fundamental rights cannot be accessed,” said the Executive Director of Race and Equality, Carlos Quesada. He also mentioned that when talking about the trans population, one usually thinks only of trans women, which means that the experiences and demands of transmasculine and non-binary AFAB people are not reflected in public policies and, on certain occasions, are also not present in the agenda of the LGBTI + movement.

Zuleika Rivera, LGBTI Program Officer for Race and Equality, indicated that the preparation of this report sought to understand the situation of transmasculine and non-binary AFAB people in Peru. She highlighted that one of the most important findings being the fact that the discrimination and violence that this population faces begins in the nucleus family, something that – Rivera said – is determined by the lack of information and the stigma that predominates in society regarding people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.

The situation

It should be noted that the completion of this report included a documentary review, data processing of transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people who participated in the first survey for LGBTI people, which was carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INEI) in 2017; a self-applied virtual interview called, “The Situation of Trans Masculine, Trans Men, Non-Binary Transmasculines and Non-Binary AFAB People Before and During the COVID-19 Situation in Peru,” and eight semi-structured interviews.

The report was presented by Alithu Bazan Talavera, a member of the report’s research team, non-binary trans activist and researcher, and by Santiago Balvin Gutiérrez, also part of the research team, non-binary transmasculine activist and member of the organization Rosa Rabiosa. The third individual who made up the research team is activist, researcher and teacher Denisse Castillo Matos, who is also part of the organization Más Igualdad Perú.

During the presentation Bazan mentioned that most of the people interviewed reported that they began to experience their identities from the age of 22, due to little or no information on the trans and non-binary spectrum. The activist and researcher pointed out that non-recognition in the family environment entails a series of violations and a systematic exclusion of trans-masculine and non-binary people.

Balvin Gutiérrez included in his presentation that in the case of trans men and trans-masculininities, 85.44% have identity documents that do not represent their desired social name, and in the case of non-binary people, 48.57% expressed the same sentiments. In addition, among both populations, 70% reported difficulties when exercising their right to vote due their identity documents not corresponding with their gender identity and/or gender expression and for fear of suffering violence. 

Significance of the report

Bruno Montenegro, National Coordinator of Transmasculine Fraternity-Peru, described the report as “historic” and said it will contribute to generate great advances in the struggle of the transmasculine and non-binary population. Montenegro further stated that all the information and evidence contained in this report will serve to demystify the belief that trans and transmasculinity men have privileges only because they are male or because they identify with masculinity.

“Transmasculinities do suffer violence even though we identify ourselves from masculinity (…) This report is important to demystify transmasculinities and put our realities on the agenda. Trans men also abort, trans men also decide to gestate, trans men also suffer so-called corrective rapes,” he emphasized.

The United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz, highlighted the relevance and significance of this report. “This report has a particular impact on Peru, but this information can also be raised as a working theory regionally and globally. For me it has been incredibly revealing in levels, perspectives and consciences that were not at all visible in my mandate,” he affirmed.

“There is data that, in addition, in its deep personalization call us to reflect; the testimonial is of great value and this study is extraordinary in that sense,” added Madrigal-Borloz.

Recommendations

The report, “Bodies and Resistance that TRANSgress the Pandemic: Transmasculinities and Non-Binary AFAB People in Peru,” contains recommendations to the State, the IACHR and the UN, with the aim of contributing to the adoption of public policies and/or measures in favor of the human rights of trans-masculine and non-binary people. In the case of the State, we recommend that the State urgently adopts a gender identity law.

In the case of the IACHR, one of the recommendations is that it creates dialogues with civil society organizations and independent activists related to the population of transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people. In the case of the UN, the report recommends that the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity make an official visit to Peru and publish a report with specific recommendations for the protection of this population.

Access and download the report in Spanish here: https://bit.ly/3uxtklx

Executive summary in English here: https://bit.ly/3o5oZ7S

Race and Equality launches regional campaign to promote the ratification and implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance

Washington, D.C.; September 4, 2021.- On September 2, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) launched its new campaign Toward a Region Free From Racial Discrimination, which will last until 2024 and seeks to promote the universal ratification and implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance (known by its Spanish acronym CIRDI).

The campaign, which takes place in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), was launched in a virtual event that featured Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, Rapporteur for the Rights of Afro-descendants and Against Racial Discrimination at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR); Gay McDougall, who was recently re-elected to serve a third term on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD); and Vice President of Costa Rica Epsy Campbell.

Representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, and Mexico, all State Parties to the Convention, also participated. Carlos Quesada, Race and Equality’s Executive Director, introduced the campaign while Latin America Program Officer Elvia Duque served as the moderator.

“This campaign is necessary, especially during the International Decade for People of African Descent, for the majority of countries in the Americas to ratify and implement this important Convention,” remarked Quesada in his introduction to the event.

The campaign

Race and Equality considers the ratification and implementation of CIRDI a necessary step to make the systemic forms of racism and discrimination against Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, and other minorities in the region more visible. Race and Equality also emphasizes that the Convention is a key step for states to fulfill their international obligations to promote equitable conditions, ensure equality of opportunity, and combat racial discrimination in all individual, structural, and institutional forms.

The ultimate goal of the campaign is for all 35 members of the Organization of American States (OAS) to sign, ratify, and implement CIRDI by the end of 2024.

To that end, the campaign will consist of bilateral and multilateral initiatives across the region. These activities will offer accompaniment and resources to states as they move towards ratifying and implementing the Convention. Civil society organizations will also play an important role in the campaign, receiving training and tools to monitor the ratification and implementation processes.

The importance of CIRDI

Although the OAS General Assembly approved the Inter-American Convention against Racism in 2013 and it entered into force in 2017, only 6 of the 35 OAS Member States have ratified it: Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Uruguay. During the event, Costa Rican Vice President Epsy Campbell explained that improving the rate of ratification had become all the more important after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet released a report on global systemic racism in 2020.

Bachelet’s report stemmed from UN Human Rights Council Resolution 43/1 (Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers), which was passed in the context of worldwide protests against the killing of George Floyd. The Resolution calls on all states to take an active role in achieving racial justice, using all available human rights instruments to combat racism and discrimination.

