(E-080/01)
April 6, 2001PARAGUAY DETERMINED TO CONSOLIDATE ITS DEMOCRACY
The Paraguayan government has renewed its commitment to consolidate democracy and the rule of law to ensure that all its citizens enjoy the full exercise of human rights.
Ambassador Diego Abente Brun, the Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the Organization of American States (OAS), told the Organization's Permanent Council on Thursday that his government appreciated the importance that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ascribed to the human rights gains in his country. "But we do understand the Commission's concerns that the full exercise of human rights still has a way to go--a situation stemming mainly from certain political, economic and social problems the government is working hard to tackle," he said.
Last month, the OAS human rights agency published its third report on human rights in Paraguay, touching as well on various structural issues affecting the general exercise of human rights there. The report also highlights certain measures taken to step up the promotion and protection of human rights in that OAS member state.
The Ambassador announced that through a governmental inter-agency commission, the Government of Paraguay will be studying recommendations made by the OAS human rights agency. That commission, he said, "will identify measures needed to implement the recommendations, where appropriate, in good faith."
In preparing its report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights drew on information and documents with which it had been provided during an on-site visit to Paraguay July 28 to 30, 1999, at the invitation of the government. The report also contains specific chapters addressing the right to freedom of expression, children's and women's rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples.
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