First "Legal" CO in Paraguay (by Juan de Wandelaer)

Rodrigo Juan Villagra Carron has become the first "official" CO in LA. He is one of the five Paraguayan COs who did a public presentation last September, and on 15 March, a judge recognised him as CO. The right to CO is recognised in the Paraguayan constitution, but there is no regulatory law detailing what provisions should be made for COs. The judge ruled that Rodrigo as a CO should be exempted from his reserve military duties (he did his regular military service as a school-student). Serpaj-Paraguay is waiting to see what is going to happen now and several COs are ready to make public their position against military service.

Contact: Serpaj-Paraguay, Azara 313, casi Iturbe, piso 30, Asunción, Paraguay, tel/fax: +595 21 475 707