The United Nations Human Rights Office condemned an attack against transgender woman and activist Mauzinde in Tanzania on Friday, calling it “horrendous.”
Mauzinde, a resident of Rahaleo, was found abandoned in the forest, beaten and with her ears cut. The UN Human Rights office said that she had been “tortured & sexually assaulted by 12 men” and called for “bold action to combat discrimination against #LGBTIQ+ people and other minorities.”
The attack could be a violation of Mauzinde’s rights under international and Tanzanian law. Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights mandates that “each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind,” such as sex or other status. Furthermore, Principle 2 of the Yogyakarta Principles stipulates that everyone is entitled to enjoy all human rights without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Principle 5 also emphasizes that everyone “has the right to security of the person and to protection by the State against violence or bodily harm, whether inflicted by government officials or by any individual or group.”
Additionally, according to Article 13 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without any discrimination, to protection and equality before the law.”