Inter-American rights body finds Jamaica violated LGBT rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found in a landmark decision released Wednesday that the Jamaican government is responsible for violating the human rights of two of its nationals within the LGBT community. The Human Dignity Trust (HDT), a charity composed of international lawyers championing LGBT rights, brought the case in 2011 on behalf of two individuals. Gareth Henry is a gay man, who, after facing police brutality and repeated attacks by homophobic gangs and mobs, sought asylum in Canada in 2008. Henry was beaten by a policeman while a crowd of 200 people stood by. Simone Edwards is a lesbian woman who was forced to flee Jamaica after being shot multiple times outside her house in 2008. The two perpetrators wanted to kill her and her brothers, one of whom is gay. After the government continually failed to protect them, Edwards was granted asylum in Europe.