{"id":55,"date":"2017-07-25T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T13:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/human-rights-institute\/our-work\/fact-finding-project\/uniformed-injustice\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:08:10","slug":"uniformed-injustice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/human-rights-institute\/scholarship\/scholarship\/fact-finding-project\/uniformed-injustice\/","title":{"rendered":"Uniformed Injustice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2017<\/a>April 23, 2017 \u2014 A new report from Georgetown Law\u2019s Human Rights Institute documents widespread discrimination and violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in El Salvador at the hands of law enforcement officers, soldiers and justice system officials.<\/p>\n

The report, \u201cUniformed Injustice: State Violence against LGBT People in El Salvador,\u201d is the product of months of research by Georgetown Law students in the Human Rights Institute\u2019s Fact-Finding Practicum, and includes interviews with over 50 human rights defenders, activists, victims, and government officials.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of LGBT individuals interviewed had been physically, sexually, and\/or verbally assaulted by members of the Salvadoran police or military, and advocates say such abuses are extremely common. Among all the interviews conducted, there was only one report that police officers who were successfully prosecuted for violence against a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been persecuted by security forces, on so many occasions,\u201d said one transgender interviewee who told the authors he suffered numerous beatings at officials\u2019 hands. Describing one incident, he said, \u201cI just put myself in God\u2019s hands, because when I saw that they covered their faces, that\u2019s when I really got scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report finds that Salvadoran police and military officers both target LGBT people for violence and escalate routine encounters with civilians into violent ones when they learn a victim\u2019s sexual orientation or gender identity. Following these attacks, LGBT victims are often prevented from filing complaints or find that police and prosecutors have failed to investigate the alleged crimes.<\/p>\n

All of this occurs in spite of laws, policies, constitutional requirements and international human rights commitments that are meant to protect citizens from violence by state actors and impunity. The report found that while laws and policies have been enacted to address these issues, they are not being implemented.<\/p>\n

The report concludes that El Salvador is failing to comply with its domestic and international human rights obligations, especially the rights to personal security, to be free from torture, against arbitrary arrest or detention, and of access to justice.<\/p>\n

Alex Pe\u00f1a, whose ordeal is described in the report, echoed the struggle of many of those who spoke to the report authors when he said, \u201cI need justice. I want the officers who did this to be jailed so people know hate crimes will be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute serves as the focal point for human rights activities at Georgetown Law and promotes Georgetown Law\u2019s role as a leader in the field of human rights.<\/p>\n

Media Contacts:<\/p>\n

mediarelations@law.georgetown.edu<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>; mek119@law.georgetown.edu<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a> (English)<\/p>\n

rea38@law.georgetown.edu<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a> (Spanish)<\/p>\n

Additional Resources:<\/h2>\n

On Friday, April 21, 2017 the researcher’s finding and recommendations were formally released during a Report Launch and Expert Panel event at Georgetown Law.<\/p>\n