Case History: Gloria Carolina Hernández Vásquez

On 18 September 2015, poet and LGBTI rights defender Ms Gloria Carolina Hernández Vásquez, also known as Génesis Hernández, was kidnapped and brought to the outskirts of Tegucigalpa where she was killed.

Witnesses say she was subjected to homophobic slurs before her killing. This follows the killing of LGBTI rights defender Mr Jorge Alberto Castillo on 6 September 2015, as well as those of LGBTI rights defenders Angy Ferreira, Juan Carlos Cruz Andara and Violeta Rivas during the summer months of 2015.

Génesis Hernández and Jorge Alberto Castillo both collaborated with the Asociación por una Vida Mejor - APUVIMEH (Association for a Better Life). APUVIMEH works with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community and those affected by HIV/AIDS in Honduras. It also operates Casa Renacer shelter for people with HIV/AIDS and those of the LGBTI community, and runs several projects including a programme for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and sexual infections, and a youth project. Jorge Alberto Castillo was a founding member of the Casa Renacer. The human rights defender was one of the first people to begin claiming LGBTI rights in Honduras. Génesis Hernández was a poet of protest who had dealt with the sexual rights of women, including lesbians and bisexual women, in her poetry as a way of giving visibility to these issues. She had also taken part in many marches for LGBTI rights and recently had to flee the city owing to threats against her.

On 18 September 2015, at approximately midday, Génesis Hernández was kidnapped by unknown men in two vans, one grey and one green, from just outside her home in Tegucigalpa. The human rights defender was brought to the Comayagüela area of Tegucigalpa where she was forced out of the vehicle with her hands tied. She was then forced to stand against a wall and, according to witnesses, was verbally abused regarding her sexual orientation and subsequently shot twice in the head.

On 6 September 2015, Jorge Alberto Castillo was stoned to death near his home in El Manchén, Tegucigalpa. His colleagues consider his killing to amount to a hate crime, owing to its brutal nature. However, to date, there has been no progress in the investigation of his killing.

These killings follow a pattern of intimidation against members of APUVIMEH. On 31 July 2015, as the director of APUVIMEH Ms Sandra Zambrano and other staff and volunteers of the organisation Messrs Cristian Daniel Cortes Sagastume, Silvio Gerardo Artola and Carlos Alberto Cardona Varela were leaving the Chinese market, a police car (no. M-103) drove past and, without offering any justification, ordered them to get into the car. The human rights defenders were brought to the police station in the Alemán area of Comayagüela, where mug-shot style photographs were taken of them with the mobile phone of one of the police officers. When a police officer at the station asked why the group had been brought in, he was told to write down that they were drunk in public (poneles que andaban de vagos o que andan bolos), despite the fact that none of the group had been drinking. The group were then brought to the station in Belén, Comayagüela where they were held for a full day on 1 August 2015. They were not permitted to make a phone call, or given access to food or water, nor were they read their rights or informed of the reasons for their detention. They were finally released at 6:30pm on 1 August 2015 when Cristian Daniel Cortes Sagastume's mother paid 300 HNL (approximately 13 euro) to the authorities.

These events were reported informally to the Secretariat of Security and the National Commission for Human Rights on 3 August 2015, however a formal complaint was not submitted. On 8 August 2015, APUVIMEH received a note explaining that there would be an immediate investigation by the police, who would visit the house of the complainant in the case. However, the police officers who visited Sandra Zambrano's house were those who had detained them. The police officers parked outside the house with the sirens on before interrogating the human rights defenders, including asking them why they were planning to report the detention.

On 3 March 2015, a volunteer at APUVIMEH, Mr Efraín Salomón Silva, was attacked by unidentified men in Lepaterique who verbally abused and used discriminatory language against him. The human rights defender reported the attack, but, to date, no investigator has been assigned to the case.

In July 2015, Sandra Zambrano made an application to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights in which she requested a broadening of protection measures granted to the organisation in 2013. Sandra Zambrano has declared the Honduran state responsible for any injury or attack which may befall her, her colleagues or her family.

Front Line Defenders once again expresses its consternation at the appalling situation for LGBTI rights defenders in Honduras. Front Line Defenders condemns the killings of Génesis Hernández and Jorge Alberto Castillo in the strongest terms and also expresses grave concern at the harassment and violence against Sandra Zambrano, Cristian Daniel Cortes Sagastume, Silvio Gerardo Artola, Carlos Alberto Cardona Varela and Efraín Salomón Silva as it believes that all of these events are directly related to their peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights in Honduras.