Joy-Dee Davis Lake, the Alternative Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the OAS, stated that CIRDI was passed by the OAS General Assembly in a moment of international attention on the need to build upon the human rights protections enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Together, said Davis Lake, the CERD and CIRDI “represent the most ambitious efforts to prohibit discrimination under international law, be it on the grounds of race, color, national or ethnic origin, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, language, religion, cultural identity, opinions of any kind, social origin, socio-economic states, level of education, refugee or migrant status, or disability.”

Paulo Roberto, Brazil’s National Secretary for Policies to Promote Racial Equality, celebrated his country’s ratification of the Convention and called on other states to do the same: “We ratified the Convention on May 13 of this year, which is also the date of the Áurea Law [which abolished slavery in Brazil], a great step forward for Brazilian society. The Convention is an instrument to fight racism and the cultural impacts of colonialism.”

Christopher Ballinas, General Director for Human Rights and Democracy at the Secretariat of Foreign Relations of Mexico, stated that “racism and discrimination is a theme of vital importance in our region because it allows us to integrate our multicultural societies, and also because failing to fight racism and discrimination in multicultural societies leads to hateful discourses and hate crimes.”

Ballinas explained that Mexico was motivated to ratify CIRDI by a hate crime committed in August 2019, when 23 people, including 9 Mexican nationals, were murdered in El Paso, Texas.

Commissioner Macaulay pointed out that CIRDI calls for the creation of an Inter-American Committee to Prevent and Eliminate Racism, Racial Discrimination, and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, an independent body that will consist of one representative from each State Party and will monitor the State Parties’ commitments under the Convention.

“I strongly recommend that all Member States ratify and implement the Convention. The structural discrimination against Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, and other groups demands a strong and serious commitment to combatting discrimination and all forms of intolerance in our hemisphere,” said Macaulay.

Gay McDougall of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) emphasized that the entire international community has a responsibility to combat racism and racial discrimination, saying, “the killing of George Floyd created a new level of urgency to speed up our response.”

Sonia Guajajara, an indigenous leader who serves as the Executive Coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), celebrated Brazil’s ratification of CIRDI, but also denounced ongoing structural, institutional, and environmental racism in the country, challenging the audience to ask themselves, “racial harmony for who?” when considering these issues. Guajajara discussed the experiences of the Lucha por la vida (Fight for Life) protest movement, in which 6,000 people have assembled to oppose the Hito Temporal court decision that puts indigenous territories protected under Brazil’s Constitution at risk.

“In Brazil, there is a tendency to deny the existence of racism or only acknowledge it in cases of extreme hate crimes. Indigenous people have fought for respect for our ways of life around the world, and in the Americas it is no different. We have seen our leaders killed, our women raped, our territorial rights violated, and our young people dying of suicide,” she said.

Paola Yáñez, Regional Coordinator of the Network of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women, discussed the work of women’s organizations in the region to bring issues of racism to the foreground across the region, saying, “the adoption of the Convention is an important milestone for the Afro-descendant movement that will allow us to move forward in recognizing racism and the need to act against it across the region.”

According to Noelia Maciel, a member of the National Afro-Uruguayan Coordination, “It is important for all states to ratify this Convention because it represents the culmination of three decades of struggle against racism and racial discrimination, and it is necessary to integrate this into our national frameworks so that we can protect the rights of Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, and other ethnic or racial minorities.”

Join us

More information about the campaign’s goals, strategies, and activities can be found at Cirdi2024.org. The website also includes more information about CIRDI and the region’s progress towards signing and ratifying it, along with the tools needed to advance this process. The website is available in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. The campaign will also be active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

IACHR extends precautionary measures to Cuban activists Richard Adrián Zamora Brito and Irán Almaguer Labrada

Washington, D.C.; September 8, 2021.- At the request of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has extended precautionary measures to the activists Richard Adrián Zamora Brito, a member of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR, in Spanish) and Irán Almaguer Labrada, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL). The Commission made this decision after finding that both men face a serious and urgent risk of irreparable harm to their rights to life and personal integrity.

Richard Adrián Zamora Brito

In January and June 2021, the IACHR granted precautionary measures to four members of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration, finding that their lives and personal integrity were at risk due to their efforts to promote human rights. This risk has increased as a result of the repression of protest and activism after the protests of July 11, affecting additional members of CIR including Richard. Race and Equality therefore requested that the precautionary measures be extended to include him, to which the IACHR agreed on August 22 via Resolution 64/2021.

Richard Adrián Zamora Brito, who records and performs as “El Radikal,” is a musician, activist, and the coordinator of CIR’s activities in the province of Matanzas. In this role, he works to protect and promote human rights in his community. As a result of his work as both an activist and artist, he has suffered serious violations of his right to freedom of expression and faced government persecution on multiple occasions.

On July 11, Richard approached a protest taking place in Matanzas with the goal of documenting the events. That evening, he returned home without issues. Early the next morning, however, he was detained at his home by State Security and National Revolutionary Police (PNR) forces. Authorities told his wife that he would be taken to the Colón Municipal Police Station to be “investigated.”

On July 14, Richard’s family approached the Matanzas Criminal Processing Center to obtain information about where and why Richard was being held. The officials there informed them that once 96 hours had passed (the maximum time period allowed under Cuban law), the charges would be stated. This time elapsed on July 15, but no information was provided. His family requested a revision of his status, which was denied, and was also prevented from viewing his case files. The only information they were given was a verbal, unofficial remark that Richard was being charged with “public disorder” and “disturbance.” After being held incommunicado for more than 40 days, Richard was finally released on a 10,000 pesos (approximately US$500) bail on August 20.

Irán Almaguer Labrada

On January 7, 2021, the IACHR granted precautionary measures to Yandier García Labrada, who had been deprived of liberty since November 2020. Yandier and his brother Irán Almaguer Labrada are both members of the Christian Liberation Movement and, as a result of their activism, have faced persecution and harassment at the hands of Cuban authorities, putting their lives and personal integrity at risk.

