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Paraguay - Twenty Fourth Session - 2016
20 January 2016, 9:00–12:30
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National Report
Compilation of UN Information
Stakeholder Information
Accepted and Rejected Recomendations
National Report
III. Developments in the legislative and institutional system for the protection and promotion of human rights
A. Improvements to the national legislative framework. Laws and decisions adopted between 2011 and 2015 for the promotion and protection of human rights from
7.... Act No. 4313/11 to safeguard the budget for reproductive health programmes and ensure supplies of the childbirth kit provided by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare;...Act No. 4788/12 Comprehensive Act to Combat Trafficking in Persons; Act No. 4633/12 to combat harassment in public and private educational establishments;... Act No. 5136/13 on inclusive education ... Act No. 5136/13 on inclusive education...
IV. The overall human rights situation A. International instruments
9. The unceasing task of incorporating into national legislation the main human rights treaties, whether universal or regional, is part of a government policy that is consistent with Paraguayan foreign policy, and which seeks to support the promotion and protection of human rights internationally. The most recent developments in this respect have been:
(a) Signature: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure;...
D. Indigenous peoples
21. In order to ensure that indigenous people receive a suitable education, the following specific items are allocated under the general state budget to the Ministry of Education and Culture: overall expenditure on teachers in approved indigenous educational establishments; school supplies for pupils enrolled in elementary, basic and intermediate schools; provision of school supplies for teachers and transfer of funds to State-run schools within the framework of free public education.
22. The illiteracy rate fell from 51 per cent in 2002 to 37.6 per cent in 2012. According to figures provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture for 2014 and 2015, 1,983 pupils are enrolled in school in indigenous communities, there are 512 schools, 57 secondary schools and 91 permanent education centres covering the 19 indigenous peoples (a level of coverage of 70.5 per cent). The Escuela Viva II (Living School II) programme, developed 28 types of teaching aid for 15 peoples in Spanish and in indigenous languages which were distributed to 318 communities. Under the Agenda for Education 2013-2018, it is planned to provide suitable facilities for indigenous educational establishments thanks to major investments.21 Act No. 5347/14 on freedom of access for applicants of indigenous origin to approved grade three positions in both public and private universities has been adopted.
23. The National Council for Indigenous Education was set up in August 201522 and tasked with drawing up educational policies for indigenous peoples. The National Institute for Indigenous Affairs offers higher education grants to 212 indigenous university students and built 9 classrooms in indigenous communities between 2010 and 2013.
F. Poverty reduction
34. The Sembrando Oportunidades (Sowing Opportunities) poverty reduction programme seeks to increase the income of vulnerable families and to improve their access to social services by coordinating the work of 18 institutions through the Technical Planning Secretariat for Economic and Social Development (STP). The programme recognizes that providing work is an essential tool in combatting poverty and it includes the construction of houses with running water, an electricity supply, a road network and improved primary health care services, primary education and programmes to provide family allowances and pensions for older persons, to which end it draws on the other social programmes of the Government.
38. The Sembrando Oportunidades (Sowing Opportunities) programme comprises an element for aboriginal people whereby coordinated social services are provided in areas assigned priority in which indigenous communities live. Tekoporá included coverage for indigenous peoples and benefited 7,760 indigenous families (as of August 2015), and 11,264 indigenous children and adolescents (as of April 2015). Tenonderá began a honey-production project involving 39 families in the Mistolar indigenous community in the Paraguayan Chaco; its aim is enable them to generate their own sustainable income. The programme to assist fishermen in Paraguay (PROAP-TN) also provides support to indigenous families in the form of a subsidy during the closed season for fishing. In 2014, a total of 1,553 families in 14 indigenous communities benefited from projects under the PROPAIS II programme. In 2015, a building belonging to the Tekoha programme was taken out of the programme and assigned to the National Institute for Indigenous Affairs to relocate indigenous communities in urban areas.
39. Tekoporá promotes food, health and education for children and adolescents. In April 2015, out of a total of 554,970 persons benefiting from the programme, 250,876 were children and adolescents. In August 2015, the programme provided protection for 10,046 persons with disabilities. The programme also provides for indigenous families caring for a person with a disability. The Tekoha programme assigns priority to families with a person with a disability when it distributes plots of land.
