The State of the World's Human Rights; Paraguay 2025

Judicial independence was threatened by the links between organized crime and members of parliament and the judiciary. The health system faced a permanent crisis due to corruption and lack of sufficient public investment. Threats against journalists, repression of social protest and setbacks in Indigenous Peoples’ rights were reported. High levels of gender-based violence continued. Criminalization of human rights defenders and structural discrimination persisted.

Background

Multidimensional poverty affected 15.67% of the population, affecting their right to work, social security, adequate housing, health and education. In addition, 20.1% of the population were below the monetary poverty line and 4.1% below the extreme poverty line.

In July, the minimum wage increased by 3.6%, far below the 24% demanded by trade unions. A bill was introduced that sought to link the statutory minimum wage to variations in the consumer food price index. Informal employment rates stood at 62.5%.

Right to a fair trial

Investigations by journalists revealed the existence of a network of influence between alleged members of organized crime and members of parliament and the judiciary, affecting judicial independence.

Right to life

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child found that Paraguay had failed to comply with its obligations to respect and protect the lives of two girls during a military operation carried out on 2 September 2020, and that it had not properly investigated their deaths.

Economic and social rights

Paraguay ratified the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. According to the National Institute of Statistics, older persons represented 13% of the country’s population, of which 63.9% lacked social security cover and 14.4% were in a situation of monetary poverty.

Right to health

The health system crisis continued due to lack of public investment, which was under the minimum 6% of GDP recommended by the WHO.

Avoidable deaths occurred in public health centres, including that of a newborn baby in March in a neonatal intensive care unit at the Regional Hospital of Villarrica, which was not yet operational despite having been officially inaugurated by the national government a few days earlier.

In March, the executive branch created a team tasked with improving the health system. However, it focused solely on infrastructure and failed to address funding and other issues relating to equitable and non-discriminatory access.

In July, an official audit uncovered signs of corruption in the management of cancer drugs, which caused interruptions in treatment. By year’s end, no investigations had been conducted and those involved had not been held accountable.

Freedom of association

Law 7363 of 2024, establishing disproportionate restrictions on the right to freedom of association, came into force in October following approval of its corresponding regulations.

A parliamentary commission conducted an inquiry into civil society organizations and media outlets critical of the government, and published a report containing unsubstantiated allegations linking them to money laundering in connection with political financing. The commission subsequently took legal action against five of the organizations for the purpose of accessing sensitive information about their activities and use of funds.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

The police arbitrarily restricted the right to freedom of assembly of those critical of the government, based on a legal provision (Law 1066 of 1997), which disproportionately limited the right to peaceful assembly.

The criminal justice system was used to deter protest. The acquittal of three activists accused of arson in connection with a social protest during the Covid-19 pandemic was overturned by the courts, with all three now having to face a new trial.

Freedom of expression

Death threats and harassment of journalists continued. Paraguay’s Bureau for the Protection of Journalists registered 20 attacks and acts of harassment.

Journalist Aníbal Gómez received death threats after calling out corruption in the town of Pedro Juan Caballero. The International Federation of Journalists and the Paraguayan Journalists’ Union called for urgent measures, including the adoption of a law on the protection of journalists at risk.

Human rights defenders

Environmental defender Vidal Brítez was arrested in March as reprisal for his activism against pollution caused by gold mining, on charges of alleged serious coercion during an incident at which he was not present.¹

Right to a healthy environment

In April, the National Social Pastoral organization and several universities led an investigation that detected cyanide and mercury contamination in the district of Paso Yobái, in the centre of the Eastern Region, as a result of gold mining. Despite the evidence, the legislative branch failed to pass a bill to ban the use of cyanide in mining activities.

According to the World Bank, Paraguay faced increasing risks relating to climate change, including droughts, floods and rising temperatures affecting the right to education, employment and health, among others.

Indigenous Peoples’ rights

The Avá Guaraní Paranaense People were still awaiting the restitution of their ancestral lands, from which they had been displaced due to the construction of the Itaipú Binacional hydroelectric dam on the border with Brazil. Although Brazil had moved towards a legal agreement to purchase and return part of the land, the communities in Paraguay were still awaiting a response from the company and the authorities.²

The closure of the central offices of the Paraguayan Institute of Indigenous People was considered a regression that revealed patterns of historical and structural discrimination.

LGBTI people’s rights

Trans people continued to face obstacles in obtaining legal recognition of their gender identity. Two trans migrants were denied the issuance of documents reflecting their gender identity.

The city council of the capital, Asunción, banned an event to honour a transgender human rights defender who died in March.

Children’s rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures in favour of a boy victim of vicarious violence.

Women’s rights

The Ministry of Women registered 37 feminicides and 55 attempted feminicides in 2025.

In April, a bill was introduced to eliminate the Ministry of Women by merging it with the recently created Ministry of the Family.

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1. “Paraguay: Free environmental defender”, 1 April ↩︎
2. “Brazil and Paraguay: Itaipú takes a step towards restoring land to the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People, but integral reparation is still pending”, 1 April ↩︎