TRANSGENDERED WOMEN BEING KILLED

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The bodies of two transgender women were found burned to death inside a vehicle this week in Puerto Rico, according to activists, raising alarm about the killings of several transgender people on the island in the last two months. 

According to police, two people were found severely burned early Wednesday in Humacao, a coastal city in eastern Puerto Rico.  A spokesperson for the department told CBS News on Friday that they're awaiting results from forensic tests and have not yet released the names of the victims. The Broad Committee for the Search for Equity, a local LGBTQ group, identified them as Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos, 32, and Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21.

Velázquez Ramos' sister, Francheska Alvarado, told CBS News she logged onto Facebook Wednesday and saw posts saying,"I'm sorry for what happened" and "We are going to miss you" on her sibling's page. She didn't think much of it until their mutual friends began to text her, asking her to check up on Velázquez, who she hadn't spoken to in over a week. She texted her sister, but never got a text back.

She later learned of her death through a phone call. "I was in complete shock and disbelief because my sister was a great person," Alvarado said. "She was never in the streets. She was just herself."

Velázquez Ramos, who lived in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, will be remembered for "her courage and determination to pursue her dreams and personal desires," according to her sister. "She was a strong soul."

While the world is mostly confined indoors because of the coronavirus pandemic, Alvarado expressed how helpless she feels from Nashville, Tennessee. She said it's virtually "impossible" to travel and be with her mother and grandmother in Puerto Rico during these trying times.

"My family is in deep sorrow, in shock," she said. "We were not expecting this whatsoever."

Police said they're investigating whether the double murder was a hate crime. To Alvarado, she believes it was. "We don't have details and I want to know what happened to my sister because justice has to be served," she said. "This cannot continue to happen in Puerto Rico, where people are just killing others because they are not in acceptance with LGBTQ community and other people who are different."

She also wants police to look into an alleged Snapchat video that shows her sister, Pelaez Sánchez and two men lying on her bed hours before they were found murdered. Police said it was part of the investigation.

The killings come just two months after a homeless transgender woman known as Alexa who was harassed and gunned down in Puerto Rico. Video on social media showed her being threatened before gunshots were heard. So far, no one has been charged in Alexa's death.

Gay rights activist Pedro Julio Serrano told CBS News' David Begnaud on Instagram Live that life for trans people on the island is "troubling."

"We are seeing an increase in anti-trans murders," Serrano said. "And we haven't seen this in probably more than 20 years that I have been an activist. We haven't seen this type of violence against trans people in Puerto Rico."

"There's homelessness, because we saw this with Alexa," he added. "She was a homeless trans woman who was criminalized for going to the bathroom and that was what triggered the hunting that led to her killing. We saw that there are lack of opportunities. Unemployment based on gender and sexual orientation... There's housing problems that we have... They don't have support services to help them." Serrano claims transphobia was a factor in the police investigation of Alexa's murder.

“We're afraid that now this might happen with the murder of Serena and Layla, who were murdered in Humacao he said. "It's a critical juncture that trans people are experiencing in Puerto Rico."

In addition to the deaths of Velázquez and Pelaez Sánchez, a 19-year-old trans man named Yampi Méndez Arocho was killed in Moca last March. Overall, there have been eight killings involving the transgender community in the United States, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

Sejuk program manager Tantowi Anwari said the online campaign was aimed at not only showing solidarity but also demanding justice for the transgender community, which has been subjected to discrimination, to the point of claiming lives.

“This vicious act happened not because of an allegation that Mira stole a wallet and so on, but because of the strong stigma against transgender people that allows these terrible thugs to violently bully them,” Tantowi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Through the solidarity movement, the CRM wants to invite everyone to force Mira’s case to its proper conclusion because violence against transgender groups often ends in a lack of justice, he said.