Irán is MCL’s coordinator for the areas of Manatí, San Andrés, and Alfonso, where he leads activities for the defense and promotion of human rights. Irán suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, which requires regular treatment to prevent his losing his eyesight. State Security forces have used this condition against him, threatening him that if he continues his activism, they will arrange to have his healthcare cut off.

In addition to these threats, Irán has suffered intimidation, arbitrary detention, and harassment due to his affiliation with the MCL. This persecution has worsened since Yandier was detained and Irán took up action to demand justice for his brother. Since January of this year, Irán has suffered at least one short-term detention every month. While he is being held, he is prevented from contacting his family, which causes great suffering and distress for his wife and 14-year-old daughter.

Irán was most recently detained on July 21, in the context of the July 11 protests. Around 9:00 am, he was arrested in his home and brought to the El Anillo police station in Holguín, around 20 kilometers from his house. There, he was held incommunicado until being released on July 23. While being detained, he was held alone in a cell and interrogated twice. His interrogators told him that he would be imprisoned if he continued with his activism and warned him not to speak publicly about the economic or social situation in Cuba, telling him that he had been heard doing so in a bakery. They finally informed him that if he continued “inciting people,” he would be prosecuted.

Based on these facts, the IACHR decided to extend precautionary measures to Irán via Resolution 68/2021.

Race and Equality calls on the State of Cuba to implement these precautionary measures by guaranteeing Richard and Irán’s fundamental rights to life, personal integrity, liberty, security, and due process. We also join the IACHR in calling on Cuba to ensure that the two men can carry on their work as activists without suffering intimidation, persecution, or threats.

Lesbian Visibility Day in Brazil: Luana Barbosa Case – “If not for us, no one will be”*

Brazil, August 29, 2021 – The month of August in Brazil highlights and marks the struggles of lesbian women. It’s a month that honors Lesbian Pride— August 19 specifically references the first manifestation of lesbian women, known as the “Brazilian Stonewall,” in São Paulo, in 1983. Banned from distributing the bulletin, “Chanacomchana,” Brazil’s first lesbian activist publication, the activists decided to occupy Ferro’s Bar’ claiming their rights and denouncing lesbophobia. August 29 also calls for the right to freedom of expression and representation as it represents Lesbian Visibility Day. It was during the first National Lesbian Seminar (Senale) held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1996, that the date was created to denounce the erasure and highlight lesbian experiences within the LGBTI+ and feminist movement.

To stress the importance of ‘Lesbian Visibility,’ Race and Equality brings to the surface the Luana Barbosa Case, which completes five years this year. The murder of 34-year-old Luana Barbosa dos Reis Santos, in 2016, in Ribeirão Preto (SP), denotes the complete invisibility black lesbian women endure, the absence of their social and individual rights, and moreover it symbolizes why lesbians need to claim a fight for visibility, rights and integral security.

Luana was the victim of brutal police violence. After being approached by three military police officers, she refused to be searched and demanded the presence of a female police officer. In the company of her son, mother and neighbors, Luana was brutally beaten by the police and as a result died five days after the attack due to cerebral ischemia and brain trauma. The brutality of her death reveals the intricacies of police actions in Brazil towards black LGBTI+ people, who, in addition to possessing a color that equates to the public enemy for the police, Luana’s existence challenges the cis-heteronormativity, further aggravating police brutality. After Luana’s experience with police brutality, she still managed to record a video in which she reported the assaults, in addition to the death threats made by police officers who also threatened her family [1].

In February 2020, Luana’s case was ordered by the courts so that the defendants would be tried by the popular jury. However, the defense appealed and the trial continues without a definite date. Although the trial was suspended, the case of Luana Barbosa was not labeled as a mere allegory of police violence in Brazil. Immediately after the incident, the UN Women and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of South America (OHCHR) appealed to the Brazilian State for an impartial and transparent investigation recognizing that the case of Luana is emblematic of racist violence, gender and lesbophobic in Brazil [2].

According to Roseli Barbosa, the sister of the victim, the fact that Luana associates with masculine lesbianism, which in Brazil is accompanied by the adjectives: ‘sapatão’ and ‘camioneira’ in a pejorative way (words that were re-signified by the lesbian movements with pride and belonging), constantly made Luana the target of insults and prejudice. Several times, Luana paid a high price for looking like a poor, black man [3]. In another police interrogation, Luana had to show her breasts to prove she was a woman. The presumption of innocence for black, poor and vulnerable people is practically non-existent. To exist as a black-lesbian, woman-mother-peripheral is a cry of resistance in Brazil.

What is the color of the Invisible?

Race and Equality continues to follow the case of Luana Barbosa with Brazilian LGBTI+ organizations and denounce it to international human rights mechanisms. In the dossier “What is the color of the Invisible? The human rights situation of the black LGBTI population in Brazil” [4], published by Race and Equality, there is a chapter dedicated to denouncing police violence against black LGBTI people in the country. In focus groups carried out by civil society organizations, it can be seen that the brutal death of a black woman did not mobilize society and that lesbian invisibility is a determining factor in the lack of public commotion regarding the deaths caused by the State.

As the dossier points out, socio-racial hierarchies in Brazil determine the conditions of life and death. There is a hierarchy between death that is visible and death that is not, and skin color is a factor that separates the two. Fátima Lima, a black lesbian woman and university professor, argues that the life and death of lesbian women are marked by erasure.

“The violence suffered by black and racialized women in the context of the South is still very little visible, discussed and faced. Marked by silence and pain, their stories are crossed by different forms of violence that range from injurious discursive practices to corrective rape, beatings and murders. In the Brazilian LGBTI+ movement, for example, lesbian women have always denounced their deletion,” expresses Fátima. [5]

 2021: Building new directions for the case of Luana Barbosa

In 2021, the case of Luana Barbosa continued to have international repercussions during the 47th Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in which Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented the report on systemic racism and the excessive use of public force [6]. The tragic story of Luana’s murder was recorded in the report as one of seven cases in the world where police violence was linked directly to racial discrimination and prejudice. According to Bachelet, “there is a widespread presumption of guilt over black people,” and adds that “the excessive vigilance imposed on black people makes them feel threatened rather than protected.”

