Contact: Ethan St.Pierre at [email protected]

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liminalis-2009-tmm-namelistjanjune2009-en
 
 
 
 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bil-browning/arrest-made-in-taysia-elz_b_154759.html

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-10491.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/22/BAF015EK8H.DTL

http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/09/Jan/2001.htm

http://www.ilgaeurope.org/europe/guide/
country_by_country/serbia/ilga_europe_letter_to_the_government_of_serbia
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http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1766
Honduras: Killing of transgender human rights defender, Cynthia Nicole
Posted on 2009/01/16

Front Line is gravely concerned following reports received regarding the killing of transgender human rights defender, Cynthia Nicole, on 9 January 2009. Cynthia Nicole was a leader in Colectivo Violeta, an organisation which has worked in the defence of the rights of transgender people since 1995. Her work included providing information on HIV/AIDS and human rights, as well as representing her community at national conferences and in the media. She also worked as a translator with representatives of Front Line during a recent visit to Honduras to meet with human rights defenders at risk.
Further Information

Early in the morning on 9 January 2009, Cynthia Nicole was shot three times in the chest and once in the head by three unknown men driving a blue car in Barrio Guaserique, Comayaguela, near Tegucigalpa. Police investigators have reportedly found the abandoned car and the bullet casings from the shooting, but to date none of the perpetrators have been identified.

Front Line believes that the killing of Cynthia Nicole may be related to her legitimate human rights activities, in particular her involvement in the defence of the rights of the transgender community. Given that there have reportedly been several violent attacks against transgender people in the country in recent months, Front Line is concerned that this may form part of an ongoing trend of harassment against the transgender community in Honduras.
Action Finished:

This Urgent Appeal has now ended. No further action is requested at this point. Thank you for taking action on this case.

Front Line issues Urgent Appeals on behalf of human rights defenders at risk on a daily basis. These Appeals normally remain active on our web site for a period of up to six weeks, depending on the situation. After this time they will be archived. Front Line maintains a watching brief on all these cases but no further action is requested after the six weeks, unless there is a significant development in the case.

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Press Conference
Date: March 12, 2009
Time: 13:00
Memorial
Date: March 12, 2009
Time: 18:30

Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Dayanisma Dernegi
Tel: +90 (0) 212 245 70 68
Istiklâl Caddesi, Katip Celebi Mah. Tel Sok. No: 28/6 Kat:5
Beyoglu – Istanbul
www.lambdaistanbul.org
[email protected]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/13/Transgender-woman-killed-in-Turkey/UPI-66811236992938/

http://www.bianet.org/english/kategori/english/113798/transgender-melek-murdered-in-ankara

Ebru Soykan, 28, transwoman, 10. March 2009, Istanbul, stabbed to death in her home.

“Members of Lambda Istanbul, which works for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual (LGBTT) people, told Human Rights Watch that in the last month Ebru had asked the Prosecutor’s Office for protection from the man who had beaten her on several occasions and threatened to kill her. Lambda Istanbul was told that a few weeks ago police detained the man but released him two hours later. The same man is under police custody as the murder suspect.” -Press Release from Human Rights Watch, March 13, 2009

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4947561/

http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=3729&MediaType=1&Category=24

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14092&ArticleId=332588

Source:  http://www.impunitywatch.com/impunity_watch_south_amer/2009/06/transgender-murders-continue-in-venezuela.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8076379.stm

Video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8076366.stm

Man kills girlfriend of 2 years after learning she used to be a man

23 June 2009
MosNews.com

http://www.mosnews.com/weird/2009/06/23/transsexual/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8076379.stm  (20 murders in Venezuela)

Venezuela ’silent’ on hate crimes rise

Estrella Cerezo: ‘It is not easy being transsexual in Latin America’

By Will Grant
BBC News, Caracas
In a city where about 40 murders take place every weekend, it may not come as a big surprise that four prostitutes have been killed on the same stretch of road in Caracas in recent months.

But when you find out that all four were transsexuals or transgender, it changes the picture somewhat.

The bodies were reportedly found with money, mobile phones and handbags still on them, suggesting the attacks were not simple robberies.

“We have seen a definite increase in violence against transsexuals this year,” says Estrella Cerezo, a founding member of the Venezuelan transgender rights group Transvenus.

“We’ve registered over 20 murders of transsexual people in Venezuela so far this year, which is more than twice the number seen in the second half of last year,” says Ms Cerezo, who is a transsexual hairdresser in one of the rougher neighbourhoods of Caracas, Flores de Catia.

