LGBTI people suffer violence and discrimination in the prisons of Quintana Roo

Activists claim that inmate members of the LGBTI community face discrimination and threats from prisoners and guards and are in danger.

Cancún, Quintana Roo, (September 22, 2021).- Civil associations pointed out the reluctance of the Quintana Roo Penitentiary System to recognize and establish protection measures for the LGBTI community that is confined in State prisons, which has caused them to suffer discrimination and attacks by other prisoners and guards.

Roberto Valencia Zapata, from the organization “Somos Libres”, explained that the people in detention who belong to this community are in worse conditions than the rest of the prison population.

This is because, being a minority, they are often victims of sexual abuse and rape, without the prison staff taking reasonable measures to reduce attacks of violence by other prisoners.

Even, he affirmed, the custodians have encouraged these sexual abuses.

“Through official letter SSP / DS / UTAIPDP / 00594 / IX / 2021, the Ministry of Public Security recognized three things: that there is no specific public policy or guideline in Quintana Roo for this group that is incarcerated, much less do they have a set apart or subclassified to keep track of how many inmates are LGBTI; let alone the data on how many of this group have been attacked in prisons for their sexual preference ”.

However, through the association it was discovered that approximately 400 incarcerated people are LGBTI , which represents almost 10% of the prison population in Quintana Roo.

The activist explained that it is an important number to be taken into account, in addition to the fact that they have detected several hidden irregularities and even caused by the custodians themselves.

“In Playa del Carmen and Cancún we answered the call of several people who suffered extortion from the prison agents themselves, when they told them that if they did not pay a fee they were going to transfer them to certain areas where they were going to be raped, or that they were going to exhibit them as LGBTI detainees, so that the inmates themselves are responsible for abusing them after finding out, ” said Valencia Zapata.

He pointed out that it has been difficult to turn these cases over to the Quintana Roo State Human Rights Commission (Cdheqroo), since the victims are under constant threat .

“That is why it is urgent to establish extraordinary measures to guarantee the protection of the rights of this prison group. It is not enough to carry out courses for the custodians, but rather to establish specific protocols to avoid this inhuman and degrading treatment ”.

Source: Sipse