By Correspondent, Gavin Fletcher

(Friday, October 9, 2009) After a day and a half of deliberations a jury returned finding ex-Pentecostal Bishop Robert Reaves guilty of first-degree murder, in the fatal stabbing of Latrese Curtis. Reaves faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

 

Bishop Robert Reaves

Latrese Matral Curtis Steven Randolph Curtis, a North Carolina Central University student, was found dead on the edge of I-540 on the northeast side of Raleigh in January last year. Prosecutors argued that Reaves was jealous of the affair that his roommate, Steven Randolph , was having with Curtis and saw her as an obstacle to having a gay relationship with Randolph. Reaves followed Curtis from school in Durham to Raleigh and force her to pull over along I-540. He then stabbed and slashed her with a knife more than 30 times, according to prosecutors. The prosecution painted Reaves as a obsessed stalker who followed Randolph and his friends, placed threatening phone calls to them and went as far as slashing their car tires. The Defense unsuccessfully argued that Reaves was the wrong man and tried to turn the attention to the man Curtis was having an affair with, Randolph. Randolph had the motive to kill Curtis, according to the defense.

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(New York, NY) The victim, Jack Price, 49, had left a deli after buying cigarettes in College Point, Queens, early Friday morning when he received a number of antigay comments and was attacked. He is in fair condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman, and police said he is undergoing treatment for a fractured jaw, rib fractures and a lacerated spleen.

 

Second suspect Daniel Rodriguez, a M/H/21 of 5-02 115 Street, College Point, Queens. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of this suspect is asked to call the New York City Police Department's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. Citizens can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers web site at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or texting their tips to 274637 (crimes) then enter TIP577. All calls will be kept strictly confidential Daniel Aleman, 26, was arrested over the weekend and faces two charges: assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime. Police said they were looking for a second suspect, Daniel Rodriguez, 21, on Monday evening. The NYDN reports: “The wanted suspect allegedly boasted during the attack that his father is a city prison guard and would protect him from arrest. ‘My father is a C.O. [correction officer],’ he screamed, Price told relatives. ‘You will never do anything to us.’ Police said they could not confirm whether the suspect’s father works for the Correction Department.

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UPDATE!

Missing week spent praying in a church

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(Saturday, Sept 26, 2009) - Just a day short of a full week of worrying by his partner, close friends and family, Kevin Wade Britt, Jr., today reappeared.

 

"Everybody I'm ok. Wow! After a long week of church and revival…," Britt said on his Facebook page.

In the space of an hour of posting his announcement, nine comments were added to his page; most people expressed relief that he is okay and asked him to call them. A friend on Facebook reprimanded him, saying that she was so angry with him that she was "loosing it." "I'm sorry if I have caused a lot of trouble. I don't have a cell phone so I could not call while I was away," Britt said in his apology. One person in a Facebook post admonished him, pointing out that he could have deposited .50c in any pay phone to call either his partner or his family. Britt said he was experiencing a number of things in his life and encountered a religious revival at a church where he spent the week praying. "I'm sure you all were praying as well and God heard your prayers and kept me safe. Thank you all so much, however I'm dealing with the family," he said.

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Partner appeals for help finding him

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) -When 23-year-old Kevin Wade Britt, Jr. left the Hyattsville, Md. home he shared with his partner at about 11:00am on Sunday, Sept 20 to go to his office to attend to some paper work, little did anyone know that he would disappear and a there would be a full scale search on for him.

 

Have you seen this man?  - Kevin Wade Britt, Jr - Missing

Elias Fishburn, IV, Britt's partner, put notices out on his and Britt's Facebook pages when after 24 hours, Britt had not been heard from, and announcing that Britt had been missing since Sunday and a report had been filed with the police. "Your help in finding him will put a lot of hearts at rest," Fishburne said on Britt's Facebook page. "Also, if anyone knows of his blood type and Social Security number, they should call District III/Seat Pleasant, Prince George County Police Department." Britt who is originally from Talbot County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, works as a coordinating supervisor at Psychotherapeutic Services Inc. in Landover, Md., a mental-health services provider for Prince George County residents.

