Progress was made in resolving the land claims of the Sawhoyamaxa and Kelyenmagategma,
but other Indigenous Peoples continued to be denied their right to their traditional
lands. The authorities attempted to undermine and misrepresent the work of human rights
defenders.
A 60-day state of exception was declared in October in the northern departments of
Concepción and San Pedro following two attacks attributed to the Paraguayan People’s
Army (Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo, EPP), an armed opposition group.
In February, Paraguay’s human rights record was assessed under the UN’s Universal
Periodic Review. States expressed concerns regarding Indigenous Peoples’ rights, impunity,
women’s rights and discrimination on grounds of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Following a visit in March, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
expressed concern about delays in passing anti-discrimination legislation; the lack
of implementation of non-discrimination mechanisms, particularly in the Chaco region;
and the weak presence and capacity of state institutions.
In May, a national mechanism for the prevention of torture was approved, as required
under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.
Progress was made in resolving the land claims of some Indigenous communities, but
other communities continued to be denied their right to their traditional lands.
In September, five years after a judgement by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
in their favour, the Sawhoyamaxa signed an agreement with the government and the current
landowners to begin the process of restoring the community’s traditional lands. Under
the agreement, a government agency was due to buy a 14,404-hectare plot from two businesses
based in Puerto Colón by the end of the year.
In August, the land claim of the Kelyenmagategma was formally recognized by the authorities
and the land title on 8,700 hectares of land was officially transferred, allowing
the community to recover part of their traditional territory. The community, who started
the legal process to reclaim part of their land in 2000, had suffered threats and
intimidation that the authorities failed to investigate.
There was no resolution to Yakye Axa or Xámok Kásek land claims and there were no
significant advances in investigations into the alleged spraying of Indigenous communities
in Itakyry with pesticides in 2009.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination assessed Paraguay’s record
in August. It recommended that Paraguay adopt reforms to ensure that the justice system
protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including effective mechanisms for lodging
complaints and claims concerning land, for bringing about the restitution of traditional
lands, and for fully recognizing Indigenous land rights in a co-ordinated and systematic
manner.
The authorities sought to undermine the work of human rights defenders.
In July, lawyers from the human rights co-ordinating body, Coordinadora de Derechos
Humanos del Paraguay (CODEHUPY) lodged a legal writ requesting that the Attorney General
substantiate claims he made to the press that its lawyers were in telephone contact
with the EPP. The allegations were made in the context of Judge Gustavo Bonzi’s decision
at the end of June to release 14 people accused by the authorities of providing support
to the EPP in a kidnapping case, on the grounds that prosecutors had failed to provide
evidence of their involvement. CODEHUPY lawyers representing six of the accused had
complained of violations of due process guarantees in these cases. The Tribunal for
the Prosecution of Magistrates called for Judge Bonzi to be suspended for exceeding
his authority in releasing the 14 and, in August, the Concepción Appeals Court overturned
his ruling. A challenge to the constitutionality of the Appeals Court decision was
pending at the end of the year.
Four members of Iniciativa Amotocodie, an NGO working to protect the rights of uncontacted
Ayoreo Indigenous groups living in the Paraguayan Chaco region, faced legal proceedings
on charges including breach of trust. Investigations into the organization started
after they publicly declared their opposition to a scientific expedition called “Dry
Chaco 2010” on the grounds that it could harm the rights of uncontacted Indigenous
Peoples and were continuing at the end of the year. The expedition was subsequently
cancelled.
In July, Norberto Atilio Bianco, an army doctor at the Campo de Mayo clandestine
detention centre in Argentina in the 1970s, was extradited from Paraguay for a second
time to face charges of appropriating babies born to women who had been victims of
unlawful detention and enforced disappearance.
In September, the authorities reported that the remains found in a grave excavated
in a police station in Asunción might be those of victims of human rights violations
under the military government of General Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989). The report
of the Truth and Justice Commission published in August 2008 stated that at least
59 people had been executed and another 336 detainees were the victim of enforced
disappearance during the period of military rule.
Complaints of torture brought by at least four recruits at the Francisco Solano López
Military Academy in Capiatá were under investigation in the military justice system.
