Justice for Colombia’s Sara Millerey

On April 7, Sara Millerey González, a 32-year-old transgender woman, was thrown into the Playa Rica River in Antioquia, Colombia. She was cruelly dumped and left to drown after the perpetrators severely beat her, breaking her arms and legs. Rather than help Sara, passersby recorded her suffering and posted it on social media. The shocking video has since gone viral. Emergency personnel eventually arrived and transported Sara to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries. 

We strongly condemn this horrific crime and demand justice for Sara. We also denounce the inhumanity of witnesses who, instead of coming to Sara’s aid, exhibited her final moments on social media. We strongly disapprove of authorities and media outlets reporting on Sara using her deadname. This crime, like many others committed against trans individuals, did not happen in isolation—it occurred with the complicity of many bystanders. When a society fails to value and protect diversity, and instead demonizes people for being different, it creates the conditions for such hate crimes to occur.

Sara was a courageous woman. She chose to be her authentic self and not conform to others. She was also not alone in facing hostility. According to Corporación Caribe Afirmativo, more than 24 LGBTQ+ people have been murdered in Colombia so far in 2025. This figure is an undercount since many LGBTQ+ cases are not designated as such. 

On November 20, 2024, Colombia’s Human Rights Ombudsman’s office publicly expressed its concern regarding the rising violence against trans individuals. Between January and October 2024, the office “advised and handled 258 cases of bias-based violence against transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary people. This marks an increase of 29.6 percent compared to the same period in 2023 when it dealt with 199 cases.” The office urged the government to take stronger measures to protect trans individuals, stating that “there is also evidence of a worsening of violence based on gender identity, especially against transgender women, who endure the most psychological, physical, and sexual violence.”

We join Fundación GAAT–Grupo de Acción y Apoyo a Personas Trans, Corporación Caribe Afirmativo, Movement en Resistencia Transfeminista de Medellín, and many others in urging the following actions be taken:

Colombian Authorities:

• Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo advances a speedy, transparent investigation with a differentiated trans focus into this crime and demands that those materially and intellectually responsible for it be punished. 

• The Ombudsman’s Office and Municipal Council of Bello should strengthen local protections for LGBTQ+ persons to prevent further violence against LGBTQ+ persons from taking place. 

• The Ministry of Equality and Equity, the Ministry of Justice, the Mayor’s Office of Bello, and the Governor’s Office of Antioquia should cooperate to adopt policies to prevent prejudice-based violence and activate protection routes for transgender people in Bello. These entities should also work to advance effective prevention and protection measures implemented for LGBTI+ people, especially trans people, in all of Colombia. 

Signed:

Agustina Comedi

Aurelia Annino

Carlos Rubiano

Carlos Salinas

Carolina Hernandez

Coletta Youngers (Washington Office on Latin America, WOLA)

Cristina Espinel

Daniel Gutierrez

Daniela J. Cardona

Dayana Mosquera

Donna Denina (International Women’s Alliance)

Hiram Ruiz

Jen Deerinwater (Crushing Colonialism)

Jhonathan Gómez (Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN))

Julián Machado Vanegas (Corporación Somos Por Naturaleza)

Juliana Bravo Valencia

Judy Alba

Laura Correa (Rice University)

Lilia Ferrer-Morillo (Abajo Fronteras)

Lina María Reyes Becerra

Marie Boti (International Women’s Alliance)

Matthew Bocanumenth (Council for Global Equality)

Mercedes Gaviria Jaramillo

Mikaela Polk

Ofunshi Hernandez (Colombia Acuerdo de Paz NGO)

Omar Ocampo (Program on Inequality and the Common Good, Inequality.org)

Oscar David Quijano

Rebecca Lelchuk (Student at Brooklyn Law School)

Yesenia Barragan

Organizations:

Colombia Human Rights Committee

Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights

InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia

Latin America Working Group (LAWG)

Portland Central America Solidarity Committee

Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)