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05 May 2000
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CAT
24th Session
5 May 2000
Morning
No Amnesty for Perpetrators of Torture Under Dictatorial Regime,
Delegation Says
A Government delegation from Paraguay told the Committee against Torture this morning that new legislation had been put in place which denied any amnesty to persons who committed torture during the past dictatorial regime.
The remark was made as the Committee started its consideration of the third periodic report of Paraguay. Introducing his country's report, Luis Maria Ramirez-Boettner, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that his country was the only Latin American country which refused to offer any amnesty to the perpetrators of torture during the repressive regime of the past; and many of them were already serving prison terms.
Alejandro Gonzalez Poblete, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of Paraguay, said that the new law on the payment of compensation for victims of torture had referred only to victims under the dictatorship. That situation had a limit on time and it included those victims under the dictatorial regime until 1989. In addition, the law limited the scope of the practice of torture by affirming that compensation was provided for torture resulting in serious and manifest physical or psychological impairment. But the Convention provided that an adequate and just compensation should be given to any victim of torture. That situation did not give complete satisfaction to the Committee.
Other Committee experts, including the co-rapporteur, Guibril Camara, spoke of the time limit on payment of compensation and the problem of prison overcrowding where 90 per cent of the prisoners who were held were awaiting trial.
The delegation of Paraguay also included Fernando Canillas, Vice Minster of Justice; Soledad Villagra, of the Ministry of External Relations; Edgar Ramirez, of the Chamber of Deputies; and Leticia Casati, of the Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Paraguay is among the 119 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, and as such it is obligated to provide periodic reports to the Committee on how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.
The delegation of Paraguay will return to the Committee at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, 8 May, with its responses to the questions raised this morning.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will offer its conclusions and recommendations on the report of Poland in the presence of a delegation from that country. It will also hear the responses of China to its questions raised yesterday morning.
Report of Paraguay
The third periodic report of Paraguay (document CAT/C/49/Add.1) briefly explains how the Government has attempted to combat torture in the country through legislative and administrative measures and in practice. It says that in a continent where impunity prevails, along with serious shortcomings in the administration of justice, the effectiveness of internal justice is the rule. It further says that the delay in the appointment of an Ombudsman is directly related to political issues, demonstrating how badly a constitutional institution of such a scale and importance for the protection of human rights is missed among the Paraguayan political class.
In addition, the 9-page report says that an act relating to compensation for victims of the dictatorship was passed into law, but it will not be applied until the Ombudsman is appointed, for he or she is the one who is responsible for the granting of compensation. Further, improvements were made in the administration of justice with the entry into force of the new penal code and the code of criminal procedure. For the first time, torture is classified as an offence, carrying a penalty of not less than five years imprisonment. Violation of physical integrity was also penalized.
Introduction of Paraguayan Report
LUIS MARIA RAMIREZ-BOETTNER, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that his country had made progress in reforming the judicial system with the aim of eliminating abuses of the past, particularly the practice of torture committed during the dictatorial regime of the country. Further measures had also been taken in the field of interrogation to minimize the discretion of the police during the process of detaining a suspect.
Paraguay was the only Latin American country which did not apply amnesty laws for the crimes of torture committed under the dictatorship, Mr. Ramirez-Boettner said. In that manner, Paraguay was determined to eliminate past and future impunity in the country. The main person responsible for the repressive group during the dictatorial regime was the chief of the national police for investigation. That chief, Pastor Coronel, and other former officials of the repressive police of that period, had been sentenced to up to 25 years and they were in prison now. Others who were implicated in torturing people were also serving prison terms, including military officers.
In March 1999, there had been a tentative return to dictatorship, which was no longer possible in the actual arrangement of the Paraguayan political system. After the actual Government had assumed power in August 1998, a fraction of its administration had followed an authoritarian tendency in which it refused the application of judgements pronounced by the Supreme
Court in connection to past acts of torture. The violent assassination of the Vice President, who was the natural successor to the President, had caused damage to the country's political system. He had been opposing injustice and was adversary to the President, who then fled the country following public pressure.
The events of March 1999 had marked the commencement of a new era in which a new Government of national union was created with the participation of democratic political parties and other actors of the civil society. The new Government was engaged in respecting human rights in application of the rule of law. In addition to the civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which were crucial, the indivisibility and interdependence of the right to development were also underlined.
Discussion
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ POBLETE, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of Paraguay, said the report was submitted on time and the Government should be thanked. However, the report lacked some pertinent information on the better implementation of the obligations under the Convention. Other deficiencies were also observed in the field of the judiciary which the report did not mention.
Moreover, the new law on the payment of compensation for victims of torture had referred only to victims under the dictatorship. That situation had a limit on time and it included those victims under the dictatorial regime until the period of 1989. In addition, it limited the scope of the practice of torture by affirming that compensation was provided for torture resulting in serious and manifest physical or psychological impairment. But the Convention provided that an adequate and just compensation should be given to any victim of torture. That situation did not give complete satisfaction to the Committee.