But she says the real number of attacks is difficult to keep track of.

“Many attacks against transsexual or transgender people – especially against transsexual prostitutes – go unreported. The police aren’t interested in investigating them properly. They just define them as crimes of passion, file them away, and leave it at that.”

Law professor Tamara Adrian – one of the leading transgender figures in Venezuela – agrees with this assessment.

“I think the violence against the transsexual community is hidden within the high, and rising, levels of violence we are currently experiencing in Venezuela.”

“Hate crimes become absorbed into the more generic violence in this country and often are not identified as anti-gay hate crimes as such,” Dr Adrian says.

Limited options

It is not just violence either. Transsexuals are regularly humiliated and insulted in the streets.

Groups of youths have even filmed themselves abusing transsexual prostitutes on Caracas’ notorious Avenue Libertador, the main area for prostitution in the capital, and uploaded the videos to YouTube.

For Ms Cerezo the problems stem from the fact that transsexuals in Venezuela, as in other parts of Latin America, are forced to the margins of society because of deep-seated prejudice.

“In general, transsexuals only have two areas in which they can work – either as beauticians or as prostitutes.”

She says her own situation is a case in point. “I am a trained nurse, but as soon as I graduated I came out as the woman I really am. Once I did that, all the doors began to close. I couldn’t find any work in the public hospitals or healthcare centres – not even work experience.”

The United Nations office on HIV/Aids protection agrees that the problem in Latin America is rife.

“Sexual violence is a reality for many sexual minorities and often sex work is the only viable option to make a living for transgender and transsexual people,” said UNAids’ Head of Civil Society Partnerships, Andy Seale, at a meeting in Brazil in 2006.

Silence

However, Dr Adrian says that in Venezuela the failure to act on the issues facing the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community is at odds with the socialist government’s rhetoric on social inclusion.

“The important thing to understand about the LGBT community in Venezuela is that they are given no legal protection whatsoever,” says Dr Adrian.

“There are huge prejudices still in place among the legal actors themselves – inside the state prosecutor’s office, the police, the judiciary and the national assembly.

“There is no recognition of the trans community at the official level,” Dr Adrian continues.

“We have done studies which show that most transsexual and transgender people in Venezuela have barely obtained third or fourth-grade primary school education. Many not even that.

“So if the system doesn’t recognise you, nor provide for your protection in any way, then obviously it is going to be very difficult to get any kind of decent job – pushing them further into the shadows and the sex industry,” explains Dr Adrian.

Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia are among the Latin American countries where significant inroads have been made for the LGBT community.

These include in some cases the recognition of same sex civil unions, legal cohabitation, and the right as a transsexual to have your birth certificate changed.

Venezuela, says Dr Adrian, is well behind the rest of the region.

“In 2004, I went to the Supreme Court of Justice to take out a direct injunction against the constitution in Venezuela, requesting that all my documents be legally changed to reflect my gender identity.

“Since then, I have been met with silence. In five years, they haven’t even ruled on the admissibility of my petition.”

Official response

The government, however, argues that steps are being taken.

President Hugo Chavez has referred to gay rights several times on his TV programme Alo Presidente, and a change to family law has been introduced in the national assembly which would include the right to marriage for gay couples.

The socialist MP who presented the project, Romelia Matute, says the trans community has suffered in the Venezuela, particularly because of the contry’s religious tradition.

“They were considered ‘the devil’, and in many circles, they still are,” she said.

“Our response as the government has been this legal project which, among other things, would grant access to sex change operations on the public healthcare system.”

What about the attacks suffered by the prostitutes in areas like Avenue Libertador – sometimes, they say, at the hands of the police?

“That is going on, yes. But in a sense, the transsexual community must do more for themselves too,” Ms Matute says.

“There has been no visible group or march to support this proposed change in the law. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if this is rejected by the national assembly, it would be the fault of the LGBT community for being too timid, for not organising themselves properly,” she says.

For Dr Adrian, a transsexual university lecturer who has overcome significant obstacles to be accepted in her public life, nothing could be further from the truth.

“That change in the law has not even been discussed by the assembly yet and it seems the head of the family commission is staunchly opposed to anything which would grant equal rights to transgender people,” she says.

As for the president, she says, “we have been trying for years to get close to Chavez on this matter. We are pretty much sure that unless he addresses this personally, it will not happen.”

