“I want the trial to be brought forward and for them to tell me what happened to Tehuel.”
Tehuel's mother spearheaded the campaign to set a trial date for her son's disappearance. The court has tentatively set August 2027 as the trial date.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Tehuel de la Torre's mother, Norma Nahuelcura, along with her lawyer Flavia Centurión, launched a campaign demanding "the immediate start of the oral trial ." This refers to the case in which two men are accused of aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of the gender identity of the young trans man who disappeared on March 11, 2021. The inaugural press conference took place at the headquarters of the Mocha Celis Transgender Popular High School, alongside representatives from various organizations and government officials.
“I want this trial to be brought forward and for them to tell me what happened to Tehuel,” Norma Nahuelcura, Tehuel’s mother, Presentes
Luis Alberto Ramos, who offered Tehuel a job, and Oscar Alfredo Montes, a friend of his, are in custody for the aggravated homicide (Article 80 of the Penal Code) motivated by hatred based on sexual orientation and gender identity (section 4) of the young man. The case was sent to trial in March of last year by Judge Martín Rizzo of the Cañuelas Guarantee Court, following a request from the prosecutor in charge, Karina Guyot. It is currently under the jurisdiction of Criminal Court No. 2 of La Plata.
The tentative trial date would be August 2027, according to Flavia Centurión, the lawyer for Tehuel's family . "What we are going to request and demand is that the trial date be moved up. We cannot wait so long for justice to tell us what happened to Tehuel," Centurión told Presentes .
In this regard, Tehuel's mother added: “I ask that the judges have a heart and move the date forward. That date is too far off.”
Photo: Ariel Gutraich.
Trial now
The meeting took place at 7 p.m. at the Mocha Celis High School , located at 748 Jujuy Street in the Balvanera neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Gaita Nihl, a tutor at Mocha, opened the conference: “When I think about Tehuel, I think it could have been any one of us,” said the young trans man. He asked for “justice” and “not to have to wait until 2027.”
The campaign demanding immediate trial in Tehuel's case is being led by his mother, lawyer Centurión, and the Pride March – Historical Line . The event where the initiative was launched was also attended by Greta Pena, head of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI); Undersecretary of Diversity Policies at the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity; and Nicolás Abratte, Director of Programs for Sexual Diversity in the Province of Buenos Aires.
“Tehuel disappeared in March 2021 while looking for work. The law on inclusion and employment quotas was passed a few months later, in June 2021. Unfortunately, it couldn't be passed sooner. We had submitted the bill several years prior,” lamented the head of INADI during the press conference. She also announced that the agency she leads will file an amicus curiae brief in the case this week and will provide expert testimony, should it be required.
The speakers at the meeting also emphasized the need for judicial reform. “After 40 years of uninterrupted democracy, this is a branch of government that must be reviewed because it is failing to provide answers,” stated Undersecretary Ponce. In this regard, she asserted that the actions of this branch of government, setting a trial date of 2027, “are an insult to families, but also a disciplinary message to the LGBTNB+ community.”
As necessary actions to ensure that “what happened to Tehuel doesn’t happen to anyone else”, the participants focused on the need for training, protocols, public policies and “continuing the fight”.
“It is essential to ensure that there is a gender and sexual diversity perspective in all officials of the judiciary and the police,” Nicolás Abratte pointed out.
For a protocol for the disappearances of LGBTI+ people
Similarly, lawyer Centurión highlighted the lack of protocols for responding to these incidents. “How can it be that there are no protocols in place in the province of Buenos Aires for searching for a person belonging to the LGBT community? The state knows that these people are in a more vulnerable situation,” she questioned.
When the case went to trial, the presiding court also accepted its division. Thus, one part of the investigation remains open in order to continue the search for the missing trans youth. “The search case is pretty much at a standstill. There haven't been any updates, no searches, nothing, for eight or nine months now,” Centurión stated.
"What happens to justice for human rights if we don't fight for them and demand that they are strictly enforced?" he concluded.
A daily life filled with fear
Tehuel de la Torre was last seen on March 11, 2021. Around 7:00 p.m. that day, he left the house where he lived with his mother, his partner Luciana, and her son in the Buenos Aires town of San Vicente. He said he was going to meet with a man, Luis Ramos, who had told him about a job.
Norma said her daily life “is difficult.” “My 18-year-old son doesn’t want to go out; he’s afraid, just like me. He also wants to know what happened to his brother.” Furthermore, if they have to wait until 2027, she fears that “they might release both prisoners.” “I have other children and grandchildren, and I’m afraid of reprisals from them,” she shared.
There is a reward of 5 million pesos for anyone who provides reliable information about Tehuel's whereabouts.
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