- Title: LGBT activists question Peru's response to trans man's death in Indonesia
- Date: 26th August 2022
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (AUGUST 26, 2022) (REUTERS) PERUVIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING/ LGBTIQ+ ACTIVISTS PROTESTING AND WAVING TRANSGENDER FLAG VARIOUS OF LGBTIQ+ ACTIVISTS PROTESTING AND WAVING TRANSGENDER FLAG VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING SIGNS READING (Spanish) "Justice for Seb and Rodri" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RODRIGO VENTOSILLA'S AUNT, PAULINA VENTOSILLA, SAYING: "I demand that my nephew's rights are not covered up as if he were just a piece of paper. We ask for respect, for an investigation to find the culprits, and to know why he was killed. Indonesia is a country which must have respect for human rights." RELATIVES OF VENTOSILLA AND LAWYERS LEAVING FOREIGN MINISTRY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LAWYER OF VENTOSILLA FAMILY, BRENDA ALVAREZ, SAYING: "The complaints we will file are also against the Indonesian officials who allegedly violated the human rights of both Sebastian and Rodrigo." ACTIVIST PLACING FLYER ON FOREIGN MINISTRY'S WINDOW FLYER WITH PHOTO OF PERUVIAN CONSUL IN INDONESIA JULIO TENORIO PEREYRA READING (Spanish) "Wanted: Head of the Peruvian consular section in Indonesia. Julio Eduardo Tenorio Pereyra. For delaying immediate assistance to Rodrigo Ventosilla and Sebastian Marallano. Justice for Seb and Rodri." VARIOUS OF RELATIVES OF VENTOSILLA EMBRACING EACH OTHER ACTIVISTS PROTESTING
- Embargoed: 9th September 2022 21:59
- Keywords: Indonesia LGBTIQ+ Peru transgender man
- Location: LIMA, PERU
- City: LIMA, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,South America / Central America
- Reuters ID: LVA001096926082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: LGBT activists in Peru held a protest on Friday (August 26) questioning how their government handled the death of a Peruvian transgender man in Indonesia earlier this month who was detained at the airport upon arriving to celebrate his honeymoon.
Rodrigo Ventosilla, a Peruvian graduate student at Harvard University and transgender rights activist, died on the tourist island of Bali of "bodily failure" days after being detained for alleged cannabis possession.
Peru's foreign ministry issued a statement this week calling Ventosilla's alleged drug possession a serious crime in Indonesia and that transphobia had not been a factor in his arrest, but did not acknowledge he had later died while in custody.
Brenda Alvarez, a lawyer for Ventosilla's family, told reporters on Friday the foreign ministry had agreed to apologize over the statement and launch an investigation.
Peru's foreign ministry could not be reached for comment.
Alvarez added there is no date for when Ventosilla's body will arrive in Lima.
The Indonesian police told Reuters this week the case is closed and that no violence was involved in Ventosilla's death.
(Production: Enrique Mandujano, Carlos Valdez, Liamar Ramos) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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