During that same Assembly (UNHRC47), Race and Equality denounced police and political violence against LGBTI+ people in Brazil as a result of systemic racism. Together with the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Mundo), they joined the pronouncement of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites, Transsexuals and Intersex (ABGLT). It should be noted that the case of Luana Barbosa was present in the joint statement, to further foster an international repercussion of justice for Luana Barbosa [7].

Nationally, there is a political movement to fight against lesbocide and for LGBTI+ agendas. During the last municipal election, in 2020, several black, lesbian and transgender parliamentarians were elected, however before and during the electoral process they faced numerous threats and hate speech for their expressions of gender and sexual orientation. During their terms of office, these parliamentarians strategically united to confront and denounce the ongoing political violence in Brazil.

Mônica Francisco, State Deputy of Rio de Janeiro (PSOL), is the author of the ‘Luana Barbosa Draft Law.’ The bill aims to establish April 13 (date of Luana’s murder) as the ‘State Day to Combat Lesbocide.’ In addition to making visible and promoting the rights of lesbian women, the date is intended to support public campaigns and activities aimed at raising public awareness of a culture of non-violence against lesbian women. The bill, which still needs to be voted on and approved by the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, represents a major step towards the construction of a public agenda that supports and makes visible the protection and integral health of lesbian women.

Among the circumstances that made Luana Barbosa’s case a symbol of the struggle and resistance of lesbian women in Brazil, Race and Equality understands that the lack of public authority assistance for the specificities of lesbian women is one of the key factors for their agenda’s erasure. The absence of public data on lesbocide and on the current situation of living lesbians leaves civil society with the responsibility of research production which does not always have the necessary financial support to be carried out.

In Rio de Janeiro, in 2020, the Collective Resistance Lesbian da Maré launched a mapping of lesbian and bisexual women living in favelas [8]. The document aims to denounce the scarcity of answers about lesbian experiences in favelas, especially experiences of non-violence, since the hegemonic representations of favelas refer to violence and the abandonment of public power. Also, the Associação Lesbofeminista Coturno de Vênus, headquartered in Brasília, launched, in 2020, a mapping of lesbians in the Federal District. This year, Coturno de Vênus is promoting a nationwide mapping of lesbians, together with the Brazilian Lesbian League. It will be the first national socio-demographic mapping of lesbians.

Race and Equality recognizes that there is still a long way for lesbian women to reach the fullness of their rights. It is essential to create public policies that deconstruct a collective imaginary beyond violence, pain and hypersexualization of lesbian women. Violence in life, through corrective rapes, family abandonment, conversion therapies, loss of custody of their children, lead many lesbian women to suicide. Thus, Race and Equality recommends to the Brazilian State to:

1 – Create a Legal and Parliamentary Committee to produce data on violence against lesbian women – lesbocide (lesbocídio);

2 – Promote public policies that support and strengthen organizations that seek to make lesbian agendas visible;

3 – Implement a policy of comprehensive protection for lesbian women who are victims of violence, in light of the intersectional issues raised in Luana Barbosa’s case;

4- Promote actions and campaigns to combat lesbophobia to eradicate disinformation and prejudice that reproduce the marginalization of lesbian women;

5 – Implement a national health policy that meets the specificities of the LGBTI population, in this case, specifically meeting the demands of the lesbian population.

 

 

 

*Quote by Jész Ipólito in his article published in: https://www.geledes.org.br/do-luto-luta-nao-esqueceremos-luana-barbosa-dos-reis-morta-por-pms-em-ribeirao-preto/

[1] http://g1.globo.com/sp/ribeirao-preto-franca/noticia/2016/05/antes-de-morrer-mulher-espancada-disse-que-foi-ameacada-por-pms-veja.html

[2] http://www.onumulheres.org.br/noticias/nota-publica-do-alto-comissariado-de-direitos-humanos-das-nacoes-unidas-para-america-do-sul-e-da-onu-mulheres-brasil-sobre-o-assassinato-de-luana-reis/

[3] https://ponte.org/a-historia-de-luana-mae-negra-pobre-e-lesbica-ela-morreu-apos-ser-espancada-por-tres-pms/

[4] and [5] http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FINAL_dossie-lgbti-brasil-ebook.pdf

[6]https://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27218&LangID=S

[7] http://oldrace.wp/es/onu/raca-e-igualdade-celebra-a-adocao-da-onu/

[8] https://bit.ly/2TDB5ES and http://oldrace.wp/es/brazil-es/coletiva-resistencia-lesbica-realiza-mapeamento/

[9] https://bit.ly/lesbocenso and  http://oldrace.wp/es/brazil-es/coturno-de-venus-realiza-lesbocenso/

 

Race and Equality launches a project to combat religious racism in Brazil

Brazil, August 18, 2021 – In order to promote religious tolerance and reduce violence and discrimination against practitioners of African-derived religions in Brazil, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is set to launch a project to combat religious racism alongside Brazilian civil society organizations. This two-year project aims to empower and strengthen Afro-Brazilian organizations so they can document cases of violence based on religious beliefs. This documentation will be used for international strategic litigation that promotes a culture of respect for religious freedom, as well as to enable the legal support necessary for victims of religious racism.

The organizations that will coordinate the project with Race and Equality include: NGO Criola, RENAFRO (National Network of Afro-Brazilian Religions and Health) and FOPAFRO (Permanent Afro-Religious Forum of the State of Pará). These three entities will be responsible for training terreiros[1] in the states of Bahia, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Among the organizations involved, Race and Equality understands that it is of paramount importance to train religious leaders on national laws that deal with racial discrimination and to document human rights violations. These entities will not only present their documentation to the local, state, and federal authorities, but also to the Inter-American System of Human Rights, the UN, and advocate for Brazil to be held internationally accountable.

Furthermore, the strengthening of community and religious leaders presents itself as a unique opportunity given that, in 2022, Brazil will be reviewed by the United Nations committee that oversees the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Therefore, the documentation and visibility of cases of religious racism in the country is beneficial so that civil society can demand and hold the Brazilian government accountable, and pressure them to fulfill their internal obligations based on their international human rights commitments.