Posted on Fishburn's Facebook page are photos of Britt and his four-door white Acura car which has Maryland license plates. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Britt is asked to call Officer E. Lindeman of the Prince George's County Police at 301-772-4900, and refer to missing person's case # 09-265-094.

By David Smith
UK Guardian

An unemployed man was jailed for life today for his part in the murder and gang rape of a lesbian South African international footballer, following a spate of murders and so-called "corrective rape" against lesbians in South Africa's townships.

 

Supporters of Eudy Simelane danced in August outside the court where three men charged with her killing were to go on trial. One defendant was convicted Tuesday and two were acquitted. Phot by Paballo Thekso

Activists at the magistrates court in Delmas, Mpumalanga province, hailed the judgment as "extremely important" in drawing attention to the trend. Human rights campaigners have warned of an increase of "corrective rape" committed by men to supposedly "cure" lesbian women of their sexual orientation. There have been more than 30 reported murders of lesbians in the past decade but today's trial was the first to produce convictions. Themba Mvubu, 24, was found guilty of killing, robbing and being an accessory to the rape of Eudy Simelane, 31.

Simelane was one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in KwaThema township, near Johannesburg. A keen footballer since childhood, she played for the South African women's team and worked as a coach and referee. She hoped to serve as a line official in the 2010 men's World Cup in South Africa.

But in April last year she was accosted while leaving a pub and robbed of a mobile phone, trainers and cash. She died from wounds to the abdomen after being gang-raped and stabbed 12 times. Her naked body was dragged towards a stream and dumped. "Eudy Simelane suffered a brutal, undignified death," Judge Ratha Mokgoathleng told the court. "She was stripped naked, stabbed, assaulted, raped. What more indignity can a person endure?" He continued: "The accused has shown no remorse whatsoever. He steadfastly maintains he was not to blame for the death of the deceased."

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By Stephanie Farr
Philadelphia Daily News

When the tale of Keyontyli and Taleon Goffney, the Internet gay-porn-actor twins who became area rooftop burglars, hit the pages of the Daily News last year, the beautiful men made national headlines, even getting a shout-out on "Saturday Night Live" 's Weekend Update.

 

Keyontyli and Taleon Goffney

But Thursday, the saga came quietly to an anti-climactic end as Keyontyli Goffney, 27, pleaded guilty to his crimes before an audience of just one - his mother. Goffney, who worked as a legitimate model before and after his arrest, was sentenced to the time he's already served in jail - just two days - and four years' probation for pleading guilty to two counts each of burglary and conspiracy. The charges stem from two February 2008 burglaries in South Philadelphia in which he acted as a lookout while his brother cut holes through the roofs of businesses. Taleon Goffney, a career criminal and alleged mastermind of the operation, got three to eight years in prison after pleading guilty in July to the same crimes. He's also serving an additional four to eight years for a burglary he committed alone in the city in December 2007. Assistant District Attorney Caroline Keating said the negotiated guilty pleas were so vastly different because of the differences in the brothers' criminal records.

"[Keyontyli] had previously been a working member of society up until this point," Keating said. "But his brother is a true career criminal."

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Man seen leaving house asks for help with transportation, leaves note.

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - Once again the specter of homophobic violence reared its ugly head in the island nation of Jamaica with the discovery by police on Wednesday, Sept 9 of the body of British Honorary Consul John Terry in his bed. According to Jamaican police reports, Terry's body was discovered at his home in Mount Carey, near Anchovy in St James, not far from Montego Bay.

