Supreme Court delays review in Paola Buenrostro case as activists protest and accuse authorities of transphobia

Mexico’s Supreme Court postponed consideration of the Paola Buenrostro case after trans collectives protested outside the Mexico City prosecutor’s office. The activists accused authorities of transphobia and demanded that the crime be reclassified as transfemicide.

The full court had been scheduled to review a dispute over compensation for an indirect victim of Buenrostro’s killing, which took place a decade ago. Justice Lenia Batres Guadarrama was expected to present a draft ruling that would reject an objection alleging that the judgment had not been carried out. The matter instead remained on the court’s pending list.

The protest also focused on the classification of the crime against Buenrostro. Prosecutors have catalogued it as homicide, while activists are seeking a transfemicide classification for Arturo “N,” identified as the alleged material perpetrator.

Mexico City’s Executive Commission for Victim Assistance issued compensatory measures for an indirect victim in 2021, following Buenrostro’s killing on Sept. 30, 2016. The decision was challenged in an amparo case. In 2022, a federal judge nullified the commission’s resolution and ordered a new decision that applied a gender perspective and avoided discriminatory treatment.

The case later reached the Supreme Court after a collegiate court ordered that it be sent for review.