Disappeared campesino in hands of police in Paraguay

placido irala moving with children to ocupation, march 2007

On June 25 th community leader of the campesino organisation
MAP (Movimiento Agrario y Popular) disappeared from the community of
Pariri in Paraguay.

According to witnesses, Perfecto Irala, was kidnapped by an official of
the National Police named Vázquez of the commissariat of Santa Clara, in
the district Vaqueria. Various people and representatives of the MAP
have been trying to obtain information in the local commisariats,
without any result so far. They denounced the disappearance in the Human
Rights Commission of the Paraguayan Congress.

Perfecto Irala lives together with his wife and two children in a land
occupation brought forth in Pariri on Februari 26th. Community members
in support of Campesino Organisation MAP occupied 14 hectares of
genetically manipulated to denounce the illegal transfers of public
lands in their community to Brazilian soy producers. According to the
Paraguayan Agrarian Statute, state Institution INDERT (responsible for
land reform) Paraguayan families are entitled to these lands but by
means of corruption many of these lands end up in the hands of large
scale producers.

The MAP demands the government the immediate release of Perfecto Irala
and a sentence for those responsible for these acts. As well as the
immediate handover of the occupied lands to the landless campesinos of
the MAP.

update 16-07
After a few days and lots of pressure by lawyers, Perfecto was found in a police station in Coronel Oviedo. His son was also placed on order of arrest. He spent several days in jail, after which he returned to the ocupation. For the moment there are still 5 families in the ocupation facing a harsh winter. They started to crop for their own food production.