Paraguay 1978 - Chapter III

CHAPTER III

PHYSICAL LIBERTY OF THE PERSON, HABEAS CORPUS AND RECURSO DE AMPARO

American Declaration, Article I		Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person.
American Declaration, Article XXV		No person may be deprived of his liberty except in the cases and according to the procedures established by preexisting law.
		No person may be deprived of liberty for nonfulfilment of obligations of a purely civil character.
		Every individual who has been deprived of his liberty has the right to have the legality of his detention ascertained without delay by a court, and the right to be tried without undue delay, or, otherwise to be released. He also has the right to humane treatment during the time he is in custody.[1]

1. Under the uncertain legal situation stemming from the indefinite period of the sate of siege in Paraguay, a number of individuals have been detained for no apparent motive and have been held in prison or have been unjustifiably detained for lengthy periods of time.

2. Concerned with the constant repetition of occurrences of this kind, which tend to become a common practice in various regions of the hemisphere, the Commission has taken a stand against such practices on a number of occasions. Specifically, it made the following reference to this point in its Annual Report for 1974:[2]

The Commission has given particular attention to the apparently exaggerated use that is being made in some of our of our republics of the constitutional power granted to the Executive Branch –generally under supervision of Congress—to imprison, remove or expatriate persons on grounds of political security, in exceptional situations. It is striking to find that, by these means, men and women have been deprived of their liberty for many months without the slightest charge having been formulated against them and without their having been brought to trial. With respect to these persons, at least in some of the countries they are not entitled to request the assistance of an attorney nor is the possibility recognized that, in their behalf, a writ of habeas corpus can be successfully introduced.[3]

3. Cases of lengthy periods of detention, incommunicado and without trial, have also been frequently denounced to the Commission, together with cases of arrest without concrete charges and without due process. The Commission has already stated its position on the practice of holding persons incommunicado, unnecessary in most cases, and which makes the arbitrary detention crueler. In this Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Chile, for example, the Commission said the following in this regard:[4]

Unlawful detention incommunicado is, moreover, an encouragement to other crimes, particularly that of torture. For if the Officials in charge of detention facilitate need not produce the detainee in a short time, they may with impunity employ brutal means, whether for purposes of interrogation or intimidation. The detention can be prolonged until the signs of torture have disappeared or, if the detainee is permanently injured, he or she may be liquidated and the very fact of detention denied.

4. According to figures from a number of sources, the number of individuals deprived of freedom in Paraguay between 1970 and 1977 without any concrete charge having been filed against them, if from 300 to 500.

5. In the last four years, the Commission has adopted eight resolutions whereby it has presumed the confirmation of 170 cases of arbitrary detention in Paraguay.[5] Of these individuals, five were held under detention since 1958, three since 1959, one since 1960, one since 1961, one since 1962, one since 1963, six since 1964, eleven since 1965, five since 1966, two since 1967, six since 1968, three since 1969 and thirteen since 1970.[6]

6. Using information from various sources, the Commission has also been able to draw up a list of individuals who, according to the claimants, have spent more than five years under detention in prison for political reasons.[7]

The list reads as follows:

19 years (since 1959) Ananías Maidana Palacios

16 years (since 1962) Napoleón Ortigoza

Victoriano Centurión

Bernardo Cardozo

15 years (since 1963) Vicente Duarte Mareco
Rafael Espínola

14 years (since 1964) Feliciano Franco
Virgilio Bareiro

Severo Acosta Aranda

13 years (since 1965) Calixto Ramírez

Idalina Gaona

Emilio Barreto Dávalos

10 years (since 1968) María Saturnina Almada de Gimenez

Felipe Vera Baez

María Lina Rodas

Alfonso Silva Quintana

8 years (since 1970) Herminio Stumft Arévalo

Total: 17 individuals

7. The Commission has obtained a number of lists, published by the Ministry of Interior of Paraguay, of political prisoners being held in Emboscada Prison and other jails. Adding to the names that appear on those lists and to those of individuals being held in the Third Precinct and omitting the individuals since released, the following list of 219 persons has been drawn up:

