Three trans women murdered in Guatemala
Three trans women were brutally murdered in Guatemala in just one week between October 26 and November 2, 2009.
On Monday October 26th, Kenia Mayli was shot to death in the center of Guatemala City. Her body showed signs that she was tortured by being hit by a car around her head and shoulders before she was shot.
Then, on Saturday, October 31, Jessica Andreina's body was found by other trans women colleagues, in the city of Puerto Barros, departament of Izabal, in the north of the country. She was also killed by gunfire.
Shortly thereafter, on Monday November 2nd, Sabrina Garcia Carjas, was stoned to death. Sabrina was a member of the organization OTRANS — Reinas de la Noche.
Read more about LGBT human rights in Guatemala »
Violence against trans women worldwide
The Trans Murder Monitoring Project of Transgender Europe (TGEU) and "Liminalis - A Journal for Sex/Gender Emancipation and Resistance" focuses on systematically reporting murdered trans people internationally. Preliminary results have shown that the highest rates of murder reports have come form Latin America, with eighty-two reported murders of trans people form Brazil, 20 from Venezuela, 11 from Colombia, 10 from Guatemala, 10 from Mexico, 5 from Honduras, 4 from Venezuela, 3 from Argentina and 3 from the Dominican Republic. In total 91 murders of trans people were reported in 11 Latin American countries in 2008, and 73 murders of trans people in 11 Latin American countries in the first six months of 2009. The reported murders of trans people in Latin America account for 75% and 88% of the world wide reported murders of trans people in 2008 and the first six months of 2009 respectively.
Trans women in Guatemala and all over the world experience grave violations of their human rights when they are attacked and killed with impunity, lacking protection from the government and facing severe discrimination when accessing the basic necessities such as health care, housing, and education.
International Law
Many international human rights declarations and treaties to which Guatemala is a party, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the American Convention on Human Rights (American Convention), and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (IACPPT) ensure the rights to life and security, the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to be free from discrimination, the right to equality before the law, and the right to freedom of expression.
The Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity specify that, "everyone has the right to life. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life, including by reference to considerations of sexual orientation or gender identity" and that, "everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, has the right to security of the person and to protection by the State against violence or bodily harm, whether inflicted by government officials or by any individual or group (Principle 4)."