Don´t Hate Those Who Educate

A prominent human rights activist who campaigned for the rights of people withHIV/AIDS has been murdered in what appears to have been a homophobic hate crimein the central Mexican city of Queretaro. His partner and other activists forthe rights of sexual minorities in the city are in danger.

Health worker Octavio Acuna campaigned on various human rights issues, and also worked for the Quereteran Association for Sexual Education. On June 21, 2005, he was found bleeding to death from multiple stab wounds in the condom shop he ran in Queretaro. The shop was also a center for young people to get information on sexual rights and HIV/AIDS issues. Nothing was reportedly stolen from the shop, indicating that the motive was not robbery.

Local human rights organizations have also reported that another gay rights activist was drugged and beaten on the weekend following Octavio Acuna's murder in what may also have been a homophobic attack. In the past the authorities have reportedly treated attacks on gay people as "crimes of passion," seeking to blame them on the victims' partners or other members of the gay community,without carrying out serious impartial investigations to establish whether the offenses were hate crimes.

Source: Amnesty International

To let Mexican Authorities know that hate crimes should not be tolerated, copy and paste the letter at the bottom of this entry (or write your own) and email it to:

Francisco Garrido Patron
Governor of the State of Queretaro
uaippe@queretaro.gob.mx

Lic. Juan Martin Granados Torres
Attorney General of Queretaro State
pgjq@queretaro.gob.mx

Lic. Pablo Enrique Vargas Gomez
President of the state human rights commission
presidencia@cedhqro.org

I would translate this into Spanish, but I´m to lazy:

Dear Sirs,

I am writing to express my concern that the murder of Octavio Acuna on 21 June may have been a homophobic hate crime, and I am requesting an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation.

The local authorities must guarantee the safety of Mr. Acuna´s partner, members of the Asociacion Queretana de Educacion para la Sexualidad and others campaigning for the rights of sexual minorities in the city. I hope the government will make the eithical decision to provide them with the protection they have requested.

I insist that all lines of investigation into the murder of Octavio Acuna and other apparent hate crimes be followed impartially and effectively, so that partners or other members of the gay community are not unfairly blamed or harassed.

In closing, I would like to remind you that the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals.

Thank you for your time,

[Your Name Here]

Thanks for taking two minutes out of your day for trying to make this world a better place for everyone, no matter who they snuggle up to late at night!