A suspect has been arrested following the killing in Kenya of an LGBTQ rights activist, whose body was discovered in a metal trunk, sparking a national protest, police said Friday.
The body of Edwin Chiloba, a 25-year-old designer and model, was found Wednesday on the side of the road some 40km from the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, according to local media.
14 years in prison
In Kenya, LGBTQ people face precariousness and discrimination in a predominantly Christian and conservative society where homosexuality is taboo, as in many African countries.
Sexual relations between people of the same sex are punishable by law, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison.
“We have a suspect in custody, we are investigating his role in this murder,” said Peter Kimulwo, head of investigations at the Criminal Investigations Directorate Office in Eldoret.
“We have him as the main suspect because there are clues that point to him but all of that is under investigation,” he added to the press.
According to him, the suspect is a long-time friend of the victim. Police are also looking for people who were seen loading a metal safe into a car at the victim’s home. According to a police source who requested anonymity, Edwin Chilobat was “strangled” after being “tortured.”
“We want to know”
“To continue to see an escalation in violence against LGBTQ Kenyans is truly concerning,” the Kenya Human Rights Commission said in a statement on Friday. “Every day the rights of LGBTQ people are violated without real consequences for the perpetrators,” he denounced, urging the police to “carry out prompt investigations and ensure that the murderers are arrested and prosecuted.”
The LGBTQ Feminist Forum, in western Kenya, where Edwin Chiloba lived, noted that the designer had used “fashion to deconstruct gender and promote the rights of the marginalized community.”
“We want to know as a community what happened to Edwin, why he was killed and who deposited his body at the site,” said the group’s director of programs, Becky Mududa.
“Deep sadness”
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Saturday he was “shocked” by the killing of Kenyan LGBTQ rights defender Edwin Chiloba and called for stronger protections for LGBTQ activists around the world. world.
Volker Türk said on Twitter “shocked by the murder of human rights activist Edwin Chiloba”, expressing his “deep sadness”. He expressed his “solidarity with LGBTQI+ activists around the world” and stressed “the urgent need to redouble efforts to protect him.”
The United States spoke out against this assassination. Washington “requests that all responsibilities be established,” US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price tweeted. In April, another LGBTQ activist had already been found murdered in Kenya.
Source: BFM TV
