Argentina: Lesbian Couple Denied Prison Visitation Rights, HIV-Positive Partner Also Denied Adequate Medical Attention
05/01/1998
Cecilia Lecchi is currently in detention at the penitentiary in Ezeiza. She is being denied prison visitation rights with her partner, Martha Miravete Cícero. The two have been united in a commitment ceremony, celebrated with the auspices of the Gay, lesbian, Transvestite, Transsexual and Bisexual (GLTTB) Christian Center. Reverend Roberto González officiated and the two women decided to share their last names, separated by a comma. There is currently no recognition of their union under Argentinean law.
If Martha were accepted by the authorities as Cecilia's partner, she could obtain conjugal visits -- which consist of two-hour intervals every 15 days -- as well as family reunions on dates of special significance, a communal visit on the weekend, and two visits by friends in her visits form.
Since Martha has not received recognition as Cecilia's family she cannot take advantage of any of these opportunities to visit with Cecilia. Cecilia's mental and physical well-being have been directly affected. Cecilia, HIV positive for the last fourteen years, weighs 46 kilos (about 101 pounds), has inflamed lymph nodes and a progressive depression which is only exacerbated by her present situation. She is not receiving adequate medical attention and the medication she so desperately needs.
They and other women in their situation are fighting for their right to adequate health care, to being recognized as a family and to privacy. If successful, Cecilia and Martha could potentially serve as a precedent setting case for other lesbian couples.
Argentinean activists ask that you support Cecilia and Martha's demand that their rights as a family not be denied and that Cecilia receive the medical attention she needs. Letters and faxes can be sent to the addresses below. A sample letter has been provided. Activists ask that copies of the letters also be sent to them so that they can share these with Cecilia and Martha. Activists further suggest that people can also write letters to Cecilia and Martha at Amenaza Lésbica's address and they will deliver the letters to the couple.
Please send letters to:
- Dr. Calvete
Juez de Instrucción - Juzgado Nro. 15, Sec. 146
Talcahuano 550
(1041) Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina - Director Nacional de Régimen
- Pedro Lozano 4986
(1417) Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina - Sr. Gustavo Plat
Procuración Penitenciaria - Av. Belgrano 1177, 2do piso
(1092) Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel./Fax: 54-1-382-3324 - Dr. Aparicio
Dra. Silvia Marino - Ministerio de Justicia de Política Penitenciaria
Sarmiento 329
Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel/Fax: 54-1-328-7321/22 - Sr. Director de la Unidad Nro. 3
- del Servicio Penitenciario Federal
Circunvalación y French s/n
(1108) Ezeiza
Provincia de Buenos Aires
Argentina
Please be sure to send a copy to:
- Amenaza Lésbica
- Sarmiento 1287, 1ro 7
(1041) Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina
Sample Letter:
We demand for Cecilia and Martha the rights given by the National Constitution, the Statute of the City of Buenos Aires, the National Laws (Law 24.660 regarding the Execution of Penalties and the General Regulation for Defendants) and the Regulation regarding Communication with Inmates.
According to Article 18 of the National Constitution "Prisons will be healthy and clean, and used for security reasons and not as a form of further punishment of the prisoners destined to be in them and every measure that on a pretext of precaution leads to the inmates further humiliation will be the responsibility of the judge that authorizes it." The current denial of family visits to Cecilia Lecchi on the part of Martha Miravete Cícero not only further humiliates her beyond what is ordered by the law, it also makes it impossible for them to strengthen their familial and social ties and to exercise their freedom of thought and information, a right ensured to all inmates under the General Regulation for Defendants title 1, article 7. Furthermore, in order for prisons to be healthy places, those inhabiting them must receive the medical attention and medicines necessary for them to fight for their health.
According to Article 19 of the National Constitution "...No inhabitant of the Nation will be forced to do what the law does not demand nor deprived of that which the law does not prohibit," and there are no laws that specify that conjugal visits have to be with a partner of the opposite sex.
The Statute of the City of Buenos Aires (article 17) approved in August 1997 guarantees for everyone "the right to be different. Not allowing discrimination based on .... race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation...."
Martha Miravete Cícero's visits fulfill the conditions outlined in article 51 of the Regulation regarding Communication with Inmates, which states that family visits "can be extended to those who have accredited their condition as a concubine (common-law wife)," and "with whom the person was living a marital relationship at the moment of the detention" (article 56 of the same regulation). Understanding by marital relationship living as a couple whether or not the couple is living in the same household.
As required by article 64 of the Regulation regarding Communication with Inmates, the request for a conjugal visit was presented in writing by the inmate, Cecilia Lecchi, with identification for the proposed visitor, with an accompanying verification of the relationship invoked through a Certificate of Union from the Gay, Lesbian, Transvestite, Transsexual and Bisexual (GLTTB) Christian Center as officiated by Reverend Roberto González, and pending a judicial certificate of living together.
We hope that your sense of justice will lead you to defend the rights which we demand for Cecilia Eugenia Lecchi, Miravete Cícero and Martha Miravete Cícero, Lecchi.
Sincerely,