1. ABENTE BRUN, Diego

2. ACEVEDO, Euclides

3. ACOSTA ARANDA, Severo

4. ACOSTA GOMEZ, Dimas

5. ACOSTA Vda. De GONZALEZ, Petrona de Jesús

6. ALEGRE PORTILLO, Alberto

7. ALFONSO RAMIREZ, Bonifacio

8. ALMADA de GIMENEZ, María Saturnina

9. ALMADA, Miguel

10. ALMADA, Valentín

11. ALONSO MASARE, Melquíades Albino

12. ALVAREZ, Feliciano

13. ALVAREZ RAMIREZ, Bonifacio

14. ALVAREZ, Zacarías

15. AMARILLA PEREIRA, Justo Eduardo

16. AMARILLA, Raúl

17. ARCE AVILA, Migdonio

18. ARCE SCHAERER, Eduardo

19. AYALA GONZALEZ, René

20. AYALA GIMENEZ, Víctor Manuel

21. BAEZ BRITEZ, Pablo

22. BALBUENA, Juan Marcelo

23. BAREIRO RODAS, Fulgencio

24. BAREIRO, Virgilio

25. BARRETO DAVALOS, Emilio

26. BENITEZ FERREIRA, Miguel

27. BENITEZ GALEANO, Pedro

28. BENITEZ GONZALEZ, Eladio

29. BENITEZ LEGUIZAMON, Lázaro

30. BENITEZ MAIDANA, Eulogio

31. BENITEZ PAEZ, Rafael

32. BENITEZ VILLALBA, Silverio

33. BLANCO, Juvencio Veridio

34. BOGADO GONDRA, Juan Félix

35. BOGADO TABAGMAN, Eduardo

36. BOGARIN, Prudencio Vidal

37. BOYD JARA, Marcos Aníbal

38. BRAÑAS GADEA, Carlos Guillermo

39. BRITOS FERREIRA, Marcial

40. BUSTOS COLMAN, Julio

41. CABRERA BENITEZ, Crescencio

42. CABRERA MAIZ, Esteban

43. CABRERA de LOPEZ, Vicenta

44. CAMPOS RUIZ, Daniel

45. CANESSE, Jorge Humberto

46. CARDENAS, Enrique

47. CARDOZO BRIZUELA, Macario

48. CARDOZO GIMENEZ, Bernardo

49. CARDOZO RODAS, Carlos Amado

50. CASCO SPEZZINNI, Carlos Ernesto

51. CENTURION, Andrés

52. CENTURION, Victoriano

53. CERDAN de RODRIGUEZ, María Ester

54. CESPEDEZ FERNANDEZ, Silverio

55. COLMAN PINTOS, Julio César

56. COLMAN NUÑEZ, Emigdio

57. CORONEL CABALLERO, Andrés Eliodoro

58. CORONEL CANO, Hilarión

59. CORONEL ZORRILLA, Corcino

60. CORONEL ZORRILLA, Eugolio Constantino

61. CUBAS, Emilio

62. DELGADO CONTI, Teodoro Victoriano

63. DELGADO, Severo

64. DIAZ, Domingo

65. DUARTE MARECA, Vicente

66. DUARTE SEGOVIA, Hipólito Ramón

67. ESCOBAR, Zacarías

68. ESPINOLA, José Sisinio Alén

69. ESPINILA, Rafael

70. ESPINOZA, Eleuterio

71. ESPINOZA QUIROGA, Pedro Sergio

72. ESTIGARRIBIA VELASQUEZ, Carlos

73. ESTRAGO, Gloria

74. FALCON ESCOBAR, Eulogia

75. FALCON ESCOBAR, Vicente

76. FARINA INSFRAN, Gladis María Beatriz

77. FERNANDEZ, Juan Antenor

78. FERNANDEZ LLANO, Emigdio

79. FERNANDEZ, Silvio Ramón

80. FERREIRA, Luis

81. FERREIRA, Pedro

82. FERREIRA, Seferino

83. FLEITAS RIOS, Sixto

84. FLORENTIN DUARTE, Andrés

85. FLORES, Bonifacio

86. FLORES, Serafín

87. FONTCLARA BAEZ, Carlos

88. FRANCO, Feliciano

89. FRANCO, Lydia Ester Cabrera M. de

90. FRANCO, Sotero

91. FRETES MAIDANA, Pedro

92. FUNES FERNANDEZ, Erasmo

93. FUNES FERNANDEZ Mariano

94. GALEANO ROTELA, María Magdalena

95. GAONA de ACOSTA, Anastacia Idalina

96. GIMENEZ LOPEZ, Angel

97. GOMEZ GALEANO, Victoriana