 

New Zealander John Terry, 65, had lived in Jamaica since 1967 and was a British honorary consul. The hotelier and coffee bean farmer was made a Member of the British Empire in 1993. Photo / AP

Karl Angell, communications director for the Jamaican Constabulary Force, said the post-mortem report stated that Terry, 65, died as a result of asphyxia due to ligature strangulation associated with other injuries to the neck and head. Detective Deputy Superintendent Michael Garrick of the Jamaican Constabulary is reported to have said that Terry's body had sustained severe head injuries to his head, consistent with being hit with a heavy blunt object possibly a nearby bedside lamp and his throat had been tied with a cord, which was attached to a piece of clothing, and which may have contributed to him being strangled. Beside Terry's body was a handwritten note which referred to Terry as a "Batty man," the Jamaican slang for homosexual and a warning, "This is what will happen to ALL gays." The note was signed "Batty man."

The Associated Press reported that the Jamaican Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Terry's death as a homophobic attack. Investigators have confirmed that there was no sign of forced entry at the four-bedroom house and do not believe that robbery was a motive for the murder. A St. James investigating officer said that it was likely that Terry knew his killer, but he said the police has not revealed any possible motives or have made any arrests. In a related story, despite having most of his shows cancelled around the U.S. due to protests and complaints against his homophobic lyrics which incite anti-gay violence, Rival Entertainment has booked Jamaica reggae dancehall artiste Buju Banton, to perform at Center Stage in Atlanta on Oct 24.

"There are no new developments up to this time, but we believe, however, that the person who murdered Mr. Terry was close to him," Garrick told the Jamaican newspapers The Gleaner.

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By Kristina Davis and Matthew Rodriguez
Union-Tribune

The investigation into the killing and burning of a Navy seaman during an arson attack at Camp Pendleton will remain open despite the apparent suicide of the prime suspect, Navy officials said yesterday.

 

Funeral services in Houston for Seaman August Provost

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Campos, 32, of Lancaster apparently asphyxiated himself Friday by ingesting toilet paper while in custody at the base's brig, said Brian O'Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.

Campos was charged with the June 30 shooting death of Seaman August Provost in an attack on the Marine base.

“We owe Seaman Provost and his family any answers that come up in the investigation,” O'Rourke said. “It's an ugly story all around that has affected so many people.” Campos was on a suicide watch, and the few items in his cell included toilet paper and a “suicide-proof” blanket.

Brig staff members had checked on Campos about 11:45 a.m. Friday and found him in “satisfactory condition,” O'Rourke said. At 12:21 p.m., however, he was found unresponsive on his cot.

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By Dina Kraft
UK Telegrath

Israeli police are hunting for a gunman who shot dead two people in an attack on a support centre for homosexual teenagers in Tev Aviv.

The attack, in which a further 15 people were injured late on Saturday, is being described as a suspected "hate crime" and the most violent incident ever to target members of the country's homosexual community.

 

Police and paramedics respond to the scene of a shooting at a center for gay youth in Tel Aviv. The incident shocked the gay community and residents of Tel Aviv, which is known as one of Israel's more tolerant cities toward homosexuals. David Furst / AFP/Getty Images

"I want to condemn the shocking murder," said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, joining a chorus of outrage from across the country's political and social spectrum. "I want to say to the citizens of Israel: we are a democratic and tolerant country and we must respect every person for who he is."

Homosexual activists and some politicians were quick to condemn what they called an atmosphere of incitement by elements in Israel's religious and specifically ultra-Orthodox society, including the Shas political party.

At a demonstation through the streets of Tel Aviv immediately following the attack, hundreds of protesters marched and carried banners accusing Shas of incitement.

But Shas, whose members and rabbis have been openly critical of the country's homoseuxual community, condemned the attack.

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Prosecution witnesses shot - suspected retaliation

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY, Friday, Jul 24, 2009) - Witnesses who testified at the trial of Dwight DeLee, the 20-year-old who shot and killed a transgender woman last November, were reported shot on Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009.