"HRC is mourning alongside the loved ones of Serena and Layla, the people of Puerto Rico and the entire transgender community. Serena and Layla, like us all, had family, dreams, hopes — and they did not deserve to die," said Tori Cooper, HRC's director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative. "Transgender and gender non-conforming people, especially women of color, are too often the victims of a toxic mix of transphobia, racism and misogyny. People and policy must work together to protect our lives and our well-being."

The heinous fate that befell Mira, a 42-year-old trans woman who was burned to death in Cilincing, North Jakarta, has prompted activists and advocacy groups to demand justice as they urge authorities to bring those responsible for the brutal slaying before the law.

Human rights activists grouped under the Crisis Response Mechanism (CRM) have launched a solidarity action named “A Thousand Candles for Mira”, which encourages people to post a video of them lighting candles in their respective homes and to convey statements of condolences for Mira on social media.

The CRM is a community network comprising various groups that include Arus Pelangi, Sanggar Waria Remaja (Swara) and the Union of Journalists for Diversity (Sejuk), whose members are spread throughout the country.

The heinous fate that befell Mira, a 42-year-old trans woman who was burned to death in Cilincing, North Jakarta, has prompted activists and advocacy groups to demand justice as they urge authorities to bring those responsible for the brutal slaying before the law.

Human rights activists grouped under the Crisis Response Mechanism (CRM) have launched a solidarity action named “A Thousand Candles for Mira”, which encourages people to post a video of them lighting candles in their respective homes and to convey statements of condolences for Mira on social media.

The CRM is a community network comprising various groups that include Arus Pelangi, Sanggar Waria Remaja (Swara) and the Union of Journalists for Diversity (Sejuk), whose members are spread throughout the country.Sejuk program manager Tantowi Anwari said the online campaign was aimed at not only showing solidarity but also demanding justice for the transgender community, which has been subjected to discrimination, to the point of claiming lives.

“This vicious act happened not because of an allegation that Mira stole a wallet and so on, but because of the strong stigma against transgender people that allows these terrible thugs to violently bully them,” Tantowi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Through the solidarity movement, the CRM wants to invite everyone to force Mira’s case to its proper conclusion because violence against transgender groups often ends in a lack of justice, he said.

Mira was beaten and burned alive by six men in a container truck parking lot in Cilincing on April 4 after they accused her of stealing a phone and wallet from a truck driver who had parked his vehicle near Mira’s rented room.

The North Jakarta Police, however, said the suspects had no intention to kill Mira and that they pulled out a lighter in order to force her to admit her crime, but the flame from the lighter inadvertently set alight the gasoline they had doused over her.

The police had apprehended three of the six suspects, identified only as AP, RT and AH., three other suspects, PD, AB, and IQ, remain at large.

The  six suspects faced charges under Article 170 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that individuals who are found to have collectively used lethal violence against a person face 12 years in prison.

The violence purportedly took place in Cilincing after the suspects accused Mira of stealing a truck driver’s phone and wallet. The truck driver had parked his vehicle near Mira’s rented room.

North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Budhi Herdi Susianto said the suspects hit her with a wooden log before dousing gasoline all over her so that she would confess to the alleged theft. They then proceeded to pull out a lighter with the intention of threatening her.

After AP poured gasoline all over her, PD threatened the victim by pulling out a lighter while saying, ‘Watch out, I’m going to burn you, I’m going to burn you,” Budhi said as quoted on as quoted by tempo.co.

The police had apprehended three of the six suspects, identified only as AP, RT and AH.

The violence purportedly took place in Cilincing after the suspects accused Mira of stealing a truck driver’s phone and wallet. The truck driver had parked his vehicle near Mira’s rented room.

North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Budhi Herdi Susianto said the suspects hit her with a wooden log before dousing gasoline all over her so that she would confess to the alleged theft. They then proceeded to pull out a lighter with the intention of threatening her, he said.

“After AP poured gasoline all over her, PD threatened the victim by pulling out a lighter while saying, ‘Watch out, I’m going to burn you, I’m going to burn you,” Budhi said as quoted on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co. He said fire from the lighter inadvertently set off the gasoline, burning the victim alive.

