Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that LGBTI human rights defenders, Mr Jaime Lopez Vela and Mr Agustín Estrada Negrete, were arrested and physically assaulted by police in the State of Mexico on 7 May 2009, and that Agustín Estrada Negrete was also sexually assaulted.

Further Information

Jaime Lopez Vela is a human rights lawyer and the director of the human rights organisation Agenda LGBT and Agustín Estrada Negrete is a member of the same organisation. Agenda LGBT works to promote and protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex people in Mexico.

On 7 May 2009, Jaime Lopez Vela and Agustín Estrada Negrete went to the offices of the Government of the State of Mexico in Toluca, Mexico, for a scheduled meeting with the Deputy Secretary General of State, Luis Felipe Puente, to resolve an issue related to the refusal to reinstate Agustín Estrada Negrete to the position of director of a local school for disabled children.

Agustín Estrada Negrete was originally forced to step down from the position in 2007, for a period of one year, due to false allegations against him that he had gone to the school dressed as a woman. Several parents of children who attended the school accompanied them to the state government buildings to support the call for Agustín Estrada Negrete's reinstatement.

On arrival at the government buildings, they were informed by the civil servant who met them, Humberto Rodríguez Suárez, that the parents could not enter. Jaime Lopez Vela requested that the parents be allowed to participate in the proceedings as they are directly affected by the decision not to reinstate Agustín Estrada Negrete, however this request was refused.

The group was just preparing to stage a protest in front of the building when Humberto Rodríguez Suárez ordered police on patrol outside the buildings to arrest Jaime Lopez Vela. The human rights lawyer was forced into a police van where he was beaten. The police officers told him that “el Gobernador Peña Nieto no quiere maricones en el Estado de México” (Governor Peña Nieto doesn't want faggots in the state of Mexico).

He was then taken to a police station, put back in the police van and finally brought to the office of the Ministry of Justice, where he was informed that he was under arrest for the obstruction of traffic. Agustín Estrada Negrete was also arrested and driven to the Ministry of Justice in an ambulance.

He was physically assaulted throughout the journey. The human rights defenders were driven to the basement of the building of the Ministry of Justice where they were both verbally and physically assaulted again. They were repeatedly told that “Nuestro Gobernador Peña Nieto no quiere maricones, tratados de putitos y jotos” (our Governor Peña Nieto doesn't like gays and faggots). Agustín Estrada Negrete was also charged with the crime of the obstruction of traffic.

Jaime Lopez Vela was released on bail the following day, 8 May 2009. At that time, the human rights lawyer was informed that Agustín Estrada Negrete would be brought to the court of Ecatepec in relation to other legal matters connected to the case for his reinstatement that were still pending, and that he would be then released on bail.

However Agustín Estrada Negrete was instead beaten again and then brought to a penitentiary in Almoloya. He was told that “El Gobernador del Estado México no te quiere por maricon, te vamos a desaparecer” (the Governor of the State of Mexico doesn't like faggots, we're going to make you disappear”. On arrival at Almoloya he was verbally and physically assaulted again and then sexually assaulted by men who covered their faces so as not to be identified. He was released on 9 May 2009.

Both human rights defenders reported the incidents and called on the National Commission for Human Rights, Consejo Para Prevenir la Discriminación- CONAPRED (the Council for the Prevention of Discrimination), the Minister for Education and the Minister for Health, among others, to take action against these violations of human rights. However, the sexual assault complaint has not been accepted by authorities and the aforementioned human rights defenders have been warned not to continue with this particular complaint if they want to remain alive. No date has yet been set for Jaime Lopez Vela's hearing while Agustín Estrada Negrete had his first court appearance related to the matter on 20 May 2009.

Agustín Estrada Negrete was initially removed from his post as director of the school for children with disabilities, Centro de Atención Múltiple, for a period of one year as a result of complaints made against him in 2007. On 17 May 2007, the state commission for human rights invited Agustín Estrada Negrete to participate at an event to combat homophobia, in Ecatepec, Mexico. At this event, he carried out a performance dressed in women's clothing. A number of members of the schools' staff filed complaints against him, falsely accusing him of going to school dressed as a woman, which they claimed would threaten the development of the children at the school. Parents of the children who attend the school fully support the call for the reinstatement of Agustín Estrada Negrete, the man responsible for the construction and development of the school.

Front Line believes that the arrest, detention and physical assault of the aforementioned human rights defenders, and the sexual assault of Agustín Estrada Negrete, are directly related to their work in the defence of human rights, in particular in the defence of the rights of the LGBT community. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of these human rights defenders.