I. Prison system
49. As part of the reorganization of the Ministry of Justice in 2014, the Office of the Deputy Minister for Policy on Crime was established to develop measures and strategies for crime prevention and rehabilitation, prison policy, juvenile criminal justice and restorative justice. The Office is responsible for the Centre for Prison Studies which provides initial and further training for prison warders as part of their civil service career path.
51. The Inter-Agency Commission, which visits and monitors rehabilitation centres for juvenile offenders, ensures that the juvenile penal system operates smoothly; it also puts forward proposals and takes measures to ensure that the rights of adolescents are fully respected.
J. Judicial system
53. The following developments marked significant institutional progress for the judicial system: the ratification of the 100 Brasilia Regulations; 44 the definition of guidelines for the placement in health facilities of children and adolescents in emergency situations as a precautionary protective measure; procedure applicable to judicial measures carried out pursuant to Act No. 5282/14; jurisdictional measures relating to access to public information; the creation of the department for transparency and access to public information, a body set up in application of Act No. 5282/14; the case law establishing the absence of any statutory limitation for torture; ratification of the Lima Declaration on restorative juvenile justice; strengthening the documentation centre and archives for the defence of human rights; creation of and appointments to judicial facilitator positions, some of which are held by indigenous people, and of their office; establishment of the technical commission in support of criminal justice; adoption of the protocol on the inter-agency round table as an alternative means of access to justice for adults deprived of their liberty; introduction of on-line access to judicial formalities in court offices throughout Paraguay via the Electronic Procedures Platform 49 developed as part of the electronic court records project.
L. Trafficking in persons
63. The National Secretariat for Children and Adolescents (SNNA) presides over the coordinating body for the protection of victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and for their care. Inter alia, the temporary shelters provide psychological care together with medical care and assistance with judicial formalities addressed to the Public Defender for Children and Adolescents. The Public Prosecution Service has a unit specialized in combating trafficking in persons and the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. Its training centre also provides a training module on trafficking in persons. The following activities are currently under way: a virtual course on trafficking in persons; preparation of a manual on criminal investigation of cases of trafficking in persons, of a procedural manual and of a guide to services for the victims of trafficking and to diagnosis of the situation of trafficking in Paraguay, in particular as regards women and girls.
N. Rights of women
73. The specialized unit for gender issues, children and adolescents within the Public Prosecution Service provides individualized care for women, child and adolescent victims of gender-based offences. It handles an average of 480 cases each year. A new set of instructions has been drawn up on procedural guidelines for criminal investigations into the offences of family violence and gender-based violence.
O. Rights of children and adolescents
76. The twenty commitments assigned priority to strengthen the National System for Comprehensive Protection and Advancement of the Rights of Children and Adolescents (SNPPI)” were adopted in 2013. They include indicators on compliance and a commitment to present annual reports, two of which have been satisfactorily presented. The commitment gradually to increase the sector’s budget to 7 per cent of GDP by 2018 has resulted in an increase to 4.4 per cent in 2013 and to 4.5 per cent in 2014. A charter of acceptance of the commitments has been signed by mayoral candidates in Paraguay.
77. The current National Policy on Childhood and Adolescence (POLNA) 20 14-2024 is the second such policy exclusively to target children and adolescents in order to ensure they have access to universal policies, with priority for those who are underprivileged.
78. An effort is being made to ensure that the departmental and municipal councils of SNPPI operate effectively. Several of them have been reactivated and there are currently 17 departmental and 250 municipal councils. The network of secretariats for children and adolescents has been set up. In 2015, the “Look into My Eyes” campaign was launched as part of efforts to decentralize care for children and adolescents via the Municipal Advisory Services on the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CODENI).
79. A bill to decentralize the Abrazo programme and to finance SNPPI wi th funds available from the National Public Investment and Development Fund is currently being drafted in order to implement plans, programmes and projects benefiting this sector.
80. The National Commission to Prevent and Comprehensively Address Violence Affecting Children and Adolescents in Paraguay63 has launched the “Decent Treatment for Boys and Girls” campaign, to encourage a positive approach to upbringing that eschews mental or physical punishment to discipline children. The meetings of the intersectoral round table to combat abuse and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents were revived; this body monitors the National Plan to Prevent and Eradicate the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents 2012 -2017, in which connection is organized the one-week campaign “My Voice is Your Voice — Let’s Denounce Sexual Violence”.
