by Rex Wockner
U.S. NEWS
The Human Rights Campaign on June 8 urged federal and local officials and law-enforcement authorities to strengthen efforts to address violence against LGBT people in Puerto Rico.
HRC cited reports that three LGBT Puerto Ricans were found dead in recent days and that 18 LGBT Puerto Ricans have been murdered in the past 18 months.
Ramon Salgado was found dead along a highway in Humacao, transwoman Karlota Gomez Sanchez was found shot to death at an intersection in Santurce, and Alejandro Torres Torres was found stabbed to death in Ponce, activist groups said.
"Puerto Rican government officials and law enforcement, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, must ensure that LGBT people have the protection they need to survive," said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
According to HRC, in 2010 the Justice Department's Community Relations Service entered into an agreement with the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, the Puerto Rico Police Department and the University College of Criminal Justice to develop and implement hate-crime training and civil-rights curriculum for the Puerto Rico Police Academy and the Puerto Rico Police Department.
