PRESS

We demand justice for the murder of trans activist Thalía Rodríguez in Honduras

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[Tegucigalpa/Washington D.C., January 11, 2022] The organizations Red Lésbica Cattrachas and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights condemn the murder of Thalía Rodríguez, a trans woman and LGBTI rights activist, which occurred today at her home located on Juana Laínez Hill, in Tegucigalpa.

Thalía was a trans woman who dedicated more than 20 years to the defense of human rights. She was a petitioner before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in the case of Leonela Zelaya, another trans woman murdered in Honduras in 2004, who was a member of Thalía's chosen family. Last year, when the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held the State of Honduras responsible for the death of Vicky Hernández — murdered in 2009 — Thalía remarked that the sentence was an advance for trans women. She said that she had waited more than 20 years for the recognition of gender identity in official documents, which the Court ordered in its historic decision. Thalía was fighting for a Honduras without discrimination against LGBTI people and people living with HIV.

From 2009 to the present, 402 LGBTI people have been murdered in Honduras, according to the TMIS observatory of Red Lésbica Cattrachas. The murders of LGBTI people are not investigated by the authorities, and as a consequence most of the cases remain in total impunity. Honduras is a hostile and dangerous country for LGBTI people, and the State still has not adopted effective measures to address this reality.

The murder of Thalía Rodríguez cannot remain in impunity. We demand that the Public Ministry investigate the facts and make all the necessary efforts to identify and punish those responsible for this crime.

We demand that the Honduran State comply with the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Vicky Hernández, especially in relation to the measures to provide effective protection to LGBTI people in the country.

Finally, we request that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights speak out about these serious events and urge the State of Honduras to investigate and punish those responsible for the murder of Thalía Rodríguez.

Read our statement in Spanish here.