Another point to highlight in this project is the media and lawyers who are dedicated to the issue of religious racism in Brazil. Since the media, especially newspapers and TV news reports play a key role in perpetuating negative stereotypes against African-based religions, training journalists aims to break paradigms and demystify current narratives. These paradigms and narratives, in addition to silencing the practitioners of these religions, rely on dogmas of Judeo-Christian religions. In turn, it is urgent to prepare a legal body to respond to the growing denunciations of cases of religious racism and its victims. This project also seeks to expand and promote educational programs that qualify networks of lawyers in the country.

This project’s objective includes the promotion and respect for religious freedom, as well as creating activities that contribute to a paradigm shift at national and international level. For Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality, the legacy of this project is also in its multiplier effect, for the training activities aim to create an informal human rights network to defend religious freedom in Brazil and, thus, the organizations develop autonomy to document, denounce and address human rights violations. In addition, Quesada points out that in the international scene there is a lack of knowledge regarding religious racism in Brazil.

“There is a cultural fallacy that Brazil is a country in which everyone can exercise their religious beliefs freely. However, structural racism also manifests itself in religions from burning terreiros to parents who lose custody of their children by expressing their faith. Thus, the violence manifested by religious intolerance undermines the principles of human rights. We need to make these cases visible internationally and foster awareness at the national level,” contends Quesada.

Race and Equality recognizes that religious racism is a problem that needs to be combated in Brazil with the creation of public policies and implementation of laws that have already been approved. According to data from the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, in 2019, there was an increase of 56% (356 in total) in complaints and assaults for religious intolerance, compared to 211 in 2018 [1]. Most of the victims were followers of the Candomblé and Umbanda religions [2]. In addition, Data Dial 100, a telephone line for reporting violence, shows that between 2015 and 2019, 2,712 complaints of religious violence were made in Brazil, among these communications 57.5% were of African-based religions [3].

Teaming up with Afro-Brazilian organizations, Race and Equality reaffirms its commitment to denounce and combat human rights violations. Religious intolerance violates the right to equality, freedom of belief and expression, as well as fostering actions of violence and a culture of hatred that laregely affects populations vulnerable to structural racism and LGBTIphobia. That being said, throughout this project Race and Equality will denounce cases of negligence, racism and discrimination affecting religious democracy in Brazil.

 

 

[1] Terreiro means African-inspired traditional house.

[2]https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2020/01/21/denuncias-de-intolerancia-religiosa-aumentaram-56-no-brasil-em-2019

[3] The two well-known Afro-Brazilian religious traditions are Candomblé and Umbanda. Candomblé was formed by enslaved Africans, while Umbanda was created in Brazil at the beginning of the last century. There are notable differences between the two traditions. Candomblé’s chants are performed in languages ​​of African origin, such as Yoruba or Kimbundu. While in Umbanda, they are sung mainly in Portuguese. Another difference is the practice of animal sacrifice. In Candomblé, the practice of animal sacrifice is carried out as a way of circulating the energy that animates everything in the world: axé. More than religions, these traditions reveal the social, cultural and spiritual practices on the African continent.

[4] https://www.gov.br/mdh/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/ouvidoria/balanco-disque-100

July 25: Call on the States of the Americas to Guarantee and Protect the Rights of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women

Washington, D.C., July 25, 2021. – Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women fight and resist everyday against systemic racism and gender-based violence in situations that in turn generate a series of human rights violations upon them and their communities. For this reason, on July 25, the region celebrates The International Day for Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women. The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) recognizes their struggles and resistance and calls upon States to adopt policies that contribute to improving the lives of these women.

The last year posed various challenges mainly due to the impact of COVID-19 in the Americas. This pandemic exposed the conditions of inequality faced by the Afro-descendant population, but mainly Afro-descendant women, including those who are heads of family households, who defend human rights, who lead social processes in their communities, who hold public office in the midst of machismo and discrimination, and those with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.

Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day has been celebrated every July 25 since 1992, the First Meeting of Afro-Latina and Afro-Caribbean women took place in the Dominican Republic. It was the starting point for the struggle in demanding their visibility and all their cultural and social contributions to the formation of States. Over the years, this date has also served to raise demands on public policies to recognize, guarantee and protect the rights of this population.

This date acquires greater relevance as we are in the middle of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, which was declared by the United Nations, and whose objective is to promote the eradication of all social injustices suffered by people of African descent, as well as to combat prejudice and racial discrimination, and to promote and protect the human rights of all.

Fighting and resisting using art.

The struggles and resistance of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women are in every corner of the Americas and are manifested in various ways. One of them is art, so this year, Race and Equality set out to make visible and recognize women in the region who, through different artistic expressions, share their experiences, make their demands visible, demand justice and seek to contribute to improve the living conditions in their communities.

In Colombia, La Comadre is a process of Afro-Colombian women, victims of the armed conflict, which arose within the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES). Its objective is to make visible the disproportionate effects of the armed conflict from an intersectional approach, and thus demand from the State the design and implementation of public policies, with an approach that responds to the set of effects they have experienced— Afro-Colombian women in the context of the armed conflict.

Since La Comadre, its members have organized different strategies to make visible the struggles of black people, and especially the struggles of black women, as well as the contributions they have made to the construction and advancement of this country, says Luz Marina Becerra, President of this initiative. One of the strategies has been the creation of plays. “The purpose is to make visible all those issues that we have experienced as black women, especially sexual violence, and to that extent generate awareness, sensitize Colombian society to all these damages and the impacts that have caused war on our bodies, on our lives, on our culture, on our models of life,” she explained.

In Brazil, Virgínia Beatriz expresses her art through poetry, where she seeks answers about her descendance, she resists and denounces the collective reality of Afro-women living in the favelas. Beatriz is a historian and member of the Coletivo Resistência Lésbica da Maré, and as a black and pansexual woman, she reveals that her poems reflect her concern of the invisibility of Afro-Brazilians, but she also seeks collective victories in an attempt to reconstruct the narratives of those that were usurped by colonization.

“In this way, art has the power to give us prominence, to contribute with our voice and our body in the struggle for our rights, whether in a video on the internet where this narrative circulates to various places, or in a slam circle in the street, in some academic text or book of poetry, uniting our art in a manifestation, the protagonist is ours and this is our history,” declares the poetry slammer.

