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MEXICO CITY, Mexico. Francisco Valdivieso and Brent Mikos were beaten and arbitrarily detained by police in Oaxaca . More than 1,000 kilometers away, in Monterrey (state of Nuevo León), Karen Lucio and Andrea Gutiérrez were beaten and subdued by traffic police after being stopped at a sobriety checkpoint where they were not given due process.

In Mexico, police aggression against LGBT+ people is not an isolated incident. According to the latest National Survey on Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity ( ENDOSIG, 2018 ), 30.8% of the surveyed population experienced arbitrary and discriminatory treatment from the police. The most common form of this treatment was interrogation without apparent cause.

According to that survey, Nuevo León is the fifth state in the country with the highest number of reported physical and verbal attacks, as well as arbitrary arrests by police against LGBT+ individuals. Oaxaca, on the other hand, ranks fifteenth in terms of physical and verbal assault and nineteenth in terms of arbitrary arrests.

So far this year, the Visible has registered 105 attacks by the police against LGBT people in Mexico, with arbitrary detention being the most frequent form of aggression, followed by verbal, physical and psychological aggression, respectively.

Arbitrary arrest and homophobic attack in Oaxaca

Municipal and tourist police in Oaxaca arrested Francisco Valdivieso, a human rights defender, and Brent Mikos, a retired Canadian teacher, on November 16. They were then imprisoned for ten hours at the Public Security Secretariat headquarters in Santa María Coyotepec, 13 kilometers from where they were arrested.

The incident occurred when Francisco defended an Afro-Venezuelan migrant who was being harassed by Oaxaca's tourist police in the state capital for possessing a marijuana cigarette. Francisco argued that since May, the Supreme Court of Justice has permitted the possession of marijuana for personal use.

“I told the police they couldn’t take him away, I pointed out their abuse of power and the racism with which they were cornering the migrant man. They told me I was obstructing their work and threatened me, saying that if I didn’t shut up and leave, they would arrest me. We took pictures of the vehicles, we left, and further on, members of the tourist and state police subdued me, scratched me, pushed me; then they pushed Mikos into the back of the police truck and kicked him in the shoulder,” Francisco Valdivieso told Presentes.

“I believe that, in this case, my gender expression did play a role. Because I'm effeminate, and my voice isn't very masculine, that's how they decided to treat me,” Valdivieso adds.

Francisco and Mikos were photographed by the police. They were asked for their personal information and denied the use of their cell phones to call their families. They were jailed for 10 hours. A forensic doctor confirmed that Francisco had bruises and abrasions. Mikos, who is Canadian, was denied access to an English-speaking judge and was prevented from making calls to his embassy. 

The police charged them with the crime of "disobedience and resistance by private individuals". 

Complaints of abuse of power and discrimination 

“A network of activists was activated. A lawyer from the Oaxaca State Human Rights Ombudsman's Office arrived, and that's how the public prosecutor's office allowed us to leave. After being detained for hours, they finally read us our rights, but they didn't explain what the crime of 'resisting private individuals' consisted of. For us, it was like a kind of punishment for having confronted the police,” says Francisco Valdivieso, who has also been a human rights defender for 23 years. 

Francisco and Mikos were released after 14 hours, but the justice authorities did not give them a release certificate. 

“There was a violation of due process, a violation of freedom of expression, and a criminalization of the 19-year-old Afro-Venezuelan migrant. They violated our judicial guarantees by not telling us the reason for our arrest. They took a long time to read us our rights, they never presented us before the competent authority, they used excessive force, they tried to intimidate us, and four hours later they released us,” he concludes.

Francisco and Mikos filed a complaint with the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Investigations of Crimes of Social Significance for abuse of authority, discrimination, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and excessive use of force by the Oaxaca state and tourist police. They also filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

The Prosecutor's Office did not issue any statement on the matter. In a phone call with this media outlet, the justice authority was unable to confirm whether an investigation is underway or what measures will be taken against the group of police officers and administrative personnel who abused their power against Francisco, Mikos, and the young migrant.

Lesbian couple subdued and beaten by traffic police in Monterrey

On Saturday, November 18th, at 1:00 AM in Monterrey, Nuevo León, influencer and singer Karen Lucio and her girlfriend, Andrea Gutierrez, were subdued and beaten by municipal police officers after being stopped at a sobriety checkpoint. The blows Karen received resulted in a broken nose.  

The couple commented in an Instagram live video that they were cooperating and that, despite the results of two different breathalyzer tests showing "incomplete intoxication," the traffic police told them that one of them was being detained for a full assessment.

“Once the police indicated that Andrea would have to be 'detained,' we tried to make calls to family members and the police. We weren't going anywhere, but they insisted on putting her in the van. The police began to subdue Andrea, and that's when I told them, 'Hey, don't pull her like that.' The moment I put my arm in, a policewoman grabbed my hair and dragged me,” Karen Lucio recounted during the Instagram live video.

“Andrea was forced to the floor of the truck. I angrily started recording the assault, and then the second attack happened. A male police officer tackled me to the ground, and then all six of them came at me and started hitting me. The footage shows a female officer punching me in the face; they do whatever they want with me. We never retaliated,” Lucio added.

The couple said their phones were taken, their information was accessed using their Face IDs , and they were forced to delete the videos they had recorded of the assault. They were also threatened and handcuffed. “They told me that if I didn’t delete the videos, I would be detained for more hours and without bail,” Andrea recounted.

The police consistently referred to Karen using male pronouns. When Andrea stated that Lucio is a woman, the police mocked them. Andrea says that Lucio's gender expression led to her being beaten more severely. 

The mayor of Monterrey apologizes and an official investigation is launched

The mayor of Monterrey, Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas, offered an apology to Karen and Andrea through his social media accounts; and ordered the suspension of the police officers involved.

Since no formal complaint was filed with the Prosecutor's Office, the Monterrey City Council opened an investigation on its own initiative by the Commission of Honor and Justice of the Secretariat of Public Security and Citizen Protection, which could lead to the permanent dismissal of the traffic police officers.

“What we experienced was traumatic, and psychologists tell us it’s acute trauma disorder. We’re under a lot of stress. What we want is to regain our peace,” Lucio added. “We want justice; we don’t want to be in the spotlight . We feel afraid and at great risk going out on the street,” Andrea concluded.