Tita, a 32-year-old trans woman, was murdered and set on fire in El Salvador.

Tita Andrade Umaña was 32 years old and is the second trans woman murdered in El Salvador so far in 2020.

March 16, 2020

By Paula Rosales, from San Salvador

Tita Andrade Umaña, a 32-year-old transgender woman, left her home on Friday, March 6, in the municipality of Intipucá, in the department of La Unión, 180 kilometers southeast of El Salvador's capital. She was found murdered on Saturday, March 7, in an open field in the hamlet of La Agencia, in a rural area in the eastern part of the Central American country. An autopsy confirmed her identity.

Residents of the area reported a small fire, and upon investigation, they found the body 90 percent burned, according to the police report from La Unión. The Attorney General's Office announced on Tuesday the 10th on its Twitter account that one person has been arrested, suspected of committing the crime. However, in legal proceedings, Tita is referred to by her birth name.

“An administrative detention order has been issued against Ronald Asael Cáceres Campos for the simple homicide of Jaime Ulises Andrade Umaña, a member of the LGBTI community. The incident occurred on Saturday, March 7, in Intipucá, La Unión,” the institution reported. “The detention was carried out today at 3:00 p.m., as a result of the prosecutor's investigation. Sufficient evidence has been gathered against the accused,” the agency stated.

"The motive for the homicide is unknown. The cause of death is yet to be determined by autopsy, as the victim had burns all over his body and we still do not have the autopsy results," the police officer on duty told the press.

Tita is the second LGBTI victim murdered in El Salvador so far in 2020. Investigations into these crimes are progressing very slowly in the country. The vast majority go unpunished due to weak investigations that prevent the perpetrators from being brought to justice.

The first trans femicide of 2020 was perpetrated on January 16 against Briyit Michelle Alas, a 21-year-old trans woman. Briyit was shot five times and then thrown into a ravine in Ciudad Delgado , eight kilometers from the capital. No arrests have yet been made in this crime.

In 2015, Congress reformed the penal code, adding to the aggravated homicide category crimes committed out of hatred based on gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression. However, since the reform, no case has resulted in a conviction under this classification.

Without justice, with impunity

“The murders will continue to happen because we are the visible face of the entire LGBTI population and we are the most exposed in the public eye. There has always been impunity for our crimes in this country,” said Mónica Linares, director of the Solidarity Association to Promote Human Development – ASPIDH Arcoíris Trans.

“The number of accusations has decreased because there is a lot of corruption among the authorities. Even though judges want to do their job, the authorities responsible for prosecuting and defending always end up reaching an agreement where the guilty party benefits,” Linares told Presentes.

Murders increased in the last quarter of 2019

From January to December 2019, eight transgender women and one gay man were murdered, according to cases registered by human rights organizations. Only the cases of Camila Díaz, allegedly murdered by police, and Anahy Miranda have gone to court.

October and November 2019 were the most difficult months; in one month and three days, four crimes against the trans population of the Central American country were reported.

Anahy Miranda Rivas, 27 years old, was murdered in the early hours of Sunday, October 27, on a busy avenue in San Salvador.

On November 9, Jade Camila Díaz, a trans activist, was found dead in the department of Morazán , in northeastern El Salvador.

On Saturday, November 16, Victoria Pineda was brutally murdered on a street in the Cara Sucia canton, Ahuachapán department. Rosa Granados, a 28-year-old trans activist, was murdered in her home, shot four times in the head . She lived in the Loma Larga canton, La Unión department, 182 kilometers east of San Salvador.

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