Genocide of the Ache People of Paraguay Will Be Tried in Argentina

[theHandpuppet]

Indian Country
Genocide of the Ache People of Paraguay Will Be Tried in Argentina
Rick Kearns
8/18/14

The Ache people of Paraguay have filed a criminal complaint of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against their people by various citizens, military and officials in the Paraguayan government for their role in the displacement, murder, enslavement and rape of the Ache from the 1950s through the 70s.

Based on evidence provided by survivors as well as anthropologists, human rights advocate, attorneys, journalists, priests and others, the story of what happened to the Ache people of Paraguay was presented to the Fifth Federal Court in Argentina in April after Paraguayan officials refused to prosecute the case.

According to Aitor Martínez, a Spanish attorney who is on the legal team that had filed the charges on behalf of the National Ache Foundation, they are awaiting trial dates from Argentine Judge Norberto Oyarbide. Judge Oyarbide agreed to hear the case based on the legal principle of 'universal jurisdiction' that allows for prosecution of charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in a foreign court if the judicial system of the home country did not prosecute the case.

In a recent interview, Martínez said that then Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner was informed of the atrocities by Paraguayan activists, officials from the United Nations and others but President Stroessner did not take any steps to stop the violence; some testimony also alleges that Stroessner, a United States ally at the time, spent time with pre-adolescent indigenous girls who had been forced into prostitution....

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/18/genocide-ache-people-paraguay-will-be-tried-argentina-156444

[Judi Lynn]

1. So good this is happening, the more attention given this genocide, the BETTER.

It has been there all this time and our corporate media, and the US government steadfastly ignored it, supporting this grotesque fascist piece of #### for over 35 years while he tortured, tormented, terrorized, slaughtered, raped and murdered these innocent Ache Native people. Nasty, filthy, hellish man.

Also from your article:

Martinez pointed out that in the 52-page document entitled "Criminal Complaint of the Commission of the Crime of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity in Paraguay Against the Ache People," they provide the long history of the abuses, how they were discovered and publicized by many people, and then ignored by Paraguayan, U.S., British and other governments.

Starting in the 1950s the Ache of eastern Paraguay were forced off of much of their land by ranchers and other colonists. Some colonists then staged raiding parties, invading Ache communities where they would kill male residents and abduct women and children who were then sold as slaves to wealthy Paraguayans with some of them being forced into prostitution.

The Paraguayan government then forced some Ache into concentration camps where they were further abused and exploited according to Martinez and others.

One of the observers who sounded an alarm about the horrific situation was Professor Richard Arens, an attorney from the U.S. who wrote a book entitled Genocide in Paraguay in 1976. In his review of the book published by the Carnegie Council, David Weisstub summarized part of the story.

"The book contains thorough accounts of eye-witnessed events which have been publicly exposed by scholars in Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and the United States. We are confronted with the realities of men, women and children being mowed down by hunting parties, sold into slavery, raped and fatigued by a racist culture. The book also underscores the unsettling silence of the international press, particularly in North America."

Hoping most fervently that help will come in this wildly belated time to throw the light on what has happened to good people at the hand of a demon with powerful US support keeping him protected and happy as a clam.

Thank you, theHandpuppet.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Alfredo Stroessner, the monster's Wikipedia:

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈfreðo strosˈner]; also Strössner or Strößner[citation needed]; November 3, 1912 – August 16, 2006) was a Paraguayan military officer who served as President of Paraguay from 1954 to 1989. He ascended to the position after leading an army coup in 1954. His 35-year-long rule, marked by an uninterrupted period of repression in his country, was the longest unbroken rule by one individual in the history of South America. His rule is ranked 14th-longest among other non-royal national leaders since 1870, and made him one of the world's longest-serving non-Communist heads of state.

In 1954, he ousted Federico Chávez, becoming president after winning an election in which he was the sole candidate. An arch anti-communist, Stroessner had the backing of the United States. His supporters packed the legislature and ran the courts, and he ruthlessly suppressed all political opposition. He kept his country in what he called a constant "state of siege" that overruled his democratic constitution, enforced a cult of personality, and used torture against political opposition. Membership in his Colorado Party was a prerequisite for job promotion, free medical care and other services. The constitution had to be modified in 1967 and 1977 to legitimize his six consecutive elections to the presidency. In 1988, he won an unprecedented eighth term on a majority, according to official figures, of between 90 and 98 percent of the registered vote.

During Stroessner's rule, Paraguay became a sanctuary for smugglers in arms, drugs and everyday goods such as whisky and car parts. Stroessner provided refuge for French-born international heroin dealer Auguste Ricord; strongmen such as Argentina's Juan Perón and Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza Debayle (later assassinated in Paraguay); and war criminals, including Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death" who performed genetic experiments on children. Stroessner was forced from power in 1989 in a military coup led by strongman General Andrés Rodríguez. Stroessner was forced into exile in Brazil, where he spent the last 17 years of his life. Following a bout of pneumonia, he tried to return to his homeland to die, but was rejected by the government. He died in Brasília on August 16, 2006 of complications from a hernia operation.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner