Case History: Donny Reyes
Donny Reyes has suffered attacks, intimidation, threats, and beatings by the police. He was forced to leave Honduras and go into hiding a number of times. Between July 2015 and January 2016, his association has reported 36 security incidents and six of its members have been killed.
Donny Reyes is the director of Asociación Arcoiris, an LGBTI organisation established in 2003. The association provides support to LGBTI persons victims of violence, works on awareness initiatives, promotes HIV prevention programs and lobbies the Honduran government to advance LGBTI's rights in the country.
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- About
- 2 September 2015 : Killings of LGBTI rights defenders
- 10 September 2013 : LGBT rights organisation Asociación LGTB Arcoiris targeted with break-in and theft for second time in a week
- 4 September 2013 : Break-in and theft at offices of LGBT rights organisation Asociación LGTB Arcoiris
- 7 May 2012 : Police fail to respond to attempted killing of LGBTI human rights defender Donny Reyes because they have no petrol
- 22 October 2008 : LGBT human rights defender beaten and assaulted in police custody
On 7 September 2013, the offices of the Asociación LGTB Arcoiris (LGBT Rainbow Association) were broken into and burgled for the second time in the space of a week following a similar incident on 1 September.
The Asociación LGTB Arcoiris is an organisation that promotes equality and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Honduras.
The organisation was targeted again during the early morning of 7 September 2013, when unknown assailants gained entry to the premises via the same route as a week earlier, through a window on the second floor of the building some 10 metres above the ground.
Computers, a television and other furniture were taken from the office while other security equipment, including CCTV cameras, was severely damaged. The types of items taken and damaged strongly indicate that the intruders were specifically targeting the organisation's security equipment rather than items of value in general. The route of entry also suggests that the assailants were well-prepared and specifically targeted the Asociación LGTB Arcoiris.
A complaint has been filed with the police following the incident, although it is reported that so far, the police have not visited the office premises despite the apparent intensification of the long-standing pattern of harassment and intimidation against the organisation. Staff members of the Asociación LGTB Arcoiris are currently exploring the possibility of relocating.
The Asociación LGTB Arcoiris has long been targeted with threats by influential public figures in the media, and operates in a general context where human rights defenders working in Honduras face extremely high levels of violence against them, with investigations rarely being carried out or when if they are often failing to yield results. LGBT rights defenders are particularly at risk in this climate due to widespread social hostility to their efforts to promote respect for the rights of LGBT people.
On 7 September 2013, the offices of the Asociación LGTB Arcoiris (LGBT Rainbow Association) were broken into and burgled for the second time in the space of a week following a similar incident on 1 September.
The Asociación LGTB Arcoiris is an organisation that promotes equality and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Honduras.
The organisation was targeted again during the early morning of 7 September 2013, when unknown assailants gained entry to the premises via the same route as a week earlier, through a window on the second floor of the building some 10 metres above the ground.
Computers, a television and other furniture were taken from the office while other security equipment, including CCTV cameras, was severely damaged. The types of items taken and damaged strongly indicate that the intruders were specifically targeting the organisation's security equipment rather than items of value in general. The route of entry also suggests that the assailants were well-prepared and specifically targeted the Asociación LGTB Arcoiris.
A complaint has been filed with the police following the incident, although it is reported that so far, the police have not visited the office premises despite the apparent intensification of the long-standing pattern of harassment and intimidation against the organisation. Staff members of the Asociación LGTB Arcoiris are currently exploring the possibility of relocating.
On 1 September 2013, the offices of the organisation Asociación LGTB Arcoiris (LGBT Rainbow Association) were broken into and a computer was stolen. The circumstances of the robbery indicate that it was a targeted attack, the latest in a long series of harassment acts that the organisation's leaders and members have been facing.
The Asociación LGTB Arcoiris is an organisation that promotes equality and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Honduras.
The assailants entered the organisation's offices, located on Avenida República de Chile in Tegucigalpa, through the second floor windows over 10 metres above the ground. The perpetrators removed the computer that registers the organisation's security cameras. Nothing else appears to have been removed. The perpetrators then exited via the same route.
