(Chicago, IL) Heartland Alliance lauds the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for their public condemnation of murders of Trans Persons in the United States as well as in other regions of the Americas.
Heartland Alliance urges the US Department of Justice to provide a full investigation into the murders of Kendall Hampton and Tiffany; and urges the Cook County, Illinois State's Attorney Anita Alvarez to provide a full investigation into the murder of Tiffany. We additionally ask both governmental entities to issue recommendations to create greater protections for Trans Persons. And we ask that both the US and the Illinois governments provide a full cooperative response to the Inter-American Commission.
Heartland Alliance also urges the US Government to sign the Inter American Convention on Human Rights to demonstrate it's global leadership on human rights, particularly in its home region of the Americas. The U.S. Department of State has been a leading voice in promoting LGBT rights and protections around the world; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appropriately highlighted that the US is also still far from having achieved full LGBT rights and protections. By not signing the Inter American Convention on Human Rights, the US undercuts its leadership. Now is the time to sign the Inter American Convention on show to the world the serious commitment the US Government has relative to human rights, including the human rights of LGBT persons.
Heartland Alliance, through its Global Initiative on Sexuality and Human Rights, works with partners around the world to ensure protections for LGBT individuals. It is particularly concerned with the increases in violence against Trans Persons and works with local LGBT organizations and regional bodies to denounce such violence and to ensure a world of justice and dignity for all individuals particularly those currently subject to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
COPY OF IACHR STATEMENT:
IACHR Condemns the Murder of Trans Persons in the United States
August 31, 2012
Washington D.C. - The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the murder of Kendall L. Hampton, a trans person, in Ohio and Tiffany, a trans woman, in Illinois, United States.
According to the information received, Kendall L. Hampton (26), a trans person, was shot and murdered in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 18, 2012. Four days earlier, on August 14, 2012, a trans woman known as Tiffany (registered at birth as Donta Gooden), (19) suffered multiple stab wounds which caused her death in Chicago, Illinois. A national organization reports that including these two cases, nine trans persons have been murdered in the United States this year.
The IACHR reminds the State of its obligation to investigate such acts on its own initiative and to punish those responsible. The Inter-American Commission urges the State to conduct an investigation that takes into account whether this murder was committed because of the gender expression, gender identity or sexual orientation of the victim.
The Commission continues to receive information on killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and other forms of violence and exclusion against lesbians, gays, and trans, bisexual, and intersex persons. In addition, the Commission notes that very frequently, problems exist in the investigation of those crimes, which involve, in part, failures to open lines of investigation into whether the crime was committed by reason of the victim's gender identity or sexual orientation. The ineffectiveness of the state response fosters high rates of impunity, which in turn lead to the chronic repetition of such crimes, leaving the victims and their families defenseless.
The IACHR urges the State to take action to prevent and respond to these human rights abuses and to ensure that LGTBI people can effectively enjoy their right to a life free from discrimination and violence, including the adoption of policies and public campaigns and the amendments necessary to bring laws into line with the inter-American instruments on human rights.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
