Activist Kenya Cuevas denounced that personnel from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Attorney General’s Office of Justice of Mexico City misgendered her during the hearing for the detention of Arturo ‘N’, the alleged perpetrator of the transfemicide of Paola Buenrostro, which occurred in 2016 and had set precedents in the fight for the recognition of the gender identity of trans people in judicial proceedings.
“I want to inform you that from the moment I arrived at this courthouse, I was discriminated against by the personnel at the entrance. They addressed me as a gentleman when we have undertaken a struggle for the recognition of gender identity. We have developed public policies and even laws so that this is guaranteed, and they did not do so today,” Cuevas denounced after leaving the courthouse.
According to the activist, Public Prosecutor’s Office personnel used her legal name throughout the proceedings, despite the legal change Kenya Cuevas made to her name, recommendations from human rights organizations, and the laws that Cuevas herself has promoted with trans collectives over the course of the past decade.
“The same prosecutor’s office that represented this investigation file today arrived with discriminatory omissions regarding our gender identity, referring to the crime in the file as a homicide when, in previous years, a dialogue had been established with the same prosecutor’s office to classify it as femicide, since at that time the crime of transfemicide did not yet exist in the Mexico City Penal Code,” she said.
Kenya Cuevas expressed her frustration after the protocols, recommendations, and laws concerning the recognition of gender identity were not applied during the hearing, despite a decade of demanding such recognition.
“That is the lack of training within prosecutors’ offices, despite the fact that the same Recommendation 02/2019 states that gender identity must be respected. This case has been emblematic, 10 years building together with the prosecutor’s office, together with the authorities, so that this could be changed, and it was not done,” she told members of the media.
Prosecutor’s Office responds to Kenya Cuevas and denies institutional transphobia
Following the initial protests by the collectives, the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ-CDMX) issued a statement highlighting the detention of Arturo “N,” identified as the probable perpetrator of Paola Buenrostro’s transfemicide.
“His appearance before a judge represents a fundamental step so that this case, which has remained active, can finally reach a resolution,” the institution explained.
The Prosecutor’s Office said that it fully recognizes the right of victims and the activists who accompany them to demonstrate and demand justice.
“We understand the pain and indignation that have accumulated over nearly a decade, and we reiterate our willingness to keep channels of dialogue and support open, even when there are differences regarding legal aspects of the process. At the same time, the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office is clear: no demonstration, however legitimate, can justify attacks against public servants or damage to the institution’s facilities,” the institution stated.
“Regarding the allegations about the treatment received during the hearing, the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office takes them seriously. Any error in the way victims are addressed does not correspond to the standards of care that the institution requires from its personnel,” it added.
“However, this does not imply that there is an institutional practice, instruction, or intention of a transphobic nature,” the FGJ-CDMX emphasized, adding that it maintains an explicit instruction to provide respectful and dignified treatment, recognize people’s gender identity, and act with a gender perspective.
Police use gas against protesters; activists report beatings
After meeting with Mexico City Attorney General Bertha Alcalde to report omissions by prosecutor’s office personnel, Kenya Cuevas informed protesters and members of the media that they had reached an agreement to reclassify the case of Paola Buenrostro as a transfemicide.
However, minutes later, protesters said that the Prosecutor’s Office denied activists Victoria Sámano, from Casa Lleca, and Kenya Cuevas re-entry into the facilities of the Investigation Police, which once again sparked protests outside the institution.
The activists demanded that the Prosecutor’s Office withdraw the statement it had issued and that authorities sign the minutes of the meeting they had held.
Videos shared on social media show that officers from the General Headquarters of the Investigation Police used gas against LGBT+ people to disperse the demonstration.
“Investigation Police officers from the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office hit me in the arm, they punched me and injured me in one of my breast implants. There are more colleagues who were injured; we are going to the hospital,” activist Victoria Sámano denounced on her X account.
So far this year, 35 transfemicides have been recorded in Mexico, according to counts carried out by activists. Trans collectives denounce that the recent femicide bill has not taken the trans community into account.
Source: elfinanciero