81. The Abrazo programme and the Comprehensive Programme for Street Children and Adolescents in Asunción (PAINAC) programme, the former of which has expanded its scope to include other vulnerable sectors, continue to operate. They provide food, refuge, hygiene and psychosocial support to facilitate family reintegration as part of the effort to combat exploitation of children and adolescents. A total of 12,666 children and adolescents are enrolled in the conditional allowances programme, 7,406 in the basic food baskets programme, 7,767 are accommodated in the open centres, community centres and shelters while 2,600 benefit from remedial teaching, food supplements, recreational activities and sports, 200 receive health care and 5,971 assistance with obtaining identity documents.
82. The Abrazo programme has three types of care centre: 1) Centres offering protection for children aged 0-5 years; 2) open centres for children aged 6 to 14 years who work, and which are located in the vicinity of their workplaces, and 3) community centres for children aged 2 to 14, which are located in the community. The Programme also provides psychosocial support for the families concerned as well as ensuring food security for children aged from 0 to 8 years thanks to a monthly food kit worth approximately $90 and a conditional allowance of some $100.
83. The National Secretariat for Children and Adolescents directs its efforts towards promoting the interests of vulnerable children and adolescents in indigenous communities and ensuring they are able to participate and receive comprehensive protection; to this end, it reaches out to them in the street and in public spaces, identifies areas in which they are present, provides them with support in the face of threats, sets up protection networks, provides assistance in court and in hospital and ensures coordination should it be necessary for them to be admitted to detoxification centres. It has also established the “Tesai Reko Renda” centre and the “Kuarahy rese” shelter.
84. The Comprehensive Programme for Street Children and Adolescents in Asunción helps fully to safeguard the rights of street children thanks to its three centres: 1) the open shelter; 2) the temporary protection centre; and 3) the Ñemity centre for educational coexistence. The beneficiaries management system provides specific statistical data on child labour and on the services and protection provided by the programme.
85. The healthy snacks, healthy school lunches and healthy school canteens programmes are run by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Asuncion, while in the departments they are the responsibility of the departmental and municipal authorities. The Ministry also works in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare on immunization, parasite-elimination, oral health and poor eyesight detection programmes pursuant to Act No. 1443/99.66
86. Forced recruitment of minors was prohibited by Act No. 3360/2007. The army’s military training colleges command runs 11 military colleges 10 of which provide education and training and specialized training and admit only adults. The Acosta Ñu military school is the only one that admits minors under the age of 18 years; it is governed by a protocol with the Ministry of Education and Culture, which prohibits military training of and the use of weapons by minors under the age of 18 years. Paraguayan citizens over the age of 18 years may enlist in any military unit as cadets or privates.
87. During 2015, the Parliamentary Front for Children and Adolescents, which is made up of 26 parliamentarians, revised the legislative corpus and proposed new legislation such as the bill to protect children and adolescents against physical punishment and cruel and humiliating treatment.
R. Education
96. The National Plan for Human Rights Education is currently being ame nded and a report on compliance with human rights indicators within the national education system is being prepared.
97. Students are encouraged to remain in and graduate from the education system by the Educación Media Abierta (Open Secondary School) programme of scholarships. The ANA and PROF.ANA national campaigns seek to strengthen the role of women and of the wider educational community in preventing all forms of violence against women.
98. Education policy, with its focus on human rights and the participation of all those involved, focuses on children, parents and teachers. It implements programmes that help to stimulate demand for education and timely admission to the different levels and types of education. A scholarship programme is available for young people who are socially and financially underprivileged.
99. The National Languages Plan is being rolled out in the 17 departments of Paraguay. The network to make the use of Guaraní standard practice is operating in departmental and municipal government offices and in public institutions. It includes training in everyday Guaraní for 300 civil servants. Bilingual education is being implemented, with the use of Spanish and Guaraní, which are taught as languages as well as being used to teach other subjects. The curricula are taught in all Paraguay’s schools and teaching aids in both languages are available for basic education.
100. The Remedial Education Service operates throughout the year in educational environments provided in community and open centres, homes, shelters and hospital wards. The provision of school meals and of kits for pupils offers a valuable incentive to the family economy and ensures equality of access to the practical necessities for school attendance.
101. Basic and secondary education are free of charge. Students receive vouchers (cut-price tickets) for travel to school by public transport. School supplies are issued before pupils start school. The wages of teachers in the basic education system have been brought into line with the legal minimum wage for shift work throughout the education system.