In its report, the Government of Paraguay had admitted that the establishment of an office of the Ombudsman, which had been delayed for so long, was the missing element in dealing with public complaints both about violations of human rights and poor public administration and services. Three candidates were designed for the post, but parliament had not yet decided on the appointment of the Ombudsman. He urged the Government to accelerate the establishment of the office. The Ombudsman should be appointed without due consideration of political issues.
Mr. Gonzalez Poblete stressed that there was a serious phenomenon in the Paraguayan prison system in that 90 per cent of prisoners left prison, not because they had carried out their prison terms, but because their cases had simply been dismissed. According to non-governmental sources, in a prison with a capacity of 750 inmates, there had been 1,742 out of which only 145 were sentenced while 1,597 were awaiting trial. In addition, the prisoners were subjected to permanent violence, conditions of harassment, corruption and maltreatment, which constituted torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
GUIBRIL CAMARA, the Committee expert who served as co-rapporteur to the report of Paraguay, said that the current report did not mention anything about the issue of human rights education. He requested the delegation to provide more information on the content of the new code of penal procedure vis-a-vis Article 11 of the Convention, and how the new legislation would tackle the prevention of torture.
Mr. Camara said that the question of time limit on the payments of compensation to victims of crimes of torture had already been discussed by the Committee during its consideration of the second periodic report of the country. The Convention did not put any time limit as in the case of the Paraguayan legislation which fixed the time for compensation for victims between 1954 and 1989. In addition to that, the Office of the Ombudsman was not yet set up to settle the payments. In that case, people could not address their complaints if they were not victims under the past regimes.
Other Committee experts commended Paraguay for the measures it had taken to refuse to pardon perpetrators of torture during the dictatorial regime. However, the report should have presented the measures undertaken to implement the provisions of the Convention on an article-by-article basis to better seize the efforts of the Government. The delegation was asked to provide information on how it intended to combat the culture of impunity and the shortcomings in the administration of justice. The report said that 90 per cent of prisoners were awaiting trial, but was there no means of parole, pardon or system of bail?
The delegation was asked to provide a breakdown of the prison population according to sex. The prison situation in the country also drew the Committee's concern with some experts saying that incidents of violence and overcrowding in prisons should be resolved. The cases of eviction of landless peasants and the torture inflicted on them during their transfer was also raised by an expert who requested the delegation to provide information on this issue.
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24th Session
5 May 2000
Morning
No Amnesty for Perpetrators of Torture Under Dictatorial Regime,
Delegation Says
A Government delegation from Paraguay told the Committee against Torture this morning that new legislation had been put in place which denied any amnesty to persons who committed torture during the past dictatorial regime.
The remark was made as the Committee started its consideration of the third periodic report of Paraguay. Introducing his country's report, Luis Maria Ramirez-Boettner, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that his country was the only Latin American country which refused to offer any amnesty to the perpetrators of torture during the repressive regime of the past; and many of them were already serving prison terms.
Alejandro Gonzalez Poblete, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of Paraguay, said that the new law on the payment of compensation for victims of torture had referred only to victims under the dictatorship. That situation had a limit on time and it included those victims under the dictatorial regime until 1989. In addition, the law limited the scope of the practice of torture by affirming that compensation was provided for torture resulting in serious and manifest physical or psychological impairment. But the Convention provided that an adequate and just compensation should be given to any victim of torture. That situation did not give complete satisfaction to the Committee.
Other Committee experts, including the co-rapporteur, Guibril Camara, spoke of the time limit on payment of compensation and the problem of prison overcrowding where 90 per cent of the prisoners who were held were awaiting trial.
The delegation of Paraguay also included Fernando Canillas, Vice Minster of Justice; Soledad Villagra, of the Ministry of External Relations; Edgar Ramirez, of the Chamber of Deputies; and Leticia Casati, of the Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Paraguay is among the 119 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, and as such it is obligated to provide periodic reports to the Committee on how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.
The delegation of Paraguay will return to the Committee at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, 8 May, with its responses to the questions raised this morning.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will offer its conclusions and recommendations on the report of Poland in the presence of a delegation from that country. It will also hear the responses of China to its questions raised yesterday morning.
Report of Paraguay
The third periodic report of Paraguay (document CAT/C/49/Add.1) briefly explains how the Government has attempted to combat torture in the country through legislative and administrative measures and in practice. It says that in a continent where impunity prevails, along with serious shortcomings in the administration of justice, the effectiveness of internal justice is the rule. It further says that the delay in the appointment of an Ombudsman is directly related to political issues, demonstrating how badly a constitutional institution of such a scale and importance for the protection of human rights is missed among the Paraguayan political class.
