Abuse of LGBT people at the Sierra Chica Prison "is a systematic practice"
On April 14, at the Sierra Chica Prison in Buenos Aires province, approximately 45 people were suddenly and violently transferred from the Diversity Ward to the isolation ward, many of them half-naked.
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Social organizations are demanding an end to the mistreatment in the Diversity Ward of Sierra Chica Prison 2 (Olavarría, Buenos Aires Province). They are seeking to clarify why approximately 45 people were taken to solitary confinement cells, many of them half-naked and while being beaten. The Provincial Commission for Memory (CPM) filed a writ of habeas corpus for this incident, and Execution Court No. 2 of Azul is intervening in the case.
“What happened in Sierra Chica is a systematic practice. We, as a civil society organization, have been denouncing it since 2012. But what is particularly striking this time is that more than 40 people were targeted. This is a disciplinary mechanism,” trans activist Claudia Vásquez Haro, president of the civil association Otrans Argentina Presentes .
On Monday, April 14, at around 4:30 a.m., prison authorities raided Ward 9 of Penitentiary Unit No. 2 in Sierra Chica, where LGBT+ people, mostly trans women, are housed. They abruptly and violently transferred approximately 45 people to the isolation ward, many of them half-naked, according to the testimonies gathered. They did so without explaining the reason for their actions to the detainees.
“I don't know what happened. They took me out, stripped of my belongings, almost naked. They put clothes on me just like that. They took me out. I thought it was a search, and they ran me out through the rain, the mud, they hit me. I don't understand why … Honestly, I don't understand why. The whole cellblock has changed. The girls are glued together. They took all the girls to the prison for three days. Some are still there. They don't give them phone numbers, they can't communicate with their families. (…) I've been in that cellblock for fifteen years,” Jorgelina “Mimí” Leiva Ochoa, who was the cellblock's representative until then, told the Provincial Commission for Memory after her isolation. She was later transferred to another prison.
Unexplained beatings and isolation
Several people reported being beaten during the procedure. Their cell phones were also taken away, leaving them incommunicado. They remained in this situation for three to four days in the mailbox area. Some of them remained this way for several more days. Meanwhile, some of the people who returned to the cellblock were kept "gum-coated," that is, isolated all day in their cells. Currently, none of the detainees are in this situation.
Additionally, "the provision of medication to people with chronic conditions has been interrupted, and health care has not been provided to some whose health has been affected by being forced to remain half-naked in the cells of the prison mailbox area . They report that the prison authorities delayed more than a day in allowing clothing into the cells," the CPM reported.
Criminal complaint
The Commission filed a criminal complaint seeking an investigation into the incident and a writ of habeas corpus seeking an immediate end to the situation and special protection measures for the victims to avoid retaliation . The case is being handled by Execution Court No. 2 of Azul, located in General Alvear, under the jurisdiction of Adriana Bianco. The judge ordered evidentiary measures and a hearing held on Monday, where 15 detainees testified. She also ordered medical care for all those affected, the delivery of unreturned medication, and the return of their belongings.
"The people who have been through this are very scared; they fear for their lives and that they will be attacked. The service always uses violence, and this ward has been structured this way for many years. We are in constant contact with all the detainees to see what they need," lawyer and social psychologist Roberto Cipriano García , a member of the CPM, told this agency.
The Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service was contacted by Presentes for this article, but has not yet received a response.
Form of torture
The CPM recognized that this act constitutes a form of torture. "The use of solitary confinement as a prison management technique and the material conditions in which it is carried out—lack of lighting, access to water, humidity, inadequate sanitary facilities, inadequate nutrition, etc.—constitute a form of torture and/or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment prohibited under Article 5 of the American Convention on Human Rights and constitutes a violation of Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil, Economic, and Cultural Rights," the habeas corpus petition states.
They also emphasized that the procedure occurred without any explanation from the officers justifying their actions. "This blatantly violates the principle of legality in the execution of sentences, depriving the victims of the practice of their right to defense and directly confronts the limits set by the law on the execution of sentences against prison arbitrariness," they emphasized.
She also considered that the case should be investigated from a gender perspective, since "it has been confirmed that there is a differentiated control regime for transgender women and LGBT people housed in a penitentiary unit, which involves an abusive practice that seriously violates rights and is discriminatory."
Otrans Argentina issued a statement condemning the "violence and inhumane treatment inflicted by the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service personnel, headed by the unit's director, Chief Warrant Officer Carlos Alberto Silva." In it, they demanded that the provincial government clarify the situation.
They also considered it to be "a clear example of the 'iron fist' policy being implemented at the national level, which seeks to discipline and punish those considered 'different' or 'dissidents.'"
Both organizations acknowledged that this incident is part of a prison emergency and a serious violation of human rights in the context of punitive incarceration.
In jail for being trans
In this regard, the 2024 Annual Report recorded more than 67,000 human rights violations in the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service in 2023, of which 50,430 were cases of torture. Among these, 31.7% were due to lack or deficient healthcare; 27% to disruption of family and social ties; 13.8% to poor material conditions; 11.4% to isolation; and 4.1% to assault.
On the other hand, in 2019, the Otrans association published a comprehensive study on the situation of the trans population in prisons . The report found that in Buenos Aires prisons, 82% had no criminal record, and among those who did, less than half had a conviction. Meanwhile, 70% of the people interviewed who were deprived of their liberty were foreigners, and at the federal level, 55%. In turn, 73% suffered from some illness in Buenos Aires. "Conditions are observed that contribute to the deterioration of health: the housing situation aggravates the problems, and the palliatives for the deficiencies regarding adequate nutrition and medication are lacking," the report explains.
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