102. In 2015 there are plans to set up 94 informal literacy circles in indigenous communities and rural areas. Most participants are women who, for a variety of reasons, have put off their education. The circles also provide initial vocational training. As a rule, women have a higher level of education than men and remain longer in formal education.
103. For four years, the Human Rights Directorate of the Supreme Court has been holding a university challenge involving oral trials, with an emphasis on human rights, in which ten universities and 100 students have taken part. The students receive training and acquire practical experience of strategic litigation and substantive human rights. The Department is also reinforcing the judicial training centre so as to mainstream human rights into its curricula.
S. Work
105. The National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labour (CONAETI) has organized workshops throughout Paraguay on the concept and systematic practice of light work and the placement of children (criadazgo). The goals of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour and for the Protection of Adolescent Workers 2010-2015 were also evaluated. Actions carried out in the limestone quarries in Vallemí — San Lázaro (Concepción), in response to complaints by children and adolescents working there, were coordinated. The Network to Combat Child Labour in Ciudad del Este was strengthened to enable it to extend its activity to child labour in the triple-border region where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet.
107. The Supreme Court has declared that its mandate extends to activities that are part of the campaign to eradicate child labour which have been approved by the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labour. In collaboration with ILO, it has held workshops, designed outreach material and held discussions with representatives of the institutions concerned and with judicial officials on topics relating to child labour, placement of child domestic workers (criadazgo), forced labour, adolescent labour and trafficking in persons.
T. Health
111. The National Sexual and Reproductive Health Plan 2014-2018 (PNSR)78 was adopted and Act No. 4313/11 to secure the budget of reproductive health programmes and ensure supplies of consumables, medicines, childbirth kits and contraceptives remains in force. A manual on humanized post-abortion care has been introduced;79 the committees to monitor health and maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality nationwide have been strengthened and the maternal mortality ratio was reduced by 33.6 per cent in 2014.
112. Drafting continued of a bill to promote, protect and support breastfeeding, which provides for a number of innovations such as pre- and postnatal rest periods, paternity leave, 100 per cent social security coverage during a mothers rest period, job security during the period of breastfeeding, leave following premature birth, multiple childbirth and adoption, etc.
U. Culture
116. In 2015, some 18,000 people benefited from the different cultural activities organized free of charge by the National Secretariat for Culture to make cultural activities accessible to children and adults alike. A start was made on decentralizing cultural management by providing facilities for and ensuring coordination with the departmental authorities. Operational plans for culture have been drawn up at the departmental level to ensure better coordination of public cultural policy and 17 forums for dialogue between citizens have been established within the Cultural Round Table.
V. LGTBI persons
118. The Ministry of Education and Culture has implemented a project to encourage pupils to complete basic education in Asunción and in Central department and a project to promote literacy and encourage completion of basic education among sexually diverse persons in Asunción. In the national curriculum (third cycle programmes), the competencies, skills and content relevant to the preventio n of all types of discrimination have been mainstreamed into the system.
119. Training courses on human rights in education were provided for teachers, headmasters and pupils (1,040 teachers, 234 headmasters and 907 students)
nationwide, together with courses in the capital on educational programmes free from sexual bias. A project to combat bullying in schools began in 2011 and materials to support the project have been designed, such as a protocol to help educational establishments deal with cases of violence and bullying in schools, which has been issued to 94 per cent of schools, a teaching manual to prevent bullying and five guidebooks for teachers.
Compilation of UN Information
I. Background and framework
A. Scope of international obligations1
1. International human rights treaties
2. The country team recommended that Paraguay consider ratification of OP-CRC- IC.
5. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended that Paraguay be encouraged to ratify the Convention against Discrimination in Education.
B. Constitutional and legislative framework
7. While appreciating the Criminal Code provisions prohibiting the sale of children, child pornography and child commercial sexual exploitation, and Act No. 4788/12 on human trafficking, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended harmonizing domestic criminal legislation with OP-CRC-SC.
C. Institutional and human rights infrastructure and policy measures
Status of national human rights institutions
12. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned about the unclear mandates of the National Council for Childhood and Adolescents, the National Secretariat for Children and Adolescents, the Coordinating Office for the Rights of Children and Adolescents and departmental and municipal councils for children and adolescents.
