By Nima Nayebi

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Honduras to end an epidemic of violence against transgender people in that country. HRW has also called on the Honduran government to repeal certain “public morality” and “public scandal” laws that give police the power to abuse their authority.

HRW’s new report chronicles rapes, beatings, extortion, and the arbitrary detention of transgender people by Honduran authorities. Approximately 17 transgender people have been killed since 2004, including the high profile murder of transgender rights activist Cynthia Nicole Moreno this past 9 January.

Nicole Moreno, 32, a member of Colectivo Violeta, was shot four times by three men who were never identified. Her killing was reportedly linked to her activism in the area of transgender rights.

On 9 May, two men beat Barbára Paola, a worker for an LGBT organization, but neither was identified or apprehended. Transgender people report being raped and beaten by police in Honduras. The HRW report also identifies incidents where police have stood by and watched transgender abuse without pursuing the perpetrators.

Honduras has stated that it is committed to ending violence against its LGBT community. In June of last year it voiced support for the Organization of American States (OAS) “Resolution on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity.” HRW states that these public statements have not been translated into “local action.”

A photo essay on the struggle for transgender rights in Honduras is available from HRW.