At her small, stuffy hairdressing salon in the basement of a building in Flores de Catia, Estrella Cerezo is realistic about what the future holds.

“I believe the government is trying to help us,” she says.

“But if things are getting better in terms of our demands being taken seriously by the government, they are getting worse in terms of violent attacks and our personal safety. Security here is a big problem, and we are easy targets,” Ms Cerezo says.

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[7/11/09]

FIRST ON 4 UPDATE: Arrest made in transvestite murder

El Paso Police arrested Michael Manuel Herrera last night in
connection with the murder of Cesar Torres. While police walked him
to the jail last night – Herrera told us he was “Torres’ boyfriend for
six months.”

As we reported first Thursday – people who live in the neighborhood on
West Missouri Street tell us Torres was a transvestite and would often
go out in women’s clothes.

Investigators say the two were at Torres’ apartment Monday night when
they started fighting. Herrera started beating Torres and eventually
stabbed him on his right side. His body was found three days later by
a neighbor and friend.

An autopsy report says Torres died from blunt force trauma. He had
cuts around his eyes, broken ribs, a broken nose, a ruptured liver,
wrenched neck and several stab wounds.

Investigators say they found Herrera’s fingerprint at the scene.
Police found him at the Opportunity Center, a homeless shelter on
Myrtle Street.

We are continuing to investigate this story – and will have more today
on KDBC 4 News @ 530p & 1000p.

FROM A NEWS RELEASE SENT TO THE KDBC 4 NEWSROOM:

EL PASO, TEXAS -A man’s death is ruled a homicide. The Crimes Against
Persons Unit (CAP) continue their investigation into 39-year old Cesar
Torres’ death. An autopsy was performed today and Torres’s death was
ruled a homicide. For the integrity of the investigation the cause of
death is not being released at this time. Anyone with information is
asked to call police at 832-4400 or Crime Stoppers at 566-TIPS (8477).

HISTORY: – Officers from the El Paso Police Department’s Central
Regional Command Center responded to the unattended death of a 39
year-old male at the 500 Block of W. Missouri. The cause of death
has not been determined at this time, therefore, detectives from the
Crimes Against Persons Unit (CAP) are continuing with the
investigation. If anyone has any information that can assist
investigators they are encouraged to call Police Communications at
(915) 832-4400.

© Copyright 2000 – 2009 WorldNow and KDBC. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=10672333

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Nanaboo

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Other sources:
http://www.bianet.org/english/gender/transsexual-melek-s-killer-arrested
http://www.ilga-europe.org/europe/news/transgender_persons_should_have_their_human_rights_fully_respected_says_commissioner_hammarberg

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http://www.transgenderdor.org/wp-admin/page.php?action=edit&post=192&message=1&_wp_original_http_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.transgenderdor.org%2Fwp-admin%2Fedit-pages.php

Murder victim Durham graduate Andrea Waddell

8:38am Monday 19th October 2009

Comments (0) Have your say »

By Mark Tallentire »

A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a Durham University graduate who underwent gender surgery and worked as a prostitute.

Detectives launched a murder inquiry after Andrea Waddell’s body was found in a burned-out flat in Brighton, on Thursday night. She had been strangled.

Ms Waddell was born a man, but began hormone treatment while studying philosophy at Durham – ending her three-year course as Andrea Waddell.

She underwent gender surgery while studying for a master’s degree in social and political thought at the University of Sussex.

Yesterday, a Sussex Police spokeswoman said a 42-year-old man from Brighton, arrested on Saturday night in connection with the 29-year-old’s murder was in custody.

In a statement released by Sussex Police, Ms Waddell’s family said she was born Alexander Waddell but developed ambivalent gender feelings as a teenager.

During her gender change, Ms Waddell nearly died after developing acute ulcerative colitis, but continued to live “incapacitated by pain but fiercely independent”, the statement from her parents Sonia and Robin and brother Nick said.

It ended: “We know she is now finally free of this pain and at peace.”

At a press conference in Brighton police station, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Hibbert appealed for members of Brighton’s sex industry to come forward if they had information about Ms Waddell’s death.

He said she was “discreet” about her work as a prostitute but sometimes took clients home to her one-bedroom flat, where she was thought to live alone.

Ms Waddell moved to Brighton about five years ago. She was last seen alive on Thursday.

Her car was towed away by police for forensic examination.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 0845-60-70-999, quoting Operation Merewood.