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14 March 2014 | Interviews | No to the coup d’état in Paraguay | Land grabbing | Human rights | Food Sovereignty
Peasants imprisoned in Curuguaty case on new hunger strike
A few weeks after the Curuguaty massacre where 11 peasants and 6 police officers were killed, the peasants arrested and charged for these events decided to go on a hunger strike. The peasants who were blamed for the murders (of their own friends and relatives) adopted the measure to demand that the pregnant women who were arrested were given house arrest and that Judge José Dolores Benitez and Public Attorney Jalil Rachid were removed from the case due to “breach of public duties and manifest partiality”.
On February14, 2014, the five peasants who are still imprisoned, out of the 14 who were originally arrested, decided to resume this measure to denounce the illegality of their imprisonment. One of their main battles is related to land ownership titles in Marina Kue, which they were occupying when the massacre took place. The Riquelme family, owner of the Campos Morombí company and who declared themselves as owners of these lands, requested the eviction that resulted in the massacre.
After 25 days of hunger struggle, members of the Commission of Relatives of the Marina Kue Massacre Victims and the Curuguaty Articulation, among others, had a meeting with ministers from the Supreme Court of Justice, the body in charge of making a decision about the ownership of these lands.
Imagen: Articulación Curuguaty
