Rodrigo Ventocilla Ventosilla, 32, a Harvard Kennedy Faculty (HKS) graduate scholar from Peru, died on August 11 whereas below police custody at a hospital in Denpasar, Indonesia below what the household calls suspicious circumstances. Ventosilla, a trans man, was arrested for possession of hashish whereas touring to Bali to have a good time his honeymoon.
The HKS and trans communities are pleading for assist in highlighting the injustice and human rights violations that allegedly occurred final month in Bali, with allegations of police brutality and torture.
Police took Ventocilla to Bhayangkara Hospital after he suffered abdomen ache and vomiting, in keeping with Radar Bali. However his situation deteriorated, and he was transported to the Sanglah Central Normal Hospital, the place he was pronounced lifeless on August 11 at round 3:10 p.m.
HKS Dean Douglas Elmendorf and HKS Senior Affiliate Dean for Diploma Applications and Pupil Affairs Debra E. “Debbie” Isaacson introduced Ventocilla’s dying to high school associates and buddies on August 12.
Witnesses allege that it was a case of police brutality, and say that the police’s official story is baloney. They’re demanding an impartial investigation of what occurred in Bali. Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, head of public relations for the Bali Police, claims Ventocilla consumed extra unseized medication on August 8 in jail which led to his dying.
A press release from the households of Ventocilla and his partner, Sebastián Marallano, requested for the “Peruvian justice system to correctly examine the human rights violations of Rodrigo and Sebastian and to ensure reality, justice, and reparation.”
Marallano flew to Bali on a separate flight however was detained by police with out cost after trying to assist Ventocilla, in keeping with the household’s assertion. Marallano—who had nothing to do with the hashish prices—was additionally “hospitalized” days after being detained by police.
“We acquired yesterday an announcement from Rodrigo’s household with their description of extraordinarily disturbing circumstances surrounding Rodrigo’s dying—an announcement that talks about his arrest and detention simply earlier than his dying, and that highlights his rights as a transgender man,” Elmendorf wrote in an August 24 statement.
“The assertion from Rodrigo’s household raises very severe questions that deserve clear and correct solutions. Harvard Kennedy Faculty helps the household’s name for a direct and thorough investigation and for public launch of all related info, and the Faculty stands with all of Rodrigo’s buddies and colleagues and with the LGBTQ+ group.”
Ventocilla was a co-founder of the Peruvian trans rights advocacy group Diversidades Trans Masculinas. On the Harvard Kennedy Faculty, he was pursuing a grasp’s diploma in Public Administration in Worldwide Growth.
The household is asking the Peruvian Overseas Ministry to conduct an investigation into the actions of Julio Eduardo Tenorio Pereyra, the top of consular companies for the Peruvian Embassy in Indonesia.
It’s simply the newest cannabis-related crime in Bali by which the punishments don’t appear to suit the crime by Western requirements. A Brazilian scholar confronted 15 years after he was caught on the Ngurah Rai Worldwide Airport in Bali with 9.1 grams of cannabis.
Elmendorf and Isaacson stated that HKS will maintain a memorial gathering in reminiscence of Ventocilla.