16. The Committee against Torture recommended implementing the National Plan for the Prevention and Elimination of Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.38 The Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed the National Strategy for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour and the Protection of Adolescent Workers and the Comprehensive Programme for Children and Adolescents Living on the Streets.
III. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law
B. Right to life, liberty and security of person
24. In 2015, several special procedures had sent communications regarding the State party’s alleged failure to exercise due diligence to prevent the sexual abuse of a pregnant 10-year-old girl and to ensure the provision of adequate safeguards and treatment to preserve the girl’s physical and psychological integrity. In its reply, the Government provided detailed information and invited the mechanisms to study the case at first hand.80 The Special Rapporteur on health indicated that the legal and policy system was failing to protect young girls, as they were forced to continue high- risk pregnancies with long-lasting impact on their physical and mental health.
27. The Committee against Torture was concerned about: widespread pretrial detention, especially for children between the ages of 16 and 18; legislation restricting the use of alternatives to preventive detention;89 and persons deprived of liberty held in police custody for long periods. It recommended increasing judicial control over the duration of pretrial detention. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture asked Paraguay to discontinue the practice of holding of detainees in police cells for prolonged periods.
28. The Human Rights Committee was concerned about high levels of overcrowding. The Committee against Torture was concerned about conditions in the psychiatric ward of Tacumbú prison, the arbitrary use of solitary confinement as a punishment and allegations of discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in prisons.94 It recommended bringing detention conditions into conformity with international standards. 95 The Subcommittee recommended reducing the backlog of criminal cases.96 It was of the view that Tacumbú National Prison should be closed. The Subcommittee recommended resolving the situation of the pasilleros (persons not assigned to any block and who lived in corridors). The country team indicated that adolescents deprived of liberty were housed in 10 institutions, of which 2 also held adult inmates.
29. The Committee against Torture recommended preventing all forms of violence against women and girls, particularly sexual abuse, domestic violence and violent killings of women, including by adopting a law to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women. The Human Rights Committee recommended that Paraguay ensure the investigation of complaints of sexual and gender violence and that victims receive reparations.
30. The Special Rapporteur on health stated that violence against children was a prevailing challenge. There was widespread prevalence of sexual abuse and other forms of violence, including domestic violence.
31. The Committee against Torture recommended the explicit prohibition of corporal punishment of children in all settings.
32. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged Paraguay to address trafficking in women and girls and the exploitation of prostitution. The same Committee, and the Human Rights Committee, remained concerned about the alarming scale of trafficking, as Paraguay was a host, source, transit and transborder country. The latter Committee recommended that Paraguay put a stop to human trafficking, particularly for purposes of sexual exploitation or child labour. The Committee against Torture recommended investigating all allegations of trafficking, prosecuting offenders and providing assistance, recovery and reintegration programmes for victims.
33. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned about culturally accepted practices involving girls in pornography, and that child sex tourism had not been incorporated explicitly as a criminal offence into criminal legislation.
34. The Human Rights Committee was concerned about the practice of criadazgo (placing children and adolescents with another family to carry out domestic chores). The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended the eradication of unpaid domestic child labour; the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended the criminalization of criadazgo as sale of children. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights urged the State party to step up the fight against child labour.
D. Right to marriage and family life
42. Referring to an accepted universal periodic review recommendation on birth registration, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recommended that Paraguay ensure the issuance of birth certificates to all children born on its territory, regardless of the status of their parents. The Human Rights Committee recommended that teenage mothers be allowed to register their children without a court order. The Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended implementing measures to eliminate forgery of birth certificates. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged Paraguay to set up a programme on registering children with disabilities at birth.
43. The country team recommended extending birth registration coverage by means of a comprehensive law on identity and strengthening civil registration services in mother and child hospitals, especially those in rural and indigenous communities.
44. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that Paraguay raise the minimum legal age of marriage, which remained at 16 for both girls and boys.
45. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged Paraguay to encourage foster families and financially support low-income families with children with disabilities.
46. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned that more than 90 per cent of adoptions were granted without the established procedure. It urged Paraguay to eliminate pre-adoptive custody in cases of adoption.
