Georgina Orellano released: she was arrested after a meeting about the suspicious death of a trans colleague
Georgina Orellano, a sex worker and general secretary of AMMAR, was arrested early this morning along with two colleagues, Estrella Sanmapiña and Victoria Arriondo. The story behind it: the suspicious death of a trans and migrant colleague, and a context of institutional violence against sex workers.
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[NEWS UPDATED at 3:55 PM]
Georgina Orellano, a sex worker and general secretary of AMMAR, was arrested early this morning along with two colleagues, Estrella Sanmapiña and Victoria Arriondo, by the Buenos Aires City Police from Precinct 1C. She and Victoria were released shortly after 1:30 p.m. Estrella will remain in custody in connection with another case. All three were held in custody by Malena Mercuriali of the East Flagrancy Unit at Police Station 1, located at 150 Suipacha Street, Buenos Aires City. They were assisted by various Public Defenders on duty in the judicial district.
“There are sex workers and trans women who are arrested every day in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Every day they are assaulted, detained. Every day we have comrades who are beaten in the street, so we need to raise more awareness,” she said minutes after being released. And she asked: “We also want you to be there when Estrella gets out and when many other comrades of ours who silently endure violence and police repression are released. I am a sex worker. But I am a sex worker because I have class consciousness, we are organized, and we need this embrace to be more collective. Our comrades who are inside, living in precarious conditions, hungry, and cold, need it.”.
Human rights organizations and feminist groups had been calling for her immediate release and denounced her arbitrary detention within a context of institutional violence.
According to Presentes' reconstruction of events, the arrest occurred in connection with another recent incident: the suspicious death of Rachell, a trans woman, migrant, and sex worker. Georgina was returning from an AMMAR assembly, where she and her colleagues mourned Rachell's death and demanded justice. "They were arrested for being at the Hotel Río de la Plata in Constitución, lighting candles, demanding answers and justice for Rachell, a trans woman and migrant who was murdered yesterday," AMMAR stated.
In reality, the women had already dispersed. “Georgina was opening her front door when she was intercepted and arrested by several officers in an operation involving at least five patrol cars. Victoria, the woman who was with her, was also arrested there. A few blocks away, in the same operation, Estrella was arrested and forced to strip naked in the street,” said Victoria Montenegro, who was among the first to arrive after the arrests. From Police Station 1C at the corner of Entre Ríos and San Juan streets, they were taken to Suipacha 150, where the organizations were calling for people to gather to demand their release.
Georgina Orellano spoke about this upon her release: “Yesterday we were at the Hotel del Río de la Plata, on Avenida Garay at number 1200, demonstrating, demanding justice. Because at 4 a.m. we learned through the WhatsApp group that the SAME (Emergency Medical Assistance System) had confirmed the death of our comrade Rachell, a migrant woman from Peru, in the first-floor hallway. The story we were given, both by the police and others, was that she 'overdosed on drugs,' so it was almost as if she brought it on herself. This struck us as odd because Rachell wasn't known for having a problem with drugs; it didn't add up. During the day we spoke with the hotel manager, with neighbors, and what they told us, and what we pieced together, is what we've been saying about the breakdown of the social fabric: three homeless kids with substance abuse problems slipped something into her drink to rob her. They went too far. And it's very difficult for us, what do we do, what do we ask for? We don't want jail for the kids, but "We want justice for Rachell.".
Our lives are not disposable
At eight o'clock that night, Georgina recounted, several people gathered "to demand justice at the hotel entrance and lit a candle. It's a ritual we always perform to say goodbye to our deceased comrades. While we were saying goodbye to our comrade, someone from the hotel came out and put up a sign saying 'room available.' For us, it was a symbol of our society." "In response to this perceived provocation, we set fire to a trash can. But the entire operation can't be violent and excessive. They beat us. They arrested me inside the lobby of my building because they care more about a trash can than the lives of our comrades. We're going to burn all the trash cans to demand justice," said the AMMAR representative.
“The arrest occurred as part of a disproportionate operation involving six patrol cars from Police Station 1C, immediately after the workers intervened following the suspicious death of one of their colleagues,” the CTA reported earlier.
The three women were charged with “aggravated damage and arson” for setting fire to the trash can. “We were arrested because we set fire to a trash can and because someone hung a sign in a hotel where our friend was staying. Her body is still in the morgue, and she doesn't have any family living in Argentina who can go and confirm it's her and give her a proper wake,” Orellano added. “According to them, they got the security camera footage to see who was responsible. They're also charging us with threats and resisting arrest. There wasn't resistance, but there was a limit. They came to film us and take pictures of us, celebrating and saying that one day we were going to fall. For us, the lives of our friends are worth more than a trash can. The policy of discarding people is Jorge Macri's policy of cruelty. Our lives are not disposable.” Our lives matter, the lives of prostitutes, transvestites, drug addicts, homeless women, those who do the portering, they matter to us.”
Rachell's suspicious death
Two days ago, Rachell was at a hotel in Constitución when she suffered a health problem. The hotel called the police. Some say they saw her with her hands bound and that the officers dragged her through the hotel. They later stated that they tried to resuscitate her. The autopsy results are not yet available. This account is based on conversations with Victoria Montenegro.
The arrest comes amid a context of institutional violence. “The escalation of this violence and the utter dehumanization of this group and these individuals is deeply concerning. Furthermore, this violence, which is inherently unconstitutional, is being displayed openly. It attempts to instill fear as a means of subjugating society, and it is crucial to call for action against it,” Montenegro stated.
The increase in this violence and context of systematic harassment was also highlighted by the CTA Autónoma (Autonomous Workers' Central Union). They emphasized that it has been "reported by sex workers in Constitución, who point to daily police operations. According to the victims' accounts, these actions include theft of money, violent searches, and situations of extreme vulnerability, such as the case of Estrella, who was arrested a few blocks from Georgina's house and forced to undress in the street.".
The Public Defender's Office Collective also issued a statement: "The arrests occurred during a protest demanding justice for the death of their trans comrade Rachell, which was taking place in a public space. The arrests were carried out by a brutal police operation that constitutes a serious violation of their rights to freedom of expression and social protest, as well as a disproportionate and harmful response to the constitutional guarantees of due process. These events are part of a worrying trend of criminalizing social protest and harassing organizations that fight for the rights of historically marginalized groups, including sex workers and the trans community."
Opening photo: Wikimedia commons. Ella Collaborative Coverage – https://www.flickr.com/photos/145674318@N05/45631214694
We thank the Gender Department of Sipreba for the videos shared for this article.
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