In Nicaragua, the Murals RACCS Foundation (Movimiento para la Unidad Regional del Arte Local y las Expresiones Socioculturales de la Región Autónoma del Costa Caribe Sur) works to strengthen artistic skills and creative capacities under a playful and educational method. Its Co-Director, Psychologist, Gay Sterling, considers that in an adverse context where racial discrimination prevails, “the art of muralism is an important tool to combat negative social phenomena,” to convey messages that illustrate the struggles and demands for a more equitable and just society for women of African descent.

Sterling reaffirms the cohesion and determination of people of African descent in the struggle to eradicate discrimination: “Whether we paint, dance, sculpt or make handicrafts, we shout that no matter which country or region we live in, or whether they call us Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, African-American, we are a single-origin diaspora because genes don’t lie.”

As an organization that defends and protects the human rights of people of African descent in several countries of the Americas, Race and Equality has been observing and documenting the inequalities and human rights violations faced by Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora women. For this reason, we take advantage of the fact that, in the framework of the Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day, hundreds of activists, leaders, groups and organizations advocate for this population, to make the following recommendations to the States:

– Create and/or strengthen the projects, programs, and mechanisms needed to combat violence and discrimination affecting women of African descent in the Americas.

– Adopt, within the framework of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, public policies that guarantee the rights of women of African descent in the region, with an intersectional approach that takes into account other determinants of their life experiences, such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

– Collect and disseminate statistics, also under an intersectional perspective, on the presence and situation of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women in the Americas.

– Sign, ratify and implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.

 

 

Race and Equality celebrates the adoption of the UN resolution for the protection of african people and afro-descendants against police violence

Washington DC, July 15, 2021 – The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) celebrates the adoption, by consensus, of Resolution A/HRC/47/L.8 Rev.1, which aims to promote and protect African and Afro-descendants against excessive use of public force. This resolution was voted on at the 47th  General Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HRC47), in which Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented her report on the subject, calling on member states to dismantle systemic racism and end police violence. This ruling is a historic step towards reforming systemic police brutality against the black population.

The Resolution establishes an international mechanism of independent experts to promote transformative changes to justice and racial equality. This mechanism should be composed of three experts with experience in law enforcement and human rights, who will be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, under the guidance of the High Commissioner. To this end, the mechanism must work closely with experts from international bodies and treaties.

Additionally, this same mechanism will be responsible for investigating the responses of governments to peaceful protests against racism and all international human rights violations, as well as contribute to accountability and reparation of victims. The mechanism will be presented to the UN Council annually, together with the High Commissioner, who will also present an annual report, to be declared at its 51st session in June 2022.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the adopted Resolution recognizes the legacy of slavery, colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade of African peoples. This recognition dialogues with the 21-year-old Durban Conference, whose Durban Declaration and program of action cite the link between the past, present and future, recognizing that Afro-descendants continue to be victims of the consequences of slavery, the slave trade and colonialism. Thus, both documents call for the former colonial powers to assume the consequences of colonization and its impacts on today’s black population around the world.

In presenting her report, Bachelet reiterated that, “no state has taken full responsibility for the past or the current impact of systemic racism,” thus confirming the urgent need for measures to ensure an end to impunity and discriminatory policies. Thus, the promotion of racial justice and equality pervades the adoption of reparatory policies against systemic racism in Western nations affected by colonialism

In view of this resolution, we also praise the importance of human rights organizations and defenders who are part of the anti-racist struggle. Through their advocacy work, the committee against racial discrimination, the rapporteur on racism and the working group on Afro-descendants have made numerous recommendations to the UN system for the protection of human rights.

Towards a Global Transformative Agenda

The implications of Resolution A/HRC/47/L.8/Rev.1 of the Human Rights Council adopted by the UN are the results of a historical demand of the black population around the world. Michelle Bachelet’s mandate research under Resolution 43/1, provides concrete recommendations on the measures needed to ensure access to justice, accountability, reparation for excessive use of force, and other human rights violations against the black population. The case of George Floyd in the US brought to light racial debate versus police violence on a global level. Therefore, investigating the violent responses of governments towards peaceful protests against racism and supporting the victims of human rights violations was made as an urgent response from international mechanisms.

That said, the attack on democracy by the States is carried out as an attempt to weaken both the anti-racist struggle and the guarantee to fundamental rights. Therefore, among the pillars of reparations to African and Afro-descendant peoples is the establishment of independent monitoring mechanisms and standardized methods to report and review the use of force. Furthermore, data should be published and broken-down by race or ethnic origin of the victims, highlighting the racial profile, the cause of deaths and serious injuries that are related to the maintenance of order, and subsequent prosecutions and convictions.

Statement on Police and Political Violence in Brazil

On the occasion of the UN’s HRC47, Race and Equality with Brazilian and international human rights organizations, denounced the ongoing police and political violence in Brazil as a result of systemic racism. The neglect of the Brazilian government in the face of constant allegations of human rights violations, both in the political sphere and in the public and private spheres, highlights how the structure that supports the maintenance of racist practices is ingrained in its institutions, especially in those in which the state seeks to impose order through violence—the police institution.

Thus, Race and Equality in partnership with the Marielle Franco Institute (IMF), IMADR and Minority Rights, [1] denounced police violence against the black population in Brazil. The statement, delivered by Anielle Franco, Executive Director of the IMF, urges the United Nations to establish an independent and impartial mechanism within the police forces that will help ensure accountability and respect for human rights standards and ensure that all cases of disproportionate use of force are investigated. In addition, the statement highlighted the recent cases of the Chacina do Jacarezinho, in which the excessive use of police force resulted in the brutal murder of 25 black youths in Jacarezinho, a favela in Rio de Janeiro; and the case of Kathleen Romeu, a 24-year-old pregnant black girl, shot dead during an illegal police operation in the Lins Vasconcelos Complex, also a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

In another complaint to the UN Council, Race and Equality and The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Mundo), the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites, Transsexuals and Intersexes (ABGLT) [2] was to denounce not only police violence, but also political violence that has haunted, delegitimized and silenced the Brazilian LGBTI+ population. The statement highlighted the case of Luana Barbosa, a black woman, mother and lesbian, brutally murdered by police in 2016, whose case was mentioned in Bachelet’s report. In addition, the implications of systemic racism traversed by sexism, makes the LGBTI+ population hostage not only of police brutality, which disrespects its gender identities in a violent way, but also hostage to the anti-gender agenda promoted by the current government, already institutionalized in the promotion of hate speech and closure of specific public policies that serve the LGBTI+ population.

