Someone sent this report to my blog webmaster…

What do you think about it…?

May 21, 2007
New Report from Harvard Law School Human Rights Clinic Indicates Distorted
Perception of Violence, Crime, and Security in Paraguay
In Paraguay, false tension between human rights and insecurity has undermined
policy, leading to precipitous revision of its criminal codes, report says.

Asunción, Paraguay ¬- A new report issued by the International Human Rights
Clinic at Harvard Law School and the Universidad Columbia in Asunción,
Paraguay stresses the need for accurate and realistic information on
criminality in Paraguay, and criticized Paraguayan politicians and media
sources for failing to address the underlying causes of insecurity in the
country.

The report, “Security in Paraguay: Analysis and Responses in Comparative
Perspective,” calls for greatly improved statistical information gathering
within the National Police and Public Ministry regarding crime, and urges an
end to calls for a return to harsher, more authoritarian practices and policies
on crime without an analysis of trends in criminality. The report encourages
support for the full implementation of criminal justice reforms originally
passed in 1997-98 that guaranteed rights to a speedy trial, public and oral
hearings, and procedural efficiency.
“The failure to protect victims of crime and a general sentiment that the
state is often absent, in addition to the lack of access to justice, have led
to a sense of powerlessness in the face of criminality,” said Soledad
Villagra de Biedermann, independent expert in human rights of the United
Nations and co-editor of the report in Asunción. “To respond to this
problem, policymakers have chosen hasty, sensationalist measures to combat
crime.  Policies aimed at protecting defendants’ rights or addressing the root
causes of criminality are dismissed as ’soft’ on crime, undermining the
important benefits that criminal justice reforms have yielded in Paraguay,
including increased judicial efficiency and a reduction in pretrial detention
rates”
The report draws on both historical and comparative contexts in analyzing
Paraguay’s criminal justice system, noting that decades of authoritarian rule,
a troubled transition to democracy, lingering corruption, and nepotism have
made it difficult for Paraguay to establish an effective and efficient criminal
justice system. The report also suggests that certain policing practices being
considered by the Paraguayan government - including relying on private security
forces and promoting the excessive use of force - have actually been shown to be
associated with rising insecurity and crime in other Latin American countries.
“As a comparative analysis shows, policing practices that encourage
cooperation within the community, deploy law enforcement personnel in a careful
and targeted matter, and promote coordination with prosecutors and other
criminal justice institutions are the successful components to achieving higher
rates of citizen security,” said Professor James Cavallaro, Clinical Professor
at Harvard Law School and co-editor of the report. “These types of measures
have produced positive results in socio-economic contexts similar to that of
Paraguay, and have shown potential for reducing crime.”
Among the report’s additional recommendations are:
•    Develop reliable methods for gathering statistics within the various
criminal justice institutions and coordinate data analysis among them;
•    Provide greater support for the 911 emergency system, which has made
important advances in improving the way police interact with communities;
•    Address overcrowding in detention centers by promoting the use of
alternative sanctions to imprisonment;
•    Promote projects that support at risk youth and provide effective
alternatives to crime and violence.

 

To read the report in its entirety, visit
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp. The report will be available at this
URL after May 21, 2007 at 12:00 pm (EST).
For more information or media interviews, please contact Prof. Jim Cavallaro at
+011-595-991-885-606, or Michael Jones at 617-495-9214 or
mijones@law.harvard.edu.
Website: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp

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