El País reports that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled Honduras responsible for violating the rights of Leonela Zelaya, a transgender woman whose killing in 2004 the court characterized as a transfemicide. The court found serious deficiencies in the investigation into Zelaya’s death, condemned repeated illegal and arbitrary arrests against her, and cited authorities’ failure to respect her gender identity. It also ordered Honduras to reopen the criminal investigation.

Speaking with El País, Angelita Baeyens, our Vice President of Advocacy and International Litigation at the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center and a co-litigator in the case, said, “The Court concludes that the arrests by the authorities constituted a form of punishment for those who challenged gender norms and criminalized poverty and sex work.”

The ruling marks a rare and significant regional precedent on state responsibility for violence against transgender women and accountability for transfemicide.

Read the full article here.