E. Freedom of religion or belief, expression, and the right to participate in public and political life
47. In 2012, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief encouraged Paraguay to ensure that the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of religion or belief is implemented, including in questions of subsidies for institutions; to reform the existing requirement of annual registration of non-Catholic religious or philosophical communities; to pay attention to de facto monopolies of denominational schools run by one particular religious community; and to continue to recognize the right to conscientious objection in law and practice.
G. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
60. The Special Rapporteur said that Paraguay should make sure that children and adolescents, especially those living in rural areas, could access quality education and health-care services, as well as increasing opportunities for their participation in decisions that affected them.
H. Right to health
68. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancy, the high maternal mortality rate and the lack of a comprehensive law on sexual and reproductive health and rights. It recommended that Paraguay deal with the high maternal mortality rate, and prevent women from having to resort to unsafe abortions. The Special Rapporteur on health noted the high rate of early pregnancies and the lack of comprehensive sexual education in schools. There was a strong influence of religious ideas in the school system, where students were being provided with unscientific or inaccurate information. He also noted that maternal mortality remained high, mostly due to the large number of early pregnancies, many of which affected girls between the ages of 10 and 14 as a result of sexual abuse and violence. The country team recommended the adoption of a law on sexual and reproductive health.
I. Right to education
70. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended ensuring that the education system be available and accessible to all children and improving the quality and infrastructure of schools.
71. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that Paraguay give all children and adolescents with disabilities access to the national education system and that education be inclusive at all levels throughout the country.
72. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that Paraguay implement legislation to facilitate school enrolment and continuation during pregnancy and maternity.
73. The same Committee recommended that Paraguay implement equal education opportunities for indigenous girls.
J. Persons with disabilities
76. The Committee noted with concern the deprivation of liberty on grounds of disability, such as committal of children, women and men with disabilities to psychiatric hospitals.
78. The Committee noted that the National Programme of Comprehensive Care for Children and Adolescents with Disabilities did not take into account the rights of children with disabilities. It asked Paraguay to protect children with disabilities in rural areas and indigenous communities from abuse and ill-treatment.
L. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
90. The Committee on Migrant Workers recommended that Paraguay guarantee migrant workers and their families access to basic health care; and guarantee children of migrant workers access to primary and secondary education. It noted the absence of measures for assisting unaccompanied migrant children, and urged Paraguay to protect such children.
Stakeholders Information
A. Background and framework
1. Scope of international obligations
2. The Coordinadora por los Derechos de la Infancia y la Adolescencia and the Fundación Marista de Solidaridad Internacional (Coordinating Office for the Rights of Children and Adolescents-Marist International Solidarity Foundation) (CDIA-FMSI) recommended that Paraguay should ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (OP-CRC-IC).
2. Constitutional and legislative framework
5. AI recommended that Paraguay repeal all legislation criminalizing women and girls for having an abortion, as well as those performing such services, and take measures to allow legal and safe abortions in cases of rape or incest, in cases where life or health of the women or girls are at risk, and where the foetus is not viable.
9. CODEHUPY expressed concern with regard to the situation of the Ombudsman’s Office, the legislature having failed to appoint a new Ombudsman. The Sub- Committee on Accreditation of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) had evaluated the Ombudsman’s Office in 2013 and 2014 and expressed concern regarding its operation. At its second meeting of 2014, the Sub-Committee had reported that the Office had withdrawn its application for accreditation; therefore the ICC had decided to suspend its accreditation. CODEHUPY recommended that priority should be given to the institutional strengthening of the Ombudsman’s Office.16 CDIA-FMSI referred to recommendations concerning the Ombudsman’s Office,17 highlighting its poor record of defending the rights of children and adolescents.
10. In relation to a number of recommendations, CDIA-FMSI said that Paraguay had a National System for the Comprehensive Protection and Advancement of Children and Adolescents as guaranteed under the Code on Children and Adolescents (Act No. 1680/01). However, it noted the insufficient decentralization and deconcentration of resources, the country’s limited municipalization, the lack of training for people working with children and the lack of inter-agency coordination, which had a negative impact. CDIA-FMSI recommended that the system should be strengthened to ensure the prevention, detection and processing of cases of violence against children and to improve complaint mechanisms, including the mechanism for submitting complaints to the Ombudsman’s Office.
12. CDIA-FMSI recommended the strengthening of financial management with a view to prioritizing social expenditure on children and adolescents, and the intensification of efforts to compile and analyse data, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnicity, family income and disability, for use in preparing and evaluating social policies and programmes.
C. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law
2. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
23. AI indicated that although all recommendations to uphold the rights of women and girls and to protect them from violence were accepted, legislation to prevent and punish violence against women has yet to be passed.
24. CODEHUPY recommended moving ahead with the strengthening of the National System for the Comprehensive Protection and Advancement of Children and Adolescents with a view to ensuring the prevention, detection and processing of cases of violence against children and adolescents. CDIA-FMSI recommended stepping up prevention campaigns and developing a database of perpetrators of sexual violence against children and adolescents.
25. CDIA-FMSI said that children continued to be subjected to corporal punishment at home and in some schools. A bill had been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies in 2014 and was currently being considered.
26. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children (GIEACPC) indicated that corporal punishment of children is not fully prohibited in alternative care settings or in the home, day care, schools and penal institutions, despite recommendations by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee against Torture. GIEACPC hoped that States will make a specific recommendation that Paraguay expedite the adoption of legislation clearly prohibiting all corporal punishment of children in all settings.
27. Referring to recommendations from the first UPR cycle, Congregation of our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (CLCGS) indicated that trafficking is a problem, which mainly affects women, among them 16% of victims identified in the last four years are under 18. CLCGS recommended that Paraguay implement the specialized program for adolescents’ victims of trafficking, provided for in Law No. 4788/12, with the necessary resource allocation.
29. CLCGS noted that resources for the implementation of the National Plan for Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents are not sufficient. CLCGS recommended that Paraguay protect victims and punish perpetrators, and create shelters for victims of abuse and sexual exploitation.
30. Referring to a recommendation from the UPR, CLCGS indicated that child domestic labour, known in Paraguay as “criadazgo” mainly affects children and adolescents. 81.6% are girls or young women between 5-17 years.
31. With regard to recommendations relating to the protection of street children, CDIA-FMSI reported that the State had pursued certain protection programmes such as the “Abrazo” (“Hug”) programme, the programme for the protection of street children and the comprehensive programme for street children and adolescents in Asunción. However, there had been no increase in social investment in that area and there had been little improvement. 56 MDPIpy recommended the adoption of a comprehensive policy on care, particularly for indigenous street children and the development of Government programmes aimed at ensuring, in particular, decent housing for every indigenous family in cities.
32. With regard to a recommendation on child labour, CDIA-FMSI said that it was important for the State to require the private sector to comply with the prohibition of the employment of children under the age of 14 in accordance with the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the prohibition of jobs listed as hazardous under the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).
33. CDIA-FMSI recommended that the Paraguayan State should take responsibility for the death and forced recruitment of adolescents by non-State actors in the northern part of the country.
Accepted and Rejected Recomendations
The following recomendations enjoy the support of Paraguay:
102.3 Encourage ratification of the Convention against Discrimination in Education (Iraq); Consider the recommendation of UNESCO to ratify the Convention against Discrimination in Education (Nicaragua); Ratify the Convention against Discrimination in Education (South Africa) (Uzbekistan) (Portugal) (Ghana) (Honduras);
102.10 Continue working on harmonizing its national policies and laws related to children in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Protocols thereto to which it is a party (Nicaragua);
102.11 Promote laws on the rights of children and adolescents especially in the area of health (Egypt);
102.12 Implement the National System for Comprehensive Protection and Advancement of Children and Adolescents, with attention to human trafficking and sexual and reproductive health. Pass legislation to protect the rights of unregistered children and remove obstacles to child registration (Canada);
102.32 Further promote the rights of women, children and indigenous peoples (Greece);
102.44 Adopt a law prohibiting all forms of discrimination against indigenous communities and guarantee access to comprehensive quality education for Guarani speakers (Islamic Republic of Iran);
102.46 Introduce a law explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment of children in all settings (Poland);
102.47 Adopt legislation clearly prohibiting all corporal punishment of children in all settings (Islamic Republic of Iran);
102.59 Ensure the issuance of birth certificates to all children born on its territory, regardless of the status of their parents (Poland);
102.60 Further improve its birth registration system and ensure the issuance of birth certificates to all children born on its territory (Turkey);
102.61 Increase efforts to ensure that all children born in Paraguay can have their birth registered (Mexico);
102.67 Prevent all forms of violence against women and girls, particularly
