The Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community in Timor-Leste considers the formal justice system in the country not fair because the LGBT communities continues to suffer from violations and torture and the public authorities, especially the police, often does not consider their complaints.
LGBT community member, Ismael Ribeiro, said according to the Constitution all Timorese have equal rights to access education, health, justice, and the government has an obligation to guarantee these rights, however the LGBT community, as a minority group, continues to face discrimination from public institutions.
He added the life of a LGBT community member is hard because discrimination and violence starts within the family, then society and the state itself.
He acknowledged that recently some institutions of State have begun considering the needs of the LGBT community in Timor-Leste but that most have not, which results in the high number of violations and discrimination.
“We often experience torture, and are often insulted with hurtful words. When we tell our local leaders, they just ignore our cases, but the law is the same for everyone,” he said.
He said for example, when someone experiences a problem and complains to their local leader, the police and the justice authorities, they just turn around and insult them verbally.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director for the Justice System Monitoring Program (JSMP), Luis de Oliveira Sampaio, said in their court monitoring, so far, they have never registered a LGBT-related case, which does not mean there aren’t violations against the LGBT community, just that their complaints are not considered seriously.
He added the LGBT community faces discrimination, violence and suffers several violations, including offence crimes, but the relevant authorities often ignore their complaints.
“Police does not respond to them professionally. Some just tell them to go back. They won’t do an investigation to try and find information about the crime committed. It is very important they [LGBT community] knows their rights as citizens,” he said.
He said many members of the LGBT community face violations, but they do not report it because they have no power and knowledge about the formal justice system.
He added JSMP with support from the Australian government will provide training to the LGBT community on democracy, the role of sovereignty organs in the process of creating the law, and the formal justice system process in Timor-Leste, so they have knowledge about their basic rights.
In relation to creating a specific law to acknowledge the presence of the LGBT community of Timor-Leste, he said this is the responsibility of the National Parliament, however he added the Constitution is clear in stating that all Timorese citizens have equal right to access to education, health, justice and to enjoy their social life.
