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By Pilar Salazar, from Guatemala City

Josselin, a 29-year-old trans woman of Salvadoran origin who had sought asylum in Guatemala and resided in Zone 7 of Guatemala City, was murdered in her home. Her mother found her with multiple injuries and a disfigured face on the morning of Saturday, August 1. 

Josselin worked as an informal vendor of clothing and makeup at the local market. She had been living between Guatemala and El Salvador for 12 years, traveling frequently with her mother. In 2018, due to gang persecution and violence in El Salvador stemming from the lack of recognition of her gender identity, she sought refuge in Guatemala. This information was reported to Presentes by Carlos Valdez, a member of Lambda Guatemala (Organization for equality, dignity, and human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people in Guatemala). As of the date of her death, there had been no resolution from the Guatemalan Migration Institute, he noted. Lambda had been supporting Josselin with housing and food during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, expressed its concern in a statement . “Our condolences go out to the family and loved ones of this woman who was trying to rebuild her life in Guatemala after being forced to flee her country due to violence,” said Giovanni Bassu, UNHCR Regional Representative for Central America and Cuba. UNHCR called on Guatemalan authorities to thoroughly investigate her death and on the State's commitment to protecting LGBTI people and those seeking international protection in the country.

And she warned: " The violent death of a trans woman seeking asylum in Guatemala last weekend highlights the need to provide effective protection to people forced to flee their countries, including members of the LGBTI community .

The National Migration Institute issued its first statement on social media on Thursday, August 7, regarding the murder of a member of the LGBTIQ+ community, confirming that Josselin had indeed requested asylum in Guatemala.

In statements to this media outlet, Henry España, the Ombudsman for Sexual Diversity at the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, indicated that no arrests have been made in this case so far. “We will have to wait for the actions taken by the Public Prosecutor's Office in coordination with the National Civil Police. We regret this violent death because this person was seeking protection and asylum in Guatemala due to violence related to their gender identity and gang persecution. It seems that many Central American countries, such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, are not safe or dignified places for LGBTQ+ people to live, which is quite unfortunate. It is important to highlight that LGBTQ+ people often need to seek refuge in other countries because they are not welcome in their own due to existing contexts of violence, which are exacerbated when a person has a non-normative sexual orientation and gender identity. In this case, we await the results of the investigations and the holding of those responsible, as should be the case in all instances.”

Agencia Presentes consulted the Human Rights Ombudsman, Jordán Rodas Andrade, through a forum where he was asked how he can, in his capacity as Ombudsman, address the Public Prosecutor's Office's lack of interest in investigating hate crimes, which have been occurring at an alarming rate. For example, at least five murders of LGBT+ people have been committed this year in the department of Izabal. 

Until equality becomes the norm

“It would be important to join forces. Publicly, I would like to commit to working with the Minister of the Interior to see how the personnel under his command can be trained, to give them that sensitivity, that training. And it would also be important to work along the same lines with the Public Prosecutor's Office. Imagine if the National Civil Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office had certified personnel on this issue; I think it would be a different story for the country,” Rodas responded. 

Other civil society organizations expressed their dismay at the transfemicide of Josselin, such as the National Diversity Network and the Observatory for Violent Deaths: “ We demand justice! This morning, the body of a trans woman was found in Zone 7 of the capital city. She worked in the informal economy and was hoping to receive asylum benefits, having fled from El Salvador in search of refuge. We continue… Until equality is the norm!”

The organization Otrans Reinas de la Noche also expressed its concern: “The Trans Reinas de la Noche organization joins the dismay expressed by UNHCR, manifested by the murder of a Salvadoran trans woman who was seeking asylum in Guatemala and who was murdered yesterday, Saturday, August 1, 2020, at her home.”

El Salvador: discrimination, hate and attacks

According to a 2019 report , “The Internal Forced Displacement of the LGBTI Population in El Salvador,” by the organization COMCAVIS in that country, international and non-governmental organizations that promote the rights of LGBTI people reported that public officials, including the police, participated in acts of violence and discrimination against LGBTI people in 2018, and that even the Attorney General's Office “ridiculed them when they requested identification cards or reports of cases of violence against LGBTI people.”