sexual abuse and domestic violence, including by adopting a law to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women (Austria);
102.70 Pass legislation to prevent and criminalize all forms of violence against women, and provide law enforcement with training and education to ensure its effective implementation (Canada);
102.73 Strengthen and accelerate legislative and educational actions to prevent violence against women and girls, especially domestic violence (Djibouti);
102.77 Review existing legislation and programs to prevent and eradicate violence and sexual exploitation against children and adolescents, to ensure they meet international best practices (Italy);
102.81 Take additional measures, including providing resources and assistance, access to courts and appropriate punishment for violations, to tackle sexual and intimate partner violence and exploitation of women and girls (Netherlands);
102.83 Make further efforts to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls, in particular sexual abuse and domestic violence, by adopting a comprehensive law to prevent violence against women as well as provide assistance and recovery for victims (Republic of Korea);
102.84 Consider adopting new specific legislation to strengthen measures aimed at prosecuting offenders and increasing support to victims of sexual violence and abuse and promote awareness raising-campaigns and educational programs, notably in schools (Italy);
102.85 Adopt a national action plan to combat gender-based and sexual violence, which includes raising general awareness through education and training, developing official and credible statistics and ensuring access to justice for victims (Sweden);
102.87 Take further measures and strengthen its legislation to prevent and punish all violence against women and girls, particularly sexual abuse and domestic violence (Turkey);
102.90 Consider specific measures for the protection of the rights of children and adolescents, notably through the objectives defined within the national strategy for the prevention and elimination of child labour (Angola);
102.91 Incorporate child sex tourism explicitly as a criminal offence in order to bring national legislation in conformity with the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Belgium);
102.92 Strengthen the prevention, detection and response to cases of exploitation, sexual abuses and other forms of violence against children (Panama);
102.93 Move towards the adoption of a law that prohibits the work of children below the age of 14, as well as the worst forms of child labour and domestic child labour (Chile);
102.97 Adopt a comprehensive care policy to protect children living on the streets (Mexico);
102.98 Pursue measures for the protection of children, in particular children living in the streets and domestic worker children (Algeria);
102.121 Strengthen its specialized Juvenile Justice system, to promote alternative measures to deprivation of liberty, and continue improving the social services available to adolescents deprived of their liberty (Republic of Moldova);
102.141 Support the implementation of domestic measures to ensure the protection of socially vulnerable groups of the population, including children (Tajikistan);
102.142 Continue strengthening all human rights, particularly in the areas of eradicating poverty, promoting and protecting the rights of children and adolescents, and fighting against human trafficking (Kuwait);
102.147 Continue efforts towards improving literacy and reducing poverty through education and skills enhancement programs under the National Development Plan to 2030 (Malaysia);
102.153 Deepen measures which are considered as necessary to reducematernal mortality rates and to prevent teenage pregnancy (Colombia);
102.154 Ensure adequate access to information on sexual and reproductive rights for women and girls (Belgium);
102.156 Address deficiencies of the legal and policy system regarding the issue of pregnant children for better protecting young girls, as some of them had been forced to continue high-risk pregnancies with long-lasting impact on their physical and mental health (Germany);
102.157 Undertake measures to prevent high incidences of early pregnancy, including comprehensive sexuality education in schools and access to services in
support of sexual health and reproductive rights (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
102.158 Consider introducing civic and human rights education in primary and secondary school curricula (Ethiopia);
102.159 Continue efforts aimed at ensuring the availability and accessibility of the education system to all children and improvement of school’s infrastructure (Georgia);
102.160 Continue its efforts to improve the quality of the education system and to expand access to education for all children and adolescents, in particular for those belonging to indigenous peoples (Holy See);
102.161 Take additional measures for the full enjoyment of the right to education by children (Kyrgyzstan);
102.162 Ensure that vulnerable children and adolescents in rural communities have access to quality education and health care services (Lao People’s Democratic Republic);
102.163 Further develop measures to ensure that an inclusive education system be available and accessible to all children, including those with disabilities and improve the quality and infrastructure of schools (Republic of Korea);
102.164 Strengthen measures with a view to guaranteeing full access to education for persons with disabilities (Argentina);
102.165 Strengthen access to the national education system for all children and adolescents with disabilities, ensuring an inclusive education (Chile);
102.166 Reinforce the schooling of persons with disabilities (Algeria);