Thus, it is worth remembering that the brutality of police violence in Brazil disproportionately affects the racialized population and people who express different genders. With the promotion of a state security policy that aims to eliminate these bodies, the system relies on the racist and LGBTIphobic structures and commands an eye-catching necropolitical project aimed at an agenda of ethnic-racial cleansing, promoting the genocide of the black population. Presented as a fait accompli by the government to disregard the injunction of the Supreme Court (STF) that restricts police operations in the city’s favelas during the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in more than 800 people killed by police since June 2020.

Responses from the States in the Region

In response to the complaints, the Brazilian state lamented the deaths cited by the High Commissioner’s report, making itself available to continue cooperating with the UN. Furthermore, the state informed that the justice system is investigating cases and intends to work on systemic responses and proposes to work specifically on human rights education for public authorities.

The Colombian government on the other hand, questioned the data presented on the murders of Afro-Colombian leaders and people during the National Strike, thus demanding that they be verified. In this way, it sought to delegitimize the protests that took place, emphasizing that the State does not tolerate violence by public servants that violate human rights— facts that can be proven both by media footage and by the constant denunciations of aggressions and deaths.

Race and Equality urges the States in the region to fully cooperate with the UN mechanism created to end impunity for racialized state violence; ensure accountability and remedies; and confront the roots of racism. In the case of Colombia, we express concern about the government’s negative response and our hope that the Colombian authorities will investigate and publicize human rights violations and killings against Afro-descendant defenders amid the National Strike protests.

As for Brazil, we hope that the State will follow up on investigations and on a human rights cooperation policy aimed at ending police violence and impunity for those responsible. We emphasize that Brazil needs to effectively implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism. Thus, we reaffirm our commitment to monitoring human rights violations by States and ensuring the implementation of this Resolution by the UN mechanism, so that it can work together with special procedures to strengthen accountability in the administration of racial justice. Finally, we believe that it is essential that the UN can ensure the participation of Afro-descendant peoples and communities in the formulation and implementation of States’ responses to systemic racism.

 

[1] Access the pronouncement: https://bit.ly/3yXYcfO (available only in English)
[2] Access the pronouncement: https://bit.ly/3r9WhC4 (available only in English)

#SOSCuba: Race and Equality Demands Respect for Life and the Right to Protest

Washington D.C., July 12, 2021.- In response to the massive protests that took place on Sunday, July 11, 2021 in different cities in Cuba, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), states its support for them, framed in the rights to association, peaceful protest, and in the set of human rights of Cubans recognized in their Constitution, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man.

Race and Equality, therefore, condemns that – contrary to its obligation to respect life and freedom of expression – the Government has reacted by repressing the mobilizations with disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detentions, energy shut-offs, and blockages of internet services, to which can be added the declarations of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in which he called upon his supporters to “confront these protests in the streets.”

Throughout the day on Sunday, the citizen protests took place in more than fifty cities across the Island, including Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Pinar del Río, San Antonio de los Baños, Camagüey, Santa Clara, Holguín, Cienfuegos, and Guantánamo. This wave of protests, which is unprecedented in the last sixty years of Cuban history, has been motivated by the profound health crisis in the country from the Covid-19 pandemic. This past July 8, the director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, confirmed that Cuba is the country in the Caribbean with the largest weekly number of cases. As such, in the first ten days of July, the Ministry of Public Health counted 44,546 new cases and 235 deaths.

This is in addition to a marked shortage of food and medicine, as well as severe restrictions on the exercise of civil and political rights, and to the persecution and harassment of activists, artists, and independent journalists. All of this led to thousands of people going out into the streets this Sunday to express their demands and call for solutions from the authorities. Nevertheless, from the beginning the Police tried to stop the mobilizations and censure the independent press that was covering them, including violent aggression against Ramón Espinosa, a Spanish photographer and Associated Press (AP) reporter. Furthermore, the Government has deployed to the streets an elite group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba known as “the black berets.”

Parallel to this, President Miguel Díaz-Canel made declarations in which he threatened the protesters, signaling that “they will have to pass over our corpses and we are ready for anything,” qualifying them as “mercenaries” and “counterrevolutionaries.” Therefore, on Monday – when more information about the repression on the part of the authorities circulated – Díaz-Canel, who is also First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, said that the protesters “have gotten the response they deserved.”

Activists and human rights defenders from different parts of the country shared with Race and Equality that since Sunday they are experiencing shut-offs in electricity and Internet service. They also referred to the Police, State Security, and paramilitaries besieging their houses, and that the persecution and threats against opposition members had intensified. Meanwhile, the organization Cubalex published a list of 94 people detained and disappeared, among them the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer.

Race and Equality is following the protests in Cuba with much concern, given the repressive response of the Government and its eagerness to stigmatize citizen expression, exposing the protesters to attacks from its supporters. We believe that these protests respond to a legitimate feeling of the population, which has been gravely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, and the human rights situation in the country. We call upon the authorities to cease the repression and open the channels of communication with the protesters in order to hear their demands and offer opportune responses in line with their human rights obligations.

Additionally, we urge the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the human rights mechanisms of the Universal System, to reinforce their monitoring of the human rights situation on the Island, for the sake of formulating recommendations to the State to guarantee the rights to life, personal integrity, protest, and freedom of expression in the midst of this new wave of citizen protests.

Race and Equality launches the report “Nicaragua, an unsolved human rights crisis: Analysis of arbitrary detentions, judicial processes without guarantees, and political persecution”

On July 7, 2021, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) published a report titled “Nicaragua, an unsolved human rights crisis: Analysis of arbitrary detentions, judicial processes without guarantees, and political persecution”. The report compiles the results of an exhaustive investigation into human rights violations committed against political prisoners who were arrested in connection to the protest movement of April 2018 and prosecuted in unfair trials.