 

Convicted killer Dwight DeLee

The Syracuse, NY Post Standard newspapers reported yesterday that Johnny Gaston, Sr., and Lavaughn Polk were shot in what police and the prosecutor's office believe was retaliation for the conviction of DeLee last Friday. Gaston, Sr. is the father of two of the prosecution's witnesses in the trial of DeLee who was tried for the murder of Moses "Teish" Cannon, known as LeTeish Green. Green, 22, was shot point blank with a .22 caliber rifle by DeLee on the night of Nov 14, 2008 outside a house on Seymour Avenue in Syracuse, and died later at University Hospital. On Monday, Jul 13, 2009, the jury trial began of her killer. This shooting occurred exactly one week after Onondaga County Judge, William Walsh, had cause to warn the defense, outside of the hearing of the jury, against witness intimidation because the prosecution had reported threats against state's witnesses. On Friday, Jul 17, after requesting a re-reading of the testimony given by Green's brother, Mark, who was the driver of the car and who also suffered a gun shot injury to his arm, the jury, in less than 30 minutes, returned a guilty verdict on the lesser count of second-degree manslaughter as a hate crime. "We're looking at the possibility that this may be some kind of retaliation," Sgt. Tom Connellan said. "We're looking at that very closely." The police said that while they cannot identify where the shootings occurred, Gaston, Sr., 47, was shot in his neck and was unable to speak with police and Polk, 22, with an injury to his left forearm was reported to be uncooperative. Two Gaston siblings, Johnny Gaston, Jr., and Jasmine Gaston were witnesses for the prosecution in DeLee's trial. While the police are keeping him apprised of developments about whether the shooting on Wednesday was retaliatory, Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Doran said, "It's one of the aspects of the investigation. We're trying to determine if the fact Johnny and Jasmine Gaston testified at the trial last week was a factor." Doran said that so far there were no reports of problems from the trial, but that while the Gastons were reluctant to provide the same information in the witness stand which they had previously provided to the police, and that these two witnesses were not the ones the judge referred to in his admonition on Wednesday. But during the trial, the judge had asked Doran if he wanted to charge Jasmine Gaston with perjury, but the prosecutor responded that he wanted to have statements made by the witness to the police repeated to the jury. Following on the jury's verdict, DeLee was convicted and faces sentencing on Aug 20 to a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, but with his prior record and the determination that this was also a hate crime, he would serve a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Jury finds accused guilty in Nov, 2008 murder of transgender woman.

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY, Monday, Jul 20, 2009) -An Onondaga County jury last Friday found 20-year-old Dwight DeLee guilty of the murder of 22-year-old Moses "Teish" Cannon, also known as LeTesih Green.

 

Dwight DeLee enters court on Wednesday. Photo: David Lassman/The Post-Standard

In a trial that began with jury selection on Monday, Jul 13, the jury returned with a guilty verdict less than 30 minutes after hearing a re-reading of testimony given by Teish's brother, Mark who was seated in the driver's seat and identified DeLee as the shooter. The six men and six women jury found DeLee guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter as a hate crime, and not the more severe capital offense of second-degree murder as a hate crime after hearing his testimony that his intention was to seriously injure someone in the car not kill with the .22 caliber rifle. As a lesser conviction, when DeLee is sentenced on Aug. 18 by Judge William Walsh, he will face a minimum of 10 years in state prison and a maximum of 25 years, instead of a maximum 25 years to life.

According to reports, on the night of Nov 14, 2008 about 8:45 pm, Teish, Mark and a still unidentified passenger in the back seat of a car, pulled up in front of a house at 411 Seymour Street and while Teish was speaking with Alyssa Davis, who purportedly called Teish and asked her to come so they could speak; that DeLee appeared out of a house, walked to the car with the rifle pointed and fired. Moses "Teish" Cannon

Reflexively, Mark engaged the car's engine and sped away, driving 13 blocks to the home he shared with Teish and his parents at Arthur Avenue. When he had stopped, he discovered that while he had been shot in the arm, Teish had been shot in her chest. The passenger in the car's backseat was unharmed. After being rushed to University Hospital, Teish was pronounced dead; Mark was treated and released.

