Eyewitness: Kidnappings shake Paraguay

Anuncio Martí, left, and Juan Arrom alleged that police tortured them (Pictures: AP)

By Mike Ceaser in Paraguay

A confusing pair of apparent kidnappings and accusations of torture by police have led to the resignation of two Paraguayan ministers and shaken Paraguayans' faith in their young democracy.

The episode began with the kidnapping of Maria Edith Debernardi, member of a prominent monied family, on 16 November last year.

After 64 days of false leads and mysterious negotiations, her husband paid a multimillion-dollar ransom and she was released.

By then, however, two leaders of the small, far-left Patria Libre party, which the government had accused of being behind the Debernardi kidnapping, had disappeared.

On 30 January the Patria Libre officials, Juan Arrom and Anuncio Martí, emerged bruised and battered from an Asunción house and told a crowd of waiting reporters that police officers had held them captive for two weeks and tortured them in an effort to get them to confess to the kidnapping.

Scandal

The ensuing scandal has since forced the resignation of the chief of police as well as the ministers of the Interior and of Justice and Work. They were accused of knowing that the Patria Libre tortures were going on - charges they deny.

Entangled: President Luis Gonzalez Macchi

The scandal has even entangled President Luis Gonzalez Macchi because of an earlier statement he had made that he "could not guarantee" Arrom and Marti were not being held by police. Later, his spokesman termed the president's comment a "a suicidal sincerity".

Meanwhile, the opposition Radical Party has called for a 'political trial' in parliament of President Macchi.

Although such a trial could force the president's destitution, the Radicals and their allies lack the parliamentary votes to bring it about.

Who are the victims

There are divided opinions about who are the victims and who are the perpetrators - and even whether there are any victims in the first place.

The bizarre episodes are surrounded by suspicions and speculation.

Mr Arrom's legal charges have since been dropped, but Mr Marti's have not.

The various twists in the case and the conflicting theories have left many Paraguayans dumbfounded.

Edy Peralta, a 21-year-old computer programming student who considers his nation's authorities thoroughly corrupt said: "It's real difficult to say 'he's guilty' or 'he's the guilty one.'"

Others have divided themselves into camps favoring either Debernardi or Arrom and Marti. Ana Nuñez, a 22-year-old restaurant worker, believes the Debernardis' version of events.

Disbelief

"I think (Arrom and Marti) kidnapped Debernardi and then made up this whole theatre," she said. "It's all a big lie."

What is clear is that the episode has shaken Paraguayans' already weak faith in their law enforcement institutions and 12-year-old democracy.

Several recent human rights reports criticised Paraguay's police force for routine human rights abuses, and any trust in politicians was erased by the news last year that the president's official BMW had been stolen from Brazil.

In fact, belief in democracy is already so weak that Lino Oviedo, a general who made a failed 1996 coup attempt, is the nation's most popular politician, according to polls.

Human rights organisations decry reported police torture as reminiscent of the repressive days of long-time dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled until 1989.

"It seems like we are returning to the time of Stroessner, when there were no real guarantees," said Rodrigo Villagra, a leader of Paraguay's Co-ordinator of Human Rights. "You fear that it could happen to you."

Meanwhile, with new, sensational revelations making headlines daily, a police investigation of the cases is proceeding - but few Paraguayans are likely to believe its results.