Six Transgender Women Murdered In Sixty Days In Honduras With Zero Arrests As Gay Rights Activists Call On Government To “Fulfill Its Commitment To Protect The Rights Of All Hondurans Regardless Of Their Gender Identity And Sexual Orientation”

CNN reports on the sickening surge in hate crimes committed against members of the gay community in Honduras, and the abject absent of any appropriate response by authorities, Yndira Mendoza, the director of the Cathrachas Network, an umbrella organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups, saying that abuse based on sexual orientation in the Central American country is widespread. "Our fellow transsexuals are murdered on the street with a gunshot to the head. Our fellow gay people are being brutally killed inside their homes. But the last five murders that have happened here in Tegucigalpa have been extreme hate crimes that we have seen in recent times. Victims have been raped, stabbed, shot at, and even strangled," said Mendoza. At an emergency meeting last week in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, members of the LGBT community shared stories of horror. A transsexual who identified herself only as “Perla” told CNN that police officers routinely participate in attacks. "They have beaten us a lot. If we ask them "why are you beating us?" they say that we don't have any rights. And then they beat us, they take away our identification documents, and then they want to take us to jail saying that we don't have papers," say Perla A spokesperson for the Honduran Department of Public Safety, however, says steps are being taken to remedy the situation, Leonel Sauceda saying "We would like to make it clear that our criminal investigations division has opened a wide-ranging investigation with the objective of finding those responsible for these acts so that they can be detained and prosecuted.” In November, 2010, the government of President Porfirio Lobo created the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, a part of that agency’s mission the investigation of hate crimes against gays, Justice and Human Rights Minister Ana Pineda saying “These kinds of acts are regrettable for many reason and we need to remind ourselves that human rights are universal.” The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says it is “deeply concerned” about the murders of members of the transgender community in Honduras. The commission says it is calling on the Honduran government “to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible and redress promptly and diligently the violations.”

Meanwhile, Monday, the Human Rights Watch and the Red Lesbica Cattrachas, a Honduran lesbian advocacy group, released a statement demanding that the government “ensure a prompt and thorough investigation of the recent murders of transgender women and bring those responsible to justice. According to the Human Rights Watch, there have been an astonishing six murders of transgender women in sixty days and zero arrests. Among them, 23 year old Luisa Alvarado Hernandez, found in the gutter outside her home on December 18th, 2010. She had multiple facial wounds, suggesting she had been hit repeatedly with a solid object, her face so badly beaten it was unrecognizable. A used condom was found next to her, but there have been no media reports about whether she had been sexual abused prior to her murder. Dipika Nath, of the Human Rights Watch, says "The government needs to act urgently to fulfill its obligations under international treaties and swiftly arrest and bring to trial those responsible for these murders. It is up to the government to fulfill its commitment to protect the rights of all Hondurans regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation."