What do you know about freedom of expression in Paraguay? [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Paula Martins

29 April 2021

On 5 May, Paraguay will be evaluated within the third cycle of the UPR. The SPP and IFEX-ALC network have formulated a series of recommendations regarding freedom of expression in the country. We will ensure that attacks on freedom of expression in Paraguay are examined under the spotlight!

This is a translation of the original article.

A city divided by a border. In Paraguay its name is Pedro Juan Caballero, while in Brazil

it’s Ponta Porã. Violence is a constant in this city located in the middle of South America, far from the larger urban centers. The area is known for its pervasive organised crime, particularly the presence of numerous drug trafficking groups. The Primer Comando de la Capital (First Capital Command, PCC) is one such group, and assassinations, corruption and torture are among the crimes reported on a daily basis in the region.

Brazilian journalist Leo Veras lived in Pedro Juan Caballero and reported on the situation in the area. On 12 February 2020, hitmen entered Veras’s home and shot him twelve times as he was preparing to have dinner with his family. Veras was not the first journalist to be assassinated in Pedro Juan Caballero.

In its 2017 report titled ‘Silenced Zones’, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression characterised the situation in the area of Paraguay’s border with Brazil as highly dangerous for those who exercise journalism. In addition, the report stated that “with the advancement of so-called ‘narcopolitics’, freedom of expression has been affected insofar as journalists face serious difficulties when they try to report on specific unlawful activities being conducted in their communities and the institutions—according to the journalists themselves—do not function as they should to protect them.”

The Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay (Paraguayan Journalists Union, SPP) has noted that the border between Paraguay and Argentina also represents a problematic area for those exercising journalism in the country, along with other zones where organised crime groups have taken control, both formally and informally. According to the SPP, these groups are also constantly vying for territorial control, resulting in an increasingly dangerous situation for journalists.

The SPP’s deputy secretary general, Santiago Ortiz, recalls a critical time when violence against the press in Paraguay peaked in 2015. According to Ortiz, the situation received little attention outside of the country. Paraguay was never seen as a ‘hotspot’, especially in comparison with the horrible statistics for attacks on the press in other countries in the region, such as Colombia or Mexico.

More:
https://ifex.org/what-do-you-know-about-freedom-of-expression-in-paraguay/