fact that the State has done nothing to gather evidence to prove that the alleged victim
was informed of the reasons for the arrest and the charges brought against him.
Consequently, the Court concludes that there was a clear breach of the provisions of
Article 7(4) of the American Convention.
83. Lastly, with regard to the judicial control of the detention under the police
disciplinary procedure, the Court recalls that Paraguay’s Constitution established that
any detained person had the right to be brought, “within a period of no more than of
twenty-four hours, before the competent judge, who shall decide on the appropriate
action under applicable law.” 154 The State maintained that, by virtue of an order of May
23, 2000, the investigating judge had ordered that the court be convened at the
Headquarters of the Specialized Group that same day and the days following, in order
to carry out the necessary procedures, and take investigative and informative
statements from all the police officers allegedly involved in the attempted coup d’état.
However, the State did not furnish evidence to substantiate this; the document provided
to this Court was the decision from the investigating judge ordering that the court be
convened at the Specialized Group for the purpose of “carrying out procedures.” The
precise nature of those procedures is not specified, so there is no proof that a statement
was, in fact, taken from Mr. López. 155 In any case, all the above would have taken place
four days after the arrest of the alleged victim, which exceeds the period of 24 hours
provided for in the Constitution
84. Furthermore, Mr. López maintained that the first visit by a judge and a forensic
doctor took place “roughly” 15 days after his arrest. 156 This account is consistent with
what was stated in the order of May 29, 2000, issued as part of the criminal proceedings
before the Second Criminal Court of Guarantees of Asunción, which required Mr. López
to appear on May 30, 2000, to give a statement and hear the case for the application of
precautionary measures. 157 Therefore, the State is also responsible for the violation of
Articles 7(2) and 7(5) of the American Convention.
85. Finally, the Court notes that the representative also alleged the violation of Article
2 of the American Convention, but limited himself to citing the article in question without
offering any kind of specific argument, and failed to explain which specific provision(s)
of the domestic legal system would constitute such a violation. For its part, the InterAmerican Commission did not allege a breach of the article concerned. Furthermore, as
the State has maintained and shown, both the Organizational Law and the Disciplinary
Regulations of the National Police have been amended, and, in particular, the arrest
measure and punishment that was applied in the instant case has already been
revoked. 158 Consequently, as the Court does not have sufficient evidence to analyze this
alleged violation, it will not rule on the matter.
Zamudio, who said he was detained “with no paper, with no warrant.” Cf. Final Judgment No. 1 of the Collegiate
Trial Court of the Judicial District of Asunción, Case 01-01-02-01-2000-2606, “B.P., M.P., O.V., W.P., for
infliction of bodily injury in the performance of public duties and others,” of December 30, 2019 (evidence file,
folio 266).
154
Cf. Article 12(5) of Paraguay’s Constitution.
155
Cf. Directorate of Police Justice, Order of May 23, 2000 (evidence file, folio 10689).
156
Cf. Final Judgment No. 1 of the Collegiate Trial Court of the Judicial District of Asunción, Case 01-0102-01-2000-2606, “B.P., M.P., O.V., W.P., for infliction of bodily injury in the performance of public duties and
others,” of December 30, 2019 (evidence file, folio 186).
157
Cf. Judge of the Second Criminal Court of Guarantees, Order of May 29, 2000 (evidence file, folio
4454).
158
Cf. Law 5,757 that amends several articles of Law 222/92 “Organizational Law of the National Police”
(evidence file, folio 10772), and Decision No. 361 of the Commissioner of Paraguay’s National Police of April
25, 2020 (evidence file, folio 1774).
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