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By Morgan Zalot
Philadelphia Daily News

Gay-porn star Taleon Goffney won't be making any new Internet videos with his twin brother anytime soon.

Instead, he'll be serving three to eight years in state prison for two February 2008 rooftop burglaries of businesses near 9th Street and Washington Avenue, in South Philadelphia.

 

"Thank you for your lenience in accepting my plea," Goffney, who was previously charged with similar burglaries and has been incarcerated since his February 2008 arrest, told Judge Lisa M. Rau in court yesterday. "These crimes won't be happening again." Goffney yesterday pleaded guilty to two counts each of burglary and criminal conspiracy under a plea deal between his attorney, Michael F. Gushue, and Assistant District Attorney Caroline Keating. As part of the agreement, Goffney, 27, identified his twin, Keyontyli, who is free on bail and attended the hearing, as a co-conspirator in the burglaries.

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Along with being a homicide, case proceeding as hate crime

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - It was the end of the work week and before heading off to a party, sometime about 8:45pm, on Nov 14, 2008, three people in a car pulled up in front of a house at 411 Seymour Street in Syracuse, NY. While one of the occupants chatted with a girl, suddenly, out of the shadows, a figure of a man appeared carrying a .22 caliber rifle.

He walked up to one of the windows of the parked car and fired. Reflexively, the car's driver engaged the engine and sped away, driving 13 blocks to Arthur Avenue, where he and at least one of the car's occupants lived. When the car stopped, the driver discovered that he had been shot in the arm, the person in the passenger seat had been shot in the chest, and the passenger in the back seat was unharmed.

Left, Roxanne Green, the mother of Teish, and her sister Rhonda Gary, both of Syracuse, NY, attend a candlelight vigil. Photo: Mike Greenlar, The Post Standard.

According to reports from the Syracuse News 10 and The Post Standard, the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the meeting of 20-year-old Dwight DeLee and 22-year-old Moses "Teish" Cannon, also known as LeTeish Green, was unprovoked, and that it was a set-up. Cannon's brother 18-year-old Mark, who was the driver, said that LeTeish received a phone call from Alyssia Davis, a friend, who asked her to come to the address on Seymour Street to meet and talk. But the police said they do not believe Teish was lured to the Seymour Street address. Davis later said wanted to attend the Teish's funeral but did not because she was afraid of how she would be perceived by the family. Teish was rushed to University Hospital where she was pronounced dead, Mark was treated and released, and the still unidentified third passenger was unharmed.

According to reports and court documents, LeTeish Green's legal name was Moses Cannon, who at 16 came out to her parents and family and preferred to be a girl with the name LeTeish.

An Associated Press report said that the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court on Nov 26, 2008, ruled in the case of Earl William Golden III's petition to change his name to a woman's name, "noted that people can change their names "at will," provided there is no fraud, misrepresentation or interference with the rights of others. Done in court, the switch can be "speedy, definite and a matter of record." The New York City-based Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a rights group advocating for gender self-determination, said that while some judges still make a mistake, under the law, a judge cannot require medical evidence of a gender change to support name changes.

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One treated as a hate crime; call on DA to upgrade other from felony to hate crime

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

New York, NY - In less than one month, the streets of Queens, NY have become more dangerous for two transgender women, Leslie Mora, addressed in court documents as Lester, and Carmella Etienne, who were both attacked and beaten.

 

On Jun 19, Mora was walking toward her home along Roosevelt Avenue when she was set upon by two men, later identified by the police as Trinidad Tapia, 19, and Gilberto Ortiz, 32.

The men beat her about her body with a belt, its buckle cutting into her skin. While she was being attacked, they were heard to shout out in Spanish "maricon," translated as "faggot." Screaming out for help, Mora attracted the attention of the occupants of a passing car who stopped and assisted with calling the police. When the police arrived, they discovered Mora cowering and bloodied on the sidewalk, and recovered the blood stained belt and buckle, and according to the criminal complaint filed with the court, Mora's blood later matched the stains found on Ortiz's pants.

