Human rights group calls for full investigation in Paraguay land killings
Human rights group calls for full investigation in Paraguay land killings
Article by: PEDRO SERVIN , Associated Press
Updated: December 18, 2012 - 11:32 PM
ASUNCION, Paraguay - Amnesty International is calling on Paraguay to investigate all those involved in a violent land clash, including police officers, joining the family members of farmers recently charged in some of the 17 deaths.
Six police officers and 11 farmers were killed in June when clashes broke out during the forced eviction of peasants occupying a disputed soy farm in Curuguaty, 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the capital Asuncion. Politicians opposed to then-President Fernando Lugo seized on the clash to oust him for "mismanaging" the land conflict.
On Sunday, prosecutor Jalil Rachid filed homicide charges against eight peasants, and charges ranging from land invasion to obstruction to being an accomplice against six others. No police were charged.
"It is shocking that no investigation is being conducted into the potential responsibility of the police," Maria Jose Eva, a researcher at Amnesty International, said Monday in a statement from the human rights group. "According to reports, during the confrontation there were more than 300 officers, many of them with firearms, as opposed to only around 90 peasants."
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