PARAGUAY Republic of Paraguay Head of state and government: Mario Abdo Benítez There were allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in the context of policies implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indigenous Peoples continued to be overlooked in public policies, as did their rights to territory. Children and adolescents continued to face obstacles in accessing their rights, including their right to protection from sexual abuse and access to comprehensive sexuality education from the state. A new anti-discrimination law and criminal complaints against the treatment of LGBTI people made no progress in the year. Human rights defenders continued to lack an official protection mechanism.
RIGHT TO HEALTH In April, the authorities placed thousands of people, mostly Paraguayans returning after losing their jobs in the informal sector in Brazil, in mandatory government-run quarantine centres. Early on, reports of inadequate conditions, including lack of robust information about procedures, inadequate staffing, insufficient sanitary supplies and food were particularly concerning. Some of these health and food concerns improved over time.1 The health system proved precarious and poorly prepared to address COVID-19 and other diseases. Several allegations of corruption in relation to public purchases of medical supplies were under investigation at the end of the year.
Health workers Health workers reported that they did not have sufficient personal protection equipment or adequate working conditions to enable them to work in a safe environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.2
Amnesty International Report 2020/21
TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT Between March and June, the authorities deployed 24,000 police officers and at least 3,000 military personnel to, among other things, enforce COVID-19 lockdown measures and patrol borders. There were several reports of ill-treatment and humiliating or degrading punishment inflicted by members of the security forces enforcing lockdown measures.3 On 15 and 16 July, a military operation in the town of Ciudad del Este designed to enforce lockdown measures resulted in a shooting incident in which a member of the Navy was killed. Another operation followed, apparently in retaliation for the death of the marine, which resulted in the detention of 35 people and allegations of torture and other illtreatment at a naval base. The authorities opened an investigation into the incident, but by the end of the year no official had been charged.
UNLAWFUL KILLINGS On 2 September, two 11-year-old girls of Argentine nationality died during an operation by the Joint Task Force (FTC) in the department of Concepción. The FTC initially alleged they had killed members of the Paraguayan People’s Army, an armed opposition group. However, evidence emerged that the people killed were girls, and the prosecutor’s investigation contained several flaws in its forensic handling of the bodies, as well as a failure to comply fully with the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death during the investigation of the deaths.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS In compliance with an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling, an expropriation law was passed in 2019 to allow the construction of a road for the Yakye Axa community to access their lands. However, the law had technical flaws and was amended and promulgated by the Executive on 9 September. Construction of the road resumed in September.
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