 In the context of the 2018 protests, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has registered 328 murders, thousands of people exiled, and hundreds of politically-motivated arrests. More than 124 political prisoners remain behind bars for their links to the protests.

Race and Equality found that between April 18, 2018 and February 13, 2020, a total of 657 people were detained arbitrarily. 565 of these detainees were formally prosecuted in 279 different criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, 92 of them were deprived of their liberty for periods ranging from six days to four months without ever being formally accused or brought before a judge. 

Another key finding of the report is that 51% of the criminal proceedings carried out against the prisoners ended in convictions. 288 people were convicted in total, receiving sentences ranging from 6 months to 256 years. 192 people (76% of those convicted) received sentences of 5 or more years while 96 (24%) received penalties from 6 months to 4 years.

The report highlights the lack of judicial independence in Nicaragua, which has resulted in serious rights violations. The political prisoners whose cases are discussed in the report suffered violations of due process, judicial guarantees, and basic human rights throughout their trials. These violations included non-public trials, the harassment of their defense attorneys, the use of false witnesses and victims by prosecutors, and the excessive and widespread use of pre-trial detention.

Race and Equality’s Senior Legal Program Officer, Ana Bolaños, stated that “The State of Nicaragua is responsible for the actions of its police forces, along with the actions of para-police and civilian armed groups that coordinate their actions with official authorities and enjoy total impunity.”

Antonia Urrejola, the President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), remarked that the report will serve as an important tool for the international community by clarifying “the political and institutional antecedents that form the base of the current deterioration and crisis we find ourselves in today” and that the investigation “includes an exhaustive analysis of the human rights violations committed against political prisoners during their detentions and their trials, along with the challenges facing the rule of law and democratic governance in Nicaragua.” 

Given the alarming situation facing both political prisoners and those released from detention, Race and Equality included a series of recommendations for the State of Nicaragua in the report, including: 

  1. Immediately releasing all those still detained in connection to the April 2018 protests and those being charged with ‘common crimes’ in retaliation for their involvement with protests or the political opposition.
  1. Ending all police and para-police harassment against prisoners who have been released, their lawyers, the organizations that support and accompany them, and independent media outlets who report on their condition.
  1. Adopting all necessary measures to determine responsibility and ensure accountability for illegal detentions; abuses of authority; torture and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment; and other human rights violations committed by State agents.
  1. Allowing international human rights bodies, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to return to Nicaragua.

The report is available at Race and Equality’s website.

 

Inter-American Court decision in the case of Vicky Hernández and others vs. Honduras: an unprecedented ruling for the region’s trans community

Washington ,D.C., July 1, 2021.– On June 28, 2021, as the LGBTI+ community celebrated its struggle for human rights worldwide, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights released its decision in the case Vicky Hernández and others vs. Honduras. The decision is only the Court’s fifth ruling on LGBTI+ rights and its second on the rights of trans people. The Court decided, for the first time, that the rights of trans and travesti women are protected under the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para). The Court also ordered the State of Honduras to implement a law on gender identity within two years, an unprecedented reparations order for the region.

Vicky Hernández was a trans woman, sex workers, and human rights defender who was killed in 2009 during Honduras’ coup d’état. On June 28, 2009, a state of emergency was ordered amidst the unrest of the coup. According to witnesses, that day, police attempted to arrest Hernández and other women who were outside pursuing sex work. The women fled, and the next day Hernández was found dead. Her death came amidst many arbitrary detentions and homicides that accompanied fierce protests in the context of the coup.

Among the Court’s findings is that Honduras suffers from “a context of continuous violence against LGBTI people dating back at least to 1994” that worsened, particularly for trans women pursuing sex work, during the 2009 coup. The Court pointed out that the Organization of American States (OAS) has expressed concern about violence and discrimination against LGBTI+ people in the region since 2008, emphasizing that this population lacks social visibility and protection across the Americas.

The Court emphasized that even before Hernández’s death, she suffered multiple violent attacks at the hands of the police. Citing Claudia Spellmant Sosa, director of the Color Rosa Collective, it wrote that Hernández had approached the Collective multiple times to report arbitrary detentions and physical attacks. The Court held the State responsible for these abuses, for the context of unaccountable police control over public spaces during the coup, for the situation of generalized abuses against LGBTI+ people in Honduras, and for violence and discrimination by the police against trans women.

The State of Honduras accepted some responsibility, acknowledging failures in the investigation of Hernández’s death that violate its obligations under Article 8.1 (judicial guarantees) and Article 25 (legal protection) of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights. The Court made several additional points regarding the State’s responsibility, including the unmet need to account for Hernández’s gender identity, her work as an activist, and the possible role of state agents in her death during its investigation. The Court reiterated its findings in Gutiérrez Hernández and others vs. Guatemala and Azul Rojas Marín and other vs. Perú, which discuss gender stereotypes and their impact on the actions of public officials.

Finally, the Court’s decision lays out standards on trans people’s and people of diverse gender identities’ right to a name, stating that “States must respect, and guarantee to every person the possibility of registering, changing, rectifying, or adapting, their name and other essential components of their identity such as image and reference to sex or gender, without interference from public authorities or third parties.” This decision opens the doors for more States to guarantee meaningful rights to gender identity.

Race and Equality welcomes and celebrates this ruling as a historic victory. It not only names a State as responsible in the murder of a female trans sex worker and rights defender, it also includes reparations orders that, if implemented, will mark an important advance in the recognition and protection of LGBTI+ rights in Honduras and in the rest of the region.

Race and Equality applauds the Court’s decision, especially its reparations order requiring the implementation of a gender identity law and the collection of disaggregated data on violence against LGBTI+ persons including variables of “ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, health status, age, and class or immigration or economic status.” We hope that the ruling will become a reference as civil society demands justice in cases of violence against LGBTI+ people throughout the region. We are confident that this ruling will be a tool for civil society to identify patterns of violence and discrimination against the LGBTI+ population and seek justice and reform. For states, it has great potential to advance policies and laws that advance the rights of LGBTI+ people.

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