The Asociación LGTB Arcoiris has long been targeted with threats by influential public figures in the media, and operates in a general context where human rights defenders working in Honduras face extremely high levels of violence against them, with investigations that are rarely carried out or yield results. LGBT rights defenders are particularly at risk in this climate due to widespread social hostility to their efforts to promote respect for the rights of LGBT people.
LGBTI human rights defender Donny Reyes describes what happened when a lone gun man tried to kill him on his way to work.
"On 5 July 2012 I was leaving my home in Tegucigalpa when I spotted a man on a motor cycle on the corner who was obviously watching the house. He was about 150 netres away. This wasn't the first time I have been tracked like this so I spotted him straight away and tried to act normally.
I got into the car but as I was pulling out into the traffic I saw that he was following me and trying to catch up. I swung out into the traffic and took a sharp right – not taking the normal route.
This gave me a bit of space and I managed to double back to the house and laid low for an hour or so. Later I looked out, the coast appeared to be clear and I decided to head off to work which is quite close by – I just had to drive down the street and cross over a small bridge.
All the time I was watching in the wing and rear view mirrors but just as I was coming up to the bridge I spotted the motor cycle pulling up beside me on the passenger side and I saw him pulling out the gun and starting to take aim.
I began to think that this time they would get me but at the same time I started to think to myself – if he pulls up beside me again I will drive the car at him. I accelerated and managed to pull ahead.
He starts to catch up again and this time he starts pulling up alongside me on drivers side still with the gun out and laughing like a maniac. All this time I am pulling up over the bridge and just at that point a huge lorry was coming in the opposite direction and the gunman had to drop back.
Just as I come over the bridge I remember that there is a small local police station a couple of blocks away and I try to get there as quickly as possible hoping there will be someone on duty. A block away from the police station the gunman obviously realises where I'm headed and he drops back completely and heads off in another direction.
I have a friend who works for Colectivo Violeta and he helped me to get in touch with a lawyer in CIPRODEH and we made an official complaint to the police so that they would come and escort me to a safe place. In theory I have been granted Precautionary Measures at the request of the InterAmerican Commission for Human Rights but still we couldn't get the Human Rights Unit of the National Security Agency to do anything.
Eventually the people in CIPRODEH sent a car and brought me back to their offices where we finally managed to contact a lawyer in the National Sate Security Agency and we set up a meeting for 10.00am the next day in the Prosecutor's office and they said they would invite the Head of the National Police to attend.
At 09.30 the next morning the lawyer's assistant rings CIPRODEH and informs them that the Human Rights Unit of the National Security Agency cannot come to the meeting because they dont have any petrol for their official cars.
CIPRODEH offer to pay for the petrol by the Human Rights Unit say they couldn't accept that for ethical reasons.
Subsequently, ie 5 days later, the Under Secretary of State wrote saying how unhappy she was about what had happened.
These are her exact words.
'Firstly I want to tell how how sorry I am for this impasse which developed and which absolutely should never be allowed to happen again. I was out of the country at the time and was not notified of the problem which was caused by the fact that the garage which supplies petrol to the National Security Agency refused to give any more petrol because they had not been paid, a problem which is being resolved at this moment. However I acknowledge that this is not a valid reason for failing to deal with such a serious issue.
I believe that your case was not adequately dealt with by the staff in my office and I have in the past left instructions that in these situations they can use the car which has been assigned for my personal use. We are taking all necessary steps to remedy this situation and I urge you to contact this office to reschedule the meeting as soon as possible.
My deepest apologies for what happened, and we will take steps to ensure it will never happen again'"
On 18 March 2007, at 03.00 am, Donny Reyes was accompanying a female colleague to a taxi outside the Arcoiris offices. Six police officers approached and demanded ID papers. Donny Reyes showed them his identity card but they ordered him into the car. He refused. They beat him saying, “We have to clear these queers from here” and forced him into the car.
At Comayagüela police station, Donny Reyes was put in a cell with 57 prisoners and a police officer reportedly said, “Look, I’ve brought you a little princess; you know what to do”.
The prisoners beat and stripped Donny Reyes. He was then gang raped by four men. In the morning the police officers offered the prisoners freedom for a bribe of 200 lempiras (US$10). Donny Reyes reported the incident to the Public Prosecutor’s office but to date there has been no progress and the principal witness has been the target of a recent assassination attempt.
