Amnesty Investigates as More Gays Murdered in Mexico Mexican gay groups have called upon Amnesty International to take up the cases of two gay men being held by police in Mexico on suspicion of multiple murders of AIDS workers, despite no apparent evidence to link them with the crimes. The head of the Mexican research department of the London based human rights organisation is understood to be investigating their situation in Mexico this week. As the two men remained in detention, another in the apparent series of murderous attacks was committed. 0n August 10, a 22-year-old gay activist became the latest victim in a wave of anti-gay violence in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Martin Balesca Dominguez was severely beaten and stabbed many times by unidentified attackers, who left him for dead near the town of Arriaga. The victim, a member of the AIDS organisation Piscis de Arriaga, is in critical condition in a local hospital, according to the latest information from Colectivo Sol, Mexico's largest Iesbian and gay group. A dozen other gay men and nine prostitutes have been assassinated in Chiapas in the past year, most of them shot with high-calibre- weapons. None of the cases has yet been solved by local police, who consider these murders to be crimes of passion or vengeance within the gay community, despite clear signs of professional marksmanship and the striking similarity among thc cases. Local gay leaders report increased harassment by police as a result of the publicity surrounding the violence. Leaders of Circulo Cultural Gay, a Mexico City gay organization, recently presented the National Commission on Human Rights with documentation of the assassinations in Chiapas. They demanded an investigation by the Commission of what they call the "systematic and often silent genocide suffered by the gay and lesbian population of the country." In an open letter to the Governor of Chiapas published in the newspaper La Jornada, many of the country's leading intellectuals pleaded for a more thorough investigation of the crimes in order to bring the murderers to justice. Violence against homosexuals and transvestites has been rampant in other parts of Mexico as well. On June 18, a young transvestite was beaten to death on the streets of Oaxaca. Three gay men were murdered in Mexico City on July 13, including Dr. Francisco Estrada, founder and president of Grupo Ave de Mexico, an AIDS prevention organization. And two gay men were found bound and shot to death in Guadalajara on August 9. Demonstrations have been organized by gay groups in front of Mexican consulates and embassies in the United States and in Europe, in an attempt to force the Mexican government to act to stop the homophobic violence throughout the country. Enrique Asis, Latin American Coordinator of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission was widely quoted when he said: "It's time for the Mexican government to take seriously the epidemic of anti-gay violence throughout the country and to force the police to fully investigate the murders of gay men". The response of the Mexican government has been to set up a special investigative commission, but local police are still detaining, and apparently seeking to place the blame upon gay men that the gay community are convinced are quite unconnected with the crimes. For further information contact Enrique Asis at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Tel: +1 415 255 8680, Fax: +1 415 255 8662, or Colectivo Sol, Fax: +52 5 605 8299. --------------------------- Diane Bailey dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk