Facts
Between 1954 and 1989, during the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship, the Aché community in Paraguay was persecuted to expel them from their land, which is rich in natural resources. They were victims of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and forced displacements, as well as abductions of their children, mistreatment, torture and inhumane working conditions. After Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown, few suspects were prosecuted for crimes committed during the dictatorship.
Given the situation of impunity in Paraguay, these violations were brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which identified in 1977 violations of the right to life, liberty, security, integrity of person, and of the right to family and the right to health and well-being. The IACHR requested that the Government of Paraguay investigate these human rights violations, but no investigation was ever opened. Following international pressure, Paraguay established a Truth and Justice Commission (TJC) in 2003. The TJC’s Final Report identified 448 suspects and detailed the crimes committed: crimes against humanity, extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, systematic torture, arbitrary detentions, forced exile, and other serious human rights violations. Moreover, the TJC also found that members of the Aché Community had been victims of systematic persecutions, which qualified as crimes against humanity, with a possible reclassification as genocide.
Procedure
On 6 August 2013, 14 victims (Paraguayans and Argentinean) of the Stroessner regime, and two victims’ organizations (Fundación Celestina Pérez de Almada and El Movimiento Nacional de Victimas de la Dictadura Stronista) lodged a complaint with the Argentinean judge Noberto Oyarbibe, for genocide and crimes against humanity, committed against the indigenous Aché community in Paraguay between 15 August 1954 and 3 February 1989. On 21 August 2013, Judge Noberto Oyarbibe sent an international rogatory commission to Paraguay, in order to verify the existence of an investigation in Paraguay into the alleged crimes. On 11 September 2014, Paraguay responded that an investigation was ongoing. In spite of the Argentinean judge’s request, Paraguay did not respond to the allegations of genocide committed against the Aché community, which was included in the complaint.
On 8 April 2014, the Federación Nativa Aché del Paraguay joined the proceedings opened in Argentina by sixteen plaintiffs, denouncing alleged crimes against humanity and genocide against the Aché Community committed between 1954 and 1989 in Paraguay.
A second international rogatory commission was sent to Paraguay in 2015. Paraguay requested a delay to investigate the alleged crimes. In December 2015, Argentina sent a third international rogatory commission to Paraguay. As a result, a Paraguayan prosecutor was appointed to take statements from victims, and a special unit was assigned to go to the Aché Community territories to audition survivors of the crimes.
The proceedings in Argentina were closed in 2017.