In the complaint, the two defendants were charged with assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, both felonies, and released on their own recognizance. Queens District Attorney, Richard Brown, has declined to treat Mora's assault as a hate crime. Meris Campbell, assistant public information officer in the DA's office confirmed that regarding Mora's case, there is an ongoing investigation and when the case is called for a hearing on Jul 13, the prosecutor, depending on what has been uncovered, may upgrade the charges. Mora has been issued with orders of protection from each of her two assailants.

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The new Bill will extend the law to cover offences motivated against persons because of their sexual orientation and/or disability.

A Bill introduced by Green MSP Patrick Harvie, the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill, has successfully navigated its way through the Scottish Parliament and been passed by majority. Designed to build on former legislation covering offences driven by racial or religious intolerance, the new act will now make hate crime aimed at gays and the disabled illegal.

Gay MSP Patrick Harvie

Harvie, 36, was first elected as an MSP in 2003. He is an active campaigner on equality issues, is Vice President of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association and has been prominent in the introduction of the new bill since 2007.

"I can't claim the credit (for the bill)" he told me modestly. "Back in 2003 the Criminal Justice Act was passed, which placed aggravation by religious prejudice on a statutory footing. This added to UK legislation which did the same for racial prejudice. In debating the change MSP's were aware that other forms of hate crime may need the same mechanism. But while the proposal for religious prejudice was agreed a similar proposal from my colleague Robin Harper was not accepted by the government of the day.

" At the time the ruling administration did set up a hate crime working group and carried out some research. But the recommendation to introduce a Bill to prosecute those who offended against individuals because of their sexual orientation, transgender identity and/or disability was not accepted.

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Camp Pendleton, CA - An investigation has been launched into the mysterious death of 29 year old August Provost of Houston, Texas. Seaman Provost was found dead in a guard shack on the base at Camp Pendleton at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. The case has overtones of being a hate crime.

 

KHOU TV  Houston The viewing for August Provost will be Friday at 10 a.m. at Wright Grove Baptist Church. The church is located at 9702 Willow Street. Provost will be buried at Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Provost was a boatswain mate seaman assigned to the Assault Craft Unit Five at the base, a unit that takes combat Marines ashore in high-speed craft. Camp Pendleton  is located in San Diego County just north of Oceanside. The San Diego gay community citing sources familiar with the death of say Provost was killed during an argument with another sailor over sexual orientation. Base authorities said the case is being investigated as a possible homicide and say they are holding a "person of interest" in the case but his name is being withheld. Provost's boyfriend, Kaether Cordero, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the dead sailor was openly gay but sought to keep his private life quite. “People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero, speaking to the Union-Tribune from Houston, said. “He didn't care that they knew. He trusted them.”

Sources: The San Diego Union -Tribune; The San Diego Examiner; The Los Angeles Times and CNN

Phumzile S. Mtetwa
Executive Director
Lesbian and Gay Equality Project
South Africa


On Saturday, 25 April from 09h00, we will again gather at the site where Eudy Simelane’s body was discovered for a community clean-up. We invite you to join us in your working gears, with tools and bags to store the waste.

 

As you are all aware, 28 April will mark the first year since her brutal murder. Her body was found with multiple stab wounds and mutilated in an open field in Tornado - one of the sections in the Kwa-Thema township, on that Monday morning. Eudy Simelane

Her death is suspected to have been motivated by her gender transgression and sexual orientation. This year on 27 April 2009 – South Africa’s Freedom Day - we will mark this day in Kwa-Thema by gathering under the theme “Remembering Eudy Simelane & Claiming the Rights to Freedom, Dignity & Equality for All!”.

The activities on the 27th April will include friendly soccer matches, poetry, speeches, music and dance, all preceded by a solemn moment of marking her death at 09h30. Also, the organizers hope to unveil the Eudy Simelane memorial ‘bridge’, next to where her body was discovered.

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30 December 2008 –Southern Africa, Central America and South America are the three areas of the world with the highest homicide rates, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which has just published the first comprehensive set of global statistics on such violence.