98. GONZALEZ BAEZ, José Tomás

99. GONZALEZ BALCARCE, Alberto

100. GONZALEZ GONZALEZ, Justianiano

101. GONZALEZ OCAMPOS, Eulogio

102. GONZALEZ, Petrona de

103. HERMOSA, Quirino

104. IBARRA DE LA CRUZ, Regino

105. JARA LOPEZ, Dionisio Abel

106. KAN MUN, Hwa

107. KING, Kon-Gu

108. KING de, Monica

109. KYU KIN, Biun

110. LEQUIZAMON ZORRILLA, Juan

111. LOPEZ, Angel

112. LOPEZ BRITEZ, Pastor

113. LOPEZ ESTIGARRIBIA, Jacinto

114. LOPEZ ESTIGARRIBIA, Juan Carlos

115. LOPEZ ESTIGARRIBIA, Laurentino

116. LOPEZ ESTIGARRIBIA, Luis

117. LOPEZ ESTIGARRIBIA, Pedro

118. LOPEZ, Nestor

119. LOPEZ PERITO, Miguel Angel Ignaio

120. LOPEZ, Teodoro

121. LOPEZ ZACARIAS, Porfirio

122. LOPEZ, Vicenta Cabrera de

123. LLORES, INZAURRALDE, Arnoldo Teodoro

124. MAIDANA PALACIOS, Ananías

125. MAIDANA SOSA, Santiago

126. MARTINEZ BRITOS, Anastacio

127. MARTINEZ CANTERO, Roberto

128. MARTINEZ de VELAZCO, Claudelina

129. MARTINEZ IRALA, José del Rosario

130. MARTINEZ, José del Carmen

131. MARTINEZ MOREL, Víctor

132. MENDIETA PEREZ, Constancia

133. MORA, Rogelio

134. MOREL MARTINEZ, Salomón

135. MORINIGO, Antonio

136. MORINIGO, José Nicolás

137. MORINIGO, Miguel

138. MORINIGO PAREDEZ, Bernardo

139. MORINIGO PEDROZO, Leopoldo

140. OBELAR, Juan Leonor

141. OJEDA FELCAN, José Gill

142. OLMEDO MONTANIA, José María

143. ORTIGOZA MAIDANA, Milciades

144. ORTIGOZA, Napoleón

145. OSORIO COLMAN, Epifanio

146. OSORIO PEREZ, Epifanio

147. OSORIO PEREZ, Eugenio

148. OSORIO PEREZ, María Eustacia

149. OTAZO, Adrián

150. OTEIZA, Carlos Alberto

151. OVANDO, Crispín

152. OVANDO, Escolástico Guillermo

153. OVIEDO DUARTE, Amílcar María

154. OVIEDO, Odón

155. PAREDES MARTINEZ, Edmundo

156. PENAYO VALLEJOS, Bernabé

157. PEÑA, Ángel

158. PEÑA CASCO, Ramón

159. PEÑA, Eligio

160. PIETRAFESA CRECO, Pablo Julián

161. PORTENOCHE, Gunter

162. PORTILLO, Fermín Taurín Francisco

163. PORTILLO SERVIN, Gerónimo

164. RAMIREZ BLANCO, Carlos o Rodolfo Feliciano

165. RAMIREZ FERNANDEZ, Celsa

166. RAMIREZ SANCHEZ, Calixto

167. RAMIREZ VILLALBA, Benjamín de Jesús

168. RAMIREZ VILLALBA, Rodolfo

169. RIOS, Andrés

170. RIQUELME, Esteban

171. RIVAK, Juan Mariano

172. RIVAS, Andrés

173. RIVEROS, Florencio

174. RIVEROS SILVA, Máximo

175. RODAS, María Lina

176. RODRIGUEZ, Campuzano Oscar

177. RODRIGUEZ GONZALEZ, Humberto Fulvio

178. RODRIGUEZ, María Esther de

179. RODRIGUEZ, Olegario

180. RODRIGUEZ, Petrona Regalada

181. ROODRIGUEZ, Simón Mario

182. ROJAS CACERES, Aurelio Neonicio

183. ROJAS, Constancia Mendienta de

184. ROLON CENTURION, Domingo

185. ROLON CENTURION, Melchor

186. ROLON CENTURION, Santiago

187. ROMERO; Rodolfo

188. RUIZ BALBUENA, Julián

189. RUIZ DIAZ, Rodrigo Salomón

190. SALABERRY, Carlos José

191. SALAZAR VILLAGRA, Juan Manuel