VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAC #0568/01 1522051
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 012051Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ASUNCION
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4326
INFO RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2438
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 3461
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 3695
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN SANTIAGO 2616
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 1843
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 0937

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000568 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR CA/OCS/WHA - S. CRAWFORD  WHA/BSC - 
SMURRAY, DRL 
 
DS FOR DS/DSS/ITA, DS/IP/WHA 
POSTS FOR CONSULAR 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ASEC CASC CMGT PA
SUBJECT: REPORT ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND 
CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM IN PARAGUAY 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Vice-Consul interviewed four 
individuals working in Paraguay's correctional 
system to obtain information on prisons and the 
criminal justice system.  There are 13 correctional 
facilities in Paraguay housing approximately 5,000 
inmates.  Jails are overcrowded and inmates live in 
squalid, dangerous conditions.  383 of these inmates 
are foreign nationals although none are American 
citizens.  Procedures for notifying Embassies when 
foreign nationals are arrested are in place although 
their effectiveness outside of the capital city is 
unknown.  End Summary. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
¶2.  This report contains information obtained from 
interviews conducted during March, April and May of 
2006 with four individuals working in the 
correctional system in Paraguay.  The individuals 
interviewed are as follows: 
 
      Michael Lynch, member of Hermanos Cristianos 
     missionary group, Irish national who has been in 
     Paraguay for 20 years working as a consultant in the 
     correctional system 
      Teofilo Baez, director of Tacumbu, Paraguay's 
     largest correctional facility 
    Mercedes Isidro Ruiz Diaz, director of the 
youth correctional facility 
      Trifilo Zaracho, Director of Penal Institutions 
     (Director de Instituciones Penales) 
 
FACILITIES IN PARAGUAY 
 
¶3.  There are 13 jail facilities in Paraguay that 
house approximately 5,000 inmates.  In Asuncion and 
Ciudad del Este there are separate jails for men and 
and 
women. In Encarnacion, Concepcion, San Pedro, 
Misiones, Villarica, Pedro Juan Caballero, Coronel 
Oveido and Emboscada one facility houses both men 
and women.  Emboscada is the maximum security 
facility.  There is one additional facility for male 
juveniles in Itaua.  Tacumbu, the jail for males in 
Asuncion, is by far the largest facility and houses 
approximately 3,200 inmates,  The facility in Ciudad 
del Este is the second-largest and houses 700 
inmates.  El Buen Pastor, the women's jail in 
Asuncion, houses approximately 200 female offenders. 
 
DIRECTORATE OF PENAL INSTITUTIONS (DIRECCION DE 
INSTITUCIONES PENALES) 
 
¶4.  The  Directorate of Penal Institutions is 
responsible for oversight of all of the facilities. 
The Directorate is a division of the Vice-Ministery 
of Justice (Vice-Ministerio de Justicia), which is 
in turn a part of the Ministery of Justice and Labor 
(Ministerio de Justicia y Trabajo).  The position of 
Director of Penal Institutions is a political 
appointment.  Currently, Mr. Teofilo Zaracho, a 
retired policeman, is the appointee.  Mr. Zaracho 
has participated in several training programs at the 
FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.  These trips were 
sponsored by the Embassy RSO office. 
 
¶5.  Mr. Zaracho stated that the Directorate faces 
two primary problems.   The first is overcrowding. 
Tacumbu, which was originally designed for 1,000 
inmates, now houses 3,200.  The jail in Ciudad del 
Este was designed for 300 but now houses 700. The 
second is lack of compliance with the International 
Declaration of Prisoner's Rights.  This declaration 
mandates that pre-trial detainees be kept separate 
from inmates who have already been tried and 
sentenced.  As pre-trial detainees have not been 
convicted of any crime and in most countries are 
innocent until proven guilty, their custody needs 
and rights are somewhat different from individuals 
 
who have been convicted of crimes.  In the United 
States, this distinction constitutes the difference 
between prisons (where sentenced inmates are housed) 
and jails or detention facilities (where inmates are 
kept in pre-trial confinement or where inmates 
sentenced to less than one year are housed).  In 
Paraguay, arrestees awaiting the outcome of their 
legal processes are housed in the same facilities as 
those who have already been found guilty and are 
serving their sentences.  In Tacumbu there are only 
784 sentenced inmates out of a total of 3,168.  The 
remaining 2,384 are detainees awaiting the outcomes 
of their legal proceedings.   (From this it can be 
inferred that the majority of those who are formally 
tried are not eventually sentenced to prison time.) 
 
¶6.  Mr. Zaracho informed me that the Directorate is 
trying to resolve both of these issues with the 
construction of a new facility behind Tacumbu that 
will house approximately 280 sentenced inmates. 
There will be a work program associated with this 
new wing in which inmates can learn skills and also 
save money so that they are not released without any 
financial resources.  The Directorate is also 
constructing a new facility in San Pedro.  Both of 
these construction projects have been funded and are 
currently underway. 
 
CONDITIONS IN FACILITES 
 
¶7.  The overcrowding mentioned by Mr. Zaracho is 
responsible for some of the wretched conditions 
described by Michael Lynch, the Irish missionary. 
He states that the conditions are horrendous, 
particulary at Tacumbu.  Inmates sleep in the halls 
on the floor with no mattreses.  The guards do not 
protect the inmates from each other and there is no 
protective segregation of more vulnerable inmates. 
The only way that an inmate can obtain some level of 
security is by paying the guards.  According to 
Lynch, there are regularly violent confrontations 
and murders in Tacumbu that are never reported in 
the press. 
 
