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WINDY CITY TIMES
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Gutierrez denounces Puerto Rico move against civil rights
From a news release
2011-12-07
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This article shared 3146 times since Wed Dec 7, 2011
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( Washington, DC ) -- Press reports from Puerto Rico indicate the ruling party there is attempting to amend the penal code in the legislature to make it harder to charge criminals with hate crimes when crimes are committed against people because of their gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Senate bill ( Proyecto del Senado ) 2021 would specifically remove sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender and national origin as protected classes under the hate crimes section of Puerto Rico penal law. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez ( D-IL ) , an outspoken critic of what he has called a civil and human rights crisis in Puerto Rico, condoned and driven by the ruling party, issued the following statement to reporters today.
"To say this is appalling is an understatement. Excluding more people from protections under the law is exactly the wrong thing to do, especially right now. This year, violence has been on the upswing in Puerto Rico, particularly crimes -- including scores of murders — against women, against members of the LGBT community and against immigrants, especially those from the Dominican Republic. The ruling party is aggressively rebuking these victims.
"At the same time, the Puerto Rico police department is under a dark and embarrassing cloud for systematically violating people's constitutionally protected civil and human rights, as an extensive Department of Justice probe found. The legislation under consideration condones and excuses the violence and sends the signal that violating someone's civil and human rights is not a crime that should be treated with the utmost seriousness.
"The party in power in Puerto Rico has attacked labor unions, environmentalists, journalists, the Bar Association, students, the Archbishop of San Juan and now they seem ready to add gender, sexual orientation and ethnic groups to the list of targeted individuals who get fewer rights and protections under Puerto Rican law. The attacks by the current government of Puerto Rico against the rights of its own people appear to be limitless, both in scope and audacity."
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This article shared 3146 times since Wed Dec 7, 2011
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