American Commission on Human Rights file an application against Paraguay for human rights violations News
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American Commission on Human Rights file an application against Paraguay for human rights violations

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application before the Inter-Amercian Court of Human Rights against Paraguay for violation of the right to freedom of expression and judicial guarantees of Paraguayan journalist Aldo Zuccolillo Moscarda, according to a press release published on Monday.

The application is related to a case that started in 1998 in Paraguay, when politician Juan Carlos Galaverna filed a lawsuit against Aldo Zuccolillo Moscarda, who was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper ABC Color, for libel, defamation, and slander. In 2001, the court found  Aldo Zuccolillo guilty and sentenced him to the payment of a fine, to which he appealed. The Appeals court changed the sentence in 2002 and sentenced Zuccolillo to a heavier fine. Three years later, Paraguay’s supreme court ruled that Aldo Zuccolillo had to pay an additional fine for harming Juan Carlos Galaverna’s honor.

However, a Merits Report conducted by the IACHR found that the reporting contested by Galaverna concerned allegations of corruption by a senator, which is an issue of public interest. Therefore, Aldo Zuccolillo didn’t commit a criminal offense because the criticism he made was protected and considered one of the fundamental elements of a democratic society.

Additionally, the IACHR found that the Supreme Court violated the legality and non-retroactivity principles by sentencing Aldo Zuccolillo for articles published before 1998 and with only one item that violated the legislation enacted in 1998. The non-retroactivity principle in criminal law means that criminal penalties may not be applied to acts that took place before the relevant legislation entered into force. As for the principle of legality, it means that only the law can define the crime, and no one can be convicted of a crime without a previously published legal text that describes it and prescribes its penalty.

Furthermore, the criminal proceedings against Zuccolillo lasted for seven years, which was deemed “unreasonable” and inadequately justified by the IACHR. The commission also noted that the previous courts failed to provide clear grounds for establishing the amount of the decided fines. Lastly, the commission concluded that the State of Paraguay violated Aldo Zuccolillo’s right to a fair trial, freedom from “ex post facto laws,” and freedom of thought and expression as stated respectively under Articles 8,9 and 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

At the end of its press release, the IACHR recommended five redress measures for the State of Paraguay. These measures include the payment of material and immaterial reparations to Aldo Zuccolillo’s widow and daughters, the annulment of the criminal law punishment imposed on Zuccolillo, and an apology through a public event acknowledging that he was subject to criminal proceedings for providing information while exercising his function as a journalist. The IACHR also recommended that Paraguay adapt its criminal law related to freedom of expression, defamation, libel, and slander to align with the American Convention on Human Rights.

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