¶8.  Lynch did say that the conditions at the 
facility for juveniles are substantially better. 
There are currently 150 male juveniles housed at the 
Educational Center (Centro Educacional) in Itagua, 
located approximately 45 minutes from Asuncion.  The 
director of this institution is proud of his 
facility and described a rehabilitation program and 
conditions that are in strict compliance with the 
Hague Convention on Children's Rights.  The 
discrepancy in the treatment of juvenile offenders 
and adult offenders is likely due to cultural 
factors in Paraguay, which define juvenile offenders 
as salvageable, while tending to view adult 
offenders as beyond hope.  The maximum sentence for 
minors in Paraguay is 8 years.  If the minor turns 
18 while serving his sentence and has behaved well, 
he serves the remainder of his time at the youth 
facility.  If he has been problematic, he is 
transferred to Tacumbu.  Supervision and oversight 
of the juvenile correctional system is handled by a 
Directorate within the Vice-Ministry of Justice 
dedicated exclusively to juveniles. 
 
FROM ARREST TO CONFINEMENT 
 
¶9.  When an individual is arrested, s/he is taken to 
the police station closest to the location where 
s/he was arrested.  The police station has 6 hours 
to notify the prosecutor of the arrest.  The 
prosecutor then has another 18 hours during which to 
decide whether to prosecute the arrestee.  If s/he 
decides to prosecute the case, there is a formal 
indictment within 24 hours in front of a judge who 
either affirms or denies the prosecutor's decision. 
If the individual is not a flight risk and the crime 
 
was not severe, s/he can be sent home to await 
his/her trial. If the judge decides that the 
arrestee should remain in custody, s/he is sent to 
the facility closest to the arrest site.  The police 
department decides placement at this stage.  The 
arrestee can remain at the police station for a 
maximum of 11 days prior to placement in a formal 
detention facility.  According to Mr. Lynch, those 
able to pay the police officers generally stay at 
the police station for longer than those without 
funds, who are quickly transferred.  Mr. Lynch 
stated that the conditions at the police stations 
are just as miserable as those at the institutions, 
however, while at the police station, the arrestee 
does not have to contend with other prisoners. 
 
FROM CONFINEMENT TO TRIAL TO SENTENCING 
 
¶10.  After an individual is indicted, the prosecutor 
is given six months during which to complete the 
investigation and develop the evidence for trial. 
Extensions can be granted but are not common.  If 
the defendant is convicted, the judge imposes a 
sentence and determines where s/he should be 
confined.  This usually coincides with the facility 
in which s/he is currently being held, although 
exceptions can be made for security reasons or on 
humanitarian grounds.  The maximum sentence in 
Paraguay is 25 years, however a recently passed law 
in response to a rash of kidnappings stipulates that 
kidnappers can be sentenced to another 10 years in 
addition to the standard maximum of 25.  After 
serving 50% of their sentence, the inmate can 
request a pardon.  Whether they are granted this 
pardon usually depends on the gravity of the crime. 
If s/he is not pardoned, s/he is eligible for parole 
after serving 75% of his/her sentence.  Whether 
parole is granted is determined primarily by the 
person's conduct within the institution.  However, 
in order to qualify for either a pardon or parole, 
the inmate must have strong links to and roots in 
Paraguay as s/he must remain in the country through 
the expiration of their sentence.  This requirement 
would make it difficult for American citizen inmates 
to obtain relief unless they had been permanent 
residents of Paraguay prior to their arrest. 
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMBASSIES 
 
¶11.  The primary responsibility for notifying an 
Embassy when a foreign national is arrested lies 
with the police stations.  As this does not always 
happen, the detention facilities are responsible for 
confirming that notification has taken place.  Mr. 
Zaracho and Mr. Baez both indicated that as there 
are a relatively large number of foreign nationals 
in the correctional system in Paraguay, primarily 
Brazilians, Argentines and Bolivians, this 
notification system is relatively well-developed and 
functions efficiently. 
 
¶12.  There are currently 383 foreign nationals in 
custody in Paraguay, 156 of whom are held at 
Tacumbu.  Ciudad del Este, Pedro Juan Caballero and 
el Buen Pastor also house significant numbers of 
foreign nationals.  To Post's knowledge, none of the 
foreign nationals are American citizens.  At Tacumbu 
there is an intake process during which the arrestee 
is assessed and a brief medical exam is given.  At 
this point, the staff member conducting the 
assessment asks if he is a citizen of any country 
other than Paraguay.  If he is and indicates that 
his Embassy has not yet been contacted, the 
Directorate of Penal Institutions is notified who 
then notifies the appropriate Embassy.  It appears 
that this procedure may not be as well-established 
in facilities in other parts of the country. 
 
¶13. Comment:  Although Paraguay's correctional 
 
system is woefully underfunded and conditions for 
inmates are deplorable, government authorities do 
appear to be attempting to address some of its 
shortcomings.  Post has noticed that, even in 
Asuncion, notification does not always occur in a 
timely manner.  Outreach to police stations in the 
capital city and to the detention facilities outside 
of Asuncion may be helpful in ameliorating this 
situation.  Administrative staff appear to be 
favorably disposed to the U.S. and would likely 
assist in any such efforts. 
 
JOHNSON