Paraguay: Human Rights

Paraguay is a multi-party, constitutional republic. On April 21, Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara of the Colorado Party National Republican Association, also known as the National Republican Association (ANR), won the presidency in elections recognized as free and fair and assumed office on August 15. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. There were reports that some security forces committed human rights abuses. The principal human rights problems were impunity in the judicial sector, together with lengthy pretrial detention and trial delays, harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions, and police involvement in criminal activities, including unlawful killings by persons associated with the security forces. Other human rights problems included the killing and intimidation of journalists by organized-crime groups, corruption, discrimination, and violence in the society and in government against women and indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, and trafficking in persons. Problems with child labor and violations of worker rights occurred often. The government took steps to prosecute and punish officials who committed abuses, but general impunity for officials in the security forces and elsewhere in government was prevalent.