Twelve members of a film crew from the La Paz, Bolivia, lesbian organization Mujeres Creando, were beaten and arrested by police Aug. 15, charged with "obscene acts" and "obscene performances."
Nine of the arrestees were male actors who were performing nude during the 11:30 a.m. shoot on a public street.
The crew was working on an installment of a TV series about sexuality. Bystanders were forced to disperse with tear-gas.
"Police officers who disrupted the filming violated the participants' right to freedom of expression, protected by the Bolivian Constitution (Article 7b) and by international human-rights instruments Bolivia has ratified, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights," said the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
IGLHRC urges activists to e-mail protest letters to minijust
caoba.entelnet.bo with a carbon-copy to creandoceibo.entelnet.bo.