Using homophobic insults, the Salta police repressed young people at a festival

Members of the Salta Police Infantry Brigade arrested young people who were participating in the "A Mover" festival, whose closing act was led by the singer Sara Hebe.

September 23, 2019

By Elena Corvalán, from Salta

Members of the Salta Police Infantry Brigade arrested several young people on Saturday night, the 21st, who were participating in the "A Mover" festival, which was closing with a performance by singer Sara Hebe. As in the times of the dictatorship, at least two had their hair cut with serrated knives while the officers attempted to insult them by calling them homosexuals.

Witnesses to the police operation told Presentes that around midnight, when the festival was nearing its end, the police positioned themselves behind the audience and began to clear them out, forcing the early closure of the event.

Then, as people began to disperse, the police started a kind of manhunt, arresting several people. A group of young people saw some girls being taken away, apparently for being lesbians, and began filming the operation. In those circumstances, the repression turned against them. “They chased us for filming them taking away a group of girls who were peacefully leaving the concert,” one of the young men recounted. Everyone involved asked that their identities be kept confidential, because they fear police retaliation.

It is not known exactly how many people were arrested. Those present estimate that there were ten. Some of those arrested recounted moments of mistreatment and cruelty: a boy had his bicycle taken away, thrown to the side of the road, and was taken into custody. Two others had their hair cut, with particular brutality shown to one who had dreadlocks. All this while they were subjected to homophobic slurs.
There were even shots fired into the air during the operation. In a video taken by witnesses, a police officer can be seen hitting a young man who was filming them with the door of the police van.

[READ ALSO: Salta: Police attacked a trans woman in the street]

One of the detainees said that after the shooting they were chased and that the police even entered a private house, without a search warrant, and took out one of the boys who had filmed them.

They recounted that they were forced to remain on their knees in the police station, and that photographs were taken of them while they were in that position. They were only released at 3 a.m., from the detention center at the Judicial City.

Some of those detained expressed their intention to report the mistreatment they suffered, which they planned to do this Monday. At the request of one of the detainees, lawyer María Laura Postiglione, president of the Observatory of Violence Against Women, assisted and guided them in obtaining medical attention and determining the next steps. Postiglione clarified to Presentes that her involvement was personal, as a friend of this young man.

Neither the Provincial Ministry of Security nor the Police Headquarters responded to media inquiries, including those from Presentes. It wasn't until nearly midnight that the Police Headquarters press office issued a report stating that "officers from Sector 5 shut down a festival with more than 400 attendees." According to the police report, this action was due to the fact that "people were drinking alcohol in public," and a business was also closed. The police indicated that they intervened after a teenager was treated at the Maternal and Child Hospital for alcohol poisoning. Regarding the accusations of police mistreatment, the force simply stated that "there are no official complaints of this," when contacted by Presentes.

Only the Minister of Government, Human Rights and Justice reported that he instructed the Secretary of Human Rights, Federico Uldry, to meet with the victims tomorrow and "see what needs to be done."

“These people spoke with me, and obviously, as Minister of Human Rights, I am at their disposal,” the minister stated.
Social organizations, including the Pata Pila Center, the Self-Convened Trans Women (MTA), JESeR, the Socialist Workers' Party-Left Front Unity, and the Pan y Rosas organization, issued a statement condemning “the repression, persecution, and institutional violence perpetrated by the Salta Police” and held the governments of Juan Manuel Urtubey and Mayor Gustavo Saénz responsible “for their repressive practices toward youth, women, and dissidents.”

In their statement, they reported that the police stormed the festival, ordering the organizers to end it or face repression. “Following these events, the festival was suspended, and the Salta provincial police pursued, detained, and tortured those leaving the festival,” the organizations asserted, adding that they will file complaints with the Ministry of Security, the Human Rights Prosecutor's Office, and the Ministry of Government, Human Rights, and Justice.

The organizations also invited those who suffered police violence at the festival to come forward to offer support or give testimony.

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