BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Colombia has made no progress in stopping killings of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, campaigners said, as new research showed more than 100 were killed last year despite an overall fall in the murder rate.
Colombia’s murder rate fell to its lowest level in four decades last year, according to government figures, but the number of LGBT people killed has not dropped.
There were 109 reported murders of LGBT people last year and 108 in 2016, according to a report by rights group Colombia Diversa. Most victims were gay men or transgender women.
“Despite advances made in recognizing (LGBT) rights, the peace process, and the general decrease in homicides in the country, violence against LGBT people does not show a similar reduction,” said the report, published this week.
The president’s adviser on human rights, Paula Gaviria, said Colombia was committed to protecting LGBT people.
“The murders of LGBTI people pain us,” Gaviria said. “We need that violence stops being what defines us as a country. Nothing can and should be above the respect for life.”
Marcela Sanchez, head of Colombia Diversa, said that while more state prosecutors had been trained in LGBT rights and appointed to investigate hate crimes and murders, most still went unpunished.
“This hasn’t translated into better investigations and sentencing,” Sanchez told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Read more via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Homicidios y amenazas a LGBT, más que una cifra
Cifras de homicidios, hechos de violencia policial y amenazas a personas lesbianas, gays, bisexuales y trans en la región Caribe, son reveladas en el informe de Derechos Humanos de personas LGBT 2017: “La Discriminación, una guerra que no termina”.
El documento, elaborado por Caribe Afirmativo en asocio con Colombia Diversa, precisa que en Bolívar hubo un “descenso significativo” de homicidios, pues de registrar cinco crímenes en 2016, el departamento pasó a dos el año anterior. Los hechos de violencia policial ni disminuyeron ni aumentaron. El año anterior ocurrió un caso, al igual que hace dos años; y las amenazas registraron una baja de dos a una.
Para conocer más allá de las cifras, cómo se está perpetrando la violencia contra esta vulnerada comunidad, Wilson Castañeda, director de Caribe Afirmativo, relató a El Universal cada uno de los casos ocurridos en Bolívar. Se reservó los nombres de las víctimas.
En la “La Discriminación, una guerra que no termina”, se manifiesta que “en los últimos años se ha implementado el programa de fiscales destacados para asuntos LGBTI. Sin embargo, hemos encontrado que a pesar del intento por mejorar la atención e investigación de los casos de violencia a personas LGBTI, no se están presentando avances significativos en la materia, encontrándose obstáculos en la investigación de casos”. Read more via El Universal
Homicides and threats to LGBT, more than a figure
Figures of homicides, acts of police violence and threats to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Caribbean region are revealed in the LGBT 2017 Human Rights report: "Discrimination, a war that does not end".
The document, prepared by Caribe Afirmativo in association with Colombia Diversa, states that in Bolívar there was a "significant decrease" in homicides, since of registering five crimes in 2016, the department passed to two the previous year. The acts of police violence neither diminished nor increased. The previous year a case occurred, as it did two years ago; and the threats registered a drop of two to one.
To know beyond the figures, how is violence being perpetrated against this violated community, Wilson Castañeda, director of Caribbean Afirmativo, told El Universal each one of the cases that occurred in Bolívar. The names of the victims were reserved.
In the "Discrimination, a war that does not end", it is stated that "in recent years the program of prominent prosecutors for LGBTI issues has been implemented. However, we have found that despite the attempt to improve the attention and investigation of cases of violence against LGBTI people, no significant advances are being made in the matter, finding obstacles in the investigation of cases. "