The data, drawn from 198 countries and territories, also shows that West and Central Europe, East Asia and South-East Europe are the three areas with the lowest rates of homicide – acts of unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person.

The new statistics aim to fill a critical gap in data and launch further research and analysis to improve the availability of crime and criminal justice information and crime trends, according to UNODC.

The agency notes that homicide statistics are crucial in research and policy making. They are collected by both criminal justice and public health agencies, which may measure slightly different phenomena and are therefore unlikely to provide identical numbers.

“They represent a robust crime indicator and are – in theory – available in all jurisdictions,” UNODC states.

“In practice, a comprehensive collection of international homicide statistics has never been available and the present database represents a first attempt to overcome this gap,” it adds.

Source: The United Nations

By Jeannneth Valdvieso
AP

CUENCA, Ecuador — An Ecuadorean immigrant beaten to death in an apparent U.S. hate crime was carried to his grave on Saturday in a town that has seen thousands of others seek their fortunes abroad.

Julia Quintuna, the mother of Jose Oswaldo Sucuzhanay, sobbed as she embraced her 10-year-old grandson Brian, one of Sucuzhanay's children.

 

Sucuzhanay, a 31-year-old real estate agent, was attacked by a group of men who kicked and beat him with an aluminum baseball bat, shouting anti-Latino and anti-gay slurs as he walked arm in arm with his brother near his Brooklyn home on Dec. 7. He died after five days in a coma. New York City police are still searching for three suspects, and the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident. "My heart is broken and so is that of all my family," his brother German said during a funeral Mass in the cathedral of the southern town of Cuenca. Sucuzhanay's coffin was scattered with roses and covered with the Ecuadorean flag. "The brutal killing of my brother Oswaldo is the result of xenophobia, of homophobia and racism that our compatriots are experiencing in these times," he said, calling on Ecuador's government to demand that U.S. authorities solve the crime.

Many people in southern Ecuador have relatives in the United States and the attack caused a wave of fear. Carmen Guaman, 37, said her husband works in construction in New York. "I tell him to be careful, that he doesn't go out much in the streets because the same thing could happen to him," she said. U.S. lawmakers and Hispanic groups have denounced Sucuzhanay's death, saying recent slayings of Latino immigrants lend new urgency to calls to pass a new hate crimes law. Sucuzhanay's killing follows the deaths of Luis Ramirez, 25, a Mexican immigrant who was beaten to death July 14 in eastern Pennsylvania, and Marcelo Lucero, 37, an Ecuadorean immigrant who was fatally stabbed Nov. 8 by a group of teenagers on Long Island, New York. "First it was my brother, then another compatriot," said Lucero's sister Isabel, who attended Sucuzhanay's funeral. "Who will be next?" Prosecutors said seven teenagers charged in Lucero's assault had set out to attack a Hispanic person, while three teenagers linked to Ramirez's death also face charges of ethnic intimidation. There were 830 Hispanic victims of hate crimes last year in the United States, up from 819 in 2006 and 595 in 2003, according to FBI statistics. Source link

By Tom Hays

NEW YORK – A police officer warned a tattoo parlor worker that if he reported being sodomized with a baton during an arrest at a subway station, officers would lock him up for a felony, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Officer Richard Kern charged with aggravated sexual assualt

The threat was among details to emerge as the Brooklyn district attorney announced an indictment charging Officer Richard Kern and two other patrolmen with felonies.

Kern, 25, was charged with aggravated sexual abuse and assault after the Oct. 15 confrontation. Fellow Officers Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales were charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct for allegedly covering up the crime.

All three pleaded not guilty Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn. As Cruz and Morales were released without bail and left the courtroom, accuser Michael Mineo glared at them and clapped sarcastically. Kern left minutes later after posting $15,000 bail.

"I relive this every day. I'm still in pain," Mineo, a 24-year-old body piercer, said outside the courtroom. "No one should go through this."

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