Shock at murder of Kenyan activist Chiloba extends to the Caribbean

Moïse Manoël-Florisse, is an African-Caribbean online journalist keeping an eye…

Caribbean LGBTI and LGBTI-friendly organizations have expressed shock, indignation and dismay at the death of Kenya activist and model Edwin Chiloba in particularly despicable circumstances.

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**Edwin Chiloba (Photo courtesy of Facebook)**

Erasing 76 Crimes interviewed the Rev. Jevaughn Satchwell of Jamaica, president of the Caribbean Interfaith Network, about the response to Chiloba’s murder. His lifeless body was found Jan. 4 in a trunk along a west Kenyan roadside.

The organizations’ press release is printed below, underneath the transcript of our brief interview with Rev. Satchwell.

76crimes: Why did you want to respond?

Rev. Jevaughn Satchwell: Whatever the motives of the killer, we human rights defenders are particularly exposed and we are prime targets, symbolically or otherwise.

It is time for the governments of every country to take their share of responsibility in this matter, because Edwin Chiloba had already been attacked in public and it seems that he did not benefit from any particular protection measures from the authorities. It was not inevitable.

76crimes: Is this situation echoed by similar events in the Caribbean?

Rev. Jevaughn Satchwell: Unfortunately yes. The Jamaican government has never learned from all these crimes, which affect LGBTI people who in life had exemplary value within their social group.