 Amnesty International Indonesia director Usman Hamid conveyed his disappointment in the authorities’ “lackluster” investigation of the murder, which he said only resulted in a relatively light assault charge. 

“We still maintain that what the suspects did was carry out a despicable murder. The police should have conducted a more robust investigation, instead of taking the suspects at their word,” Usman told the Post

He said the suspects obviously intended to “do more than just threaten” Mira, as they had gone out of their way to procure gasoline beforehand.

Usman called on the police to step up their investigation before proceeding with the “premature” assault charge.

Mira, who previously lived in Bekasi, West Java, before moving to North Jakarta, died at 12 p.m. on Sunday after she was admitted to Koja General Regional Hospital in Koja district, North Jakarta,

 The legal advocacy team for Mira’s case – which comprises members of several rights groups – condemned the violence that  resulted in her death, calling it “a form of transphobia”.

Regardless of what she did she  doesn't deserve mob justice or being burned alive.

In a statement, the team called on the government to uphold the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals to prevent similar incidents from taking place in the future.

The team also expressed support for the North Jakarta Police’s ongoing efforts to apprehend the remaining suspects who are currently still at large.

If human rights were a sham, what rights are there at all? For example, if human rights do not exist as you say, what would be the wrong in forcing all Muslims to convert to another religion? Since human rights are a leftist sham, as you say, that would be okay, as freedom of faith was also a sham. You see how you’ve painted yourself into a logical corner? The truth is that human rights exist and are for everyone. Including people that are deemed to be different  different.

Viccky Gutierrez was brutally murdered on January 10^th 20i8 in the morning. The Los Angeles Police Department has not confirmed that it was Gutierrez’s body that was found but a close founder of the deceased has said that it was her. Salcedo said that they know for sure the burned body is that of Gutierrez and they believe she was “brutally murdered.”

People kept calling her cell phone and she didn’t answer. It was late at night and her neighbours were sleeping and no one heard her screaming. So the assumption is that she  was burned to death.

LAPD spokesperson Officer Drake Madison confirmed that the LA Fire Department and a police division responded to a fire at 3.15 am on in the Pico Union district.

The flames were contained to the attic of the block on South New Hampshire Boulevard. One person was found dead inside and the death is being treated as suspicious, although no further information has been given as yet.Gutierrez will be the second transgender woman killed in the US ik 2018.

Christa Leigh a transgendered woman was found wrapped in bedding, plastic sheeting and blood  pooling in the basement of her  home. She had been stabbed a number of times, with the blood loss leading to her death.

Christa Leigh was known for founding and running  in the Miss Trans New England and Miss Trans America pageants

According to a police report of his first interview, the suspect man confessed to the murder and said that he had done “something very bad”.He also told police in an interview prior to his pleas that his wife was “always belittling him” and that he eventually “snapped”.He told police how he took a hammer and hit her in the back of the head before stabbing her in the back. However, in his arraignment he entered a not guilty. 

Many men are attached  to transgendered women.

In 2018, advocates tracked at least 26 deaths of transgender people in the U.S. due to fatal violence, the majority of whom were Black transgender women. These victims were killed by acquaintances, partners and strangers, some of whom have been arrested and charged, while others have yet to be identified.

As many as 331 trans and gender diverse people have been killed in 2019 , says a new report.

The majority of the murders catalogued happened in Brazil  totalling 130. However, Mexico had 63, and the United States saw 30.  Only one was counted in the United Kingdom in 2019. Across Europe, nine trans people were killed, according to the report.

The annual report released to mark the International Trans Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20^th , is compiled by Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide.

The Trans Murder Monitoring report has been released every year since 2008. Since the project began 11 years ago, they have recorded 3314 deaths. It monitors homicides that happen every year between the dates of between October 1 and September 30.

When will the murder of these people end? Perhaps if the killers were executed, the numbers of deaths  of transgendered people will come to an end.