Perú: Action Alert-Protest Discriminatory New Law to Ban Gay Police

On May 12, 2009, the Peruvian Parliament adopted Law 29356, establishing a new disciplinary code for the Peruvian police. Article 34 of that code classifies offenses as minor, serious and very serious and assigns penalties accordingly. "Having sex with people of the same gender that cause scandal or undermine corporate image" is classified as a very serious offense with a penalty of discharge.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) joins Movimiento Homosexual de Lima (MHOL) and requests that you send emails to the Ombudsman and Public Defender of Peru noting that Article 34 of Law 29356 infringes fundamental human rights, and asking her to file an Action of Unconstitutionality with the Constitutional Court to challenge the so-called "offense" of same-sex relations and its associated penalty.

Please send your letter to:

Dra. Beatriz Merino Lucero
Defensora del Pueblo / Ombudsman
Jr. Ucayali N° 388, Lima 1.
E-mail: bmerino@defensoria.gob.pe

Please send a copy of your letter to:

Fernando D'Elio / IGLHRC
fdelio@iglhrc.org
Giovanny Romero Infante / MHOL
gromero@mhol.org.pe

Demand Investigation into Attack on Trans Woman

On January 28th, 2009, a television news report showed an incident in which neighborhood watch patrols in the city of Tarapoto, Peru, chased and caught a travesti (transvestite) and her companion and then physically humiliated and insulted them. Neighborhood watch members cut their victims' hair and forced them to strip before subjecting them to a series of military training exercises until they collapsed from exhaustion. Throughout the ordeal, a crowd of onlookers made fun of the victims.



The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) joins MHOL and RedLacTrans in requesting that you send emails asking Peruvian authorities to investigate this incident.

Please send your letters to:

Sr. Remigio Hernani Meloni
Ministro del Interior

Ministeriodel Interior Plaza 30 de Agosto s/n Urb. Corpac - San Isidro
ministro@mininter.gob.pe

Gral. PNP Luis Hugo Mezarina Ponte
Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos del Sector Interior

sp-cndh@mininter.gob.pe

General de Policía PNP Mauro Walter Remicio Maguiño
Director de la Policía Nacional

dgdinfo@pnp.gob.pe

Please also send a copy of your letter to:

Fernando D'Elio

fdelio@iglhrc.org

Jana Villayzan

transgeneridad@yahoo.com
RedLacTrans Peru

Jorge Chavez Reyes

chavez@mhol.org.pe
MHOL

Marcela Romero

marcelaromero_40@yahoo.com.ar
RedLacTrans – Directora Ejecutiva