In addition, the 9-page report says that an act relating to compensation for victims of the dictatorship was passed into law, but it will not be applied until the Ombudsman is appointed, for he or she is the one who is responsible for the granting of compensation. Further, improvements were made in the administration of justice with the entry into force of the new penal code and the code of criminal procedure. For the first time, torture is classified as an offence, carrying a penalty of not less than five years imprisonment. Violation of physical integrity was also penalized.
Introduction of Paraguayan Report
LUIS MARIA RAMIREZ-BOETTNER, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that his country had made progress in reforming the judicial system with the aim of eliminating abuses of the past, particularly the practice of torture committed during the dictatorial regime of the country. Further measures had also been taken in the field of interrogation to minimize the discretion of the police during the process of detaining a suspect.
Paraguay was the only Latin American country which did not apply amnesty laws for the crimes of torture committed under the dictatorship, Mr. Ramirez-Boettner said. In that manner, Paraguay was determined to eliminate past and future impunity in the country. The main person responsible for the repressive group during the dictatorial regime was the chief of the national police for investigation. That chief, Pastor Coronel, and other former officials of the repressive police of that period, had been sentenced to up to 25 years and they were in prison now. Others who were implicated in torturing people were also serving prison terms, including military officers.
In March 1999, there had been a tentative return to dictatorship, which was no longer possible in the actual arrangement of the Paraguayan political system. After the actual Government had assumed power in August 1998, a fraction of its administration had followed an authoritarian tendency in which it refused the application of judgements pronounced by the Supreme
Court in connection to past acts of torture. The violent assassination of the Vice President, who was the natural successor to the President, had caused damage to the country's political system. He had been opposing injustice and was adversary to the President, who then fled the country following public pressure.
The events of March 1999 had marked the commencement of a new era in which a new Government of national union was created with the participation of democratic political parties and other actors of the civil society. The new Government was engaged in respecting human rights in application of the rule of law. In addition to the civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which were crucial, the indivisibility and interdependence of the right to development were also underlined.
Discussion
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ POBLETE, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of Paraguay, said the report was submitted on time and the Government should be thanked. However, the report lacked some pertinent information on the better implementation of the obligations under the Convention. Other deficiencies were also observed in the field of the judiciary which the report did not mention.
Moreover, the new law on the payment of compensation for victims of torture had referred only to victims under the dictatorship. That situation had a limit on time and it included those victims under the dictatorial regime until the period of 1989. In addition, it limited the scope of the practice of torture by affirming that compensation was provided for torture resulting in serious and manifest physical or psychological impairment. But the Convention provided that an adequate and just compensation should be given to any victim of torture. That situation did not give complete satisfaction to the Committee.
In its report, the Government of Paraguay had admitted that the establishment of an office of the Ombudsman, which had been delayed for so long, was the missing element in dealing with public complaints both about violations of human rights and poor public administration and services. Three candidates were designed for the post, but parliament had not yet decided on the appointment of the Ombudsman. He urged the Government to accelerate the establishment of the office. The Ombudsman should be appointed without due consideration of political issues.
Mr. Gonzalez Poblete stressed that there was a serious phenomenon in the Paraguayan prison system in that 90 per cent of prisoners left prison, not because they had carried out their prison terms, but because their cases had simply been dismissed. According to non-governmental sources, in a prison with a capacity of 750 inmates, there had been 1,742 out of which only 145 were sentenced while 1,597 were awaiting trial. In addition, the prisoners were subjected to permanent violence, conditions of harassment, corruption and maltreatment, which constituted torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
GUIBRIL CAMARA, the Committee expert who served as co-rapporteur to the report of Paraguay, said that the current report did not mention anything about the issue of human rights education. He requested the delegation to provide more information on the content of the new code of penal procedure vis-a-vis Article 11 of the Convention, and how the new legislation would tackle the prevention of torture.
Mr. Camara said that the question of time limit on the payments of compensation to victims of crimes of torture had already been discussed by the Committee during its consideration of the second periodic report of the country. The Convention did not put any time limit as in the case of the Paraguayan legislation which fixed the time for compensation for victims between 1954 and 1989. In addition to that, the Office of the Ombudsman was not yet set up to settle the payments. In that case, people could not address their complaints if they were not victims under the past regimes.
Other Committee experts commended Paraguay for the measures it had taken to refuse to pardon perpetrators of torture during the dictatorial regime. However, the report should have presented the measures undertaken to implement the provisions of the Convention on an article-by-article basis to better seize the efforts of the Government. The delegation was asked to provide information on how it intended to combat the culture of impunity and the shortcomings in the administration of justice. The report said that 90 per cent of prisoners were awaiting trial, but was there no means of parole, pardon or system of bail?
The delegation was asked to provide a breakdown of the prison population according to sex. The prison situation in the country also drew the Committee's concern with some experts saying that incidents of violence and overcrowding in prisons should be resolved. The cases of eviction of landless peasants and the torture inflicted on them during their transfer was also raised by an expert who requested the delegation to provide information on this issue.
*****