Monday, January 21, 2013

US Amb. Tweets 'Sorry': Honduran Gay Raid, Martinez Arrest



I just checked U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske's tweets from this afternoon and as you can see in the image, she is aware and regretful about the gay bar Anubis getting raided last Sunday and the arrest of LGBT leader Erick Martinez.

Her original tweet, in Spanish:

Siento mucho saber q la comunidad y visitante a mi casa Erick Martínez fue detenido y asaltado en una redada policial en un bar. 

A Google translation into English:

I am sorry to know q # LGBT community and visitors to my house Erick Martinez was arrested and assaulted in a police raid on a bar.

Brava, Madame Ambassador, for expressing regret over the raid and Erick's arrest and mistreatment by the national police, and also acknowledging that he and gays have been guests inside your home in Tegucigalpa!

I've sent her and her staff a thank you email for publicizing the Anubis gay bar raid and what happened to Erick.

It's my belief that the courageous advocacy of LGBT Hondurans and their allies at home, coupled with the emails to the U.S. embassy staff in recent days from the Honduran Support Network, Gays Without Borders and LGBT groups in Holland, Ireland and Italy, directly played roles in this public message from Ambassador Kubiske. 

Let us hope the ambassador's tweet has an immediate impact on reining in the human rights abuses of the Honduran national police against gays, while protecting the safety and well-being of Erick.

My previous posts about the raid and arrests are here, here and here.

No comments: