A/HRC/19/60/Add.1
Objection to include the Ombudsperson, the President of the Permanent Commission on
Human Rights of the Senate, the President of the Permanent Commission on Human Rights
of the Congress, a representative of the Ministry of Defence and a representative of the
objectors who will be chosen through a ballot of those who have presented their objection
in the past five years. Article 20 provides that those who do not duly comply with
alternative service will still be subject to article 129 of the Constitution establishing
compulsory military service. Pursuant to article 21, those who declared their objection
before Law No. 4.013 was promulgated may choose between providing alternative service
or paying a fine equal to the salary of five days of work. Article 23 states that, in the event
of national defence or situation of international armed conflict, alternative service will
necessarily comprise activities of civil defence.
13.
The Penal Code also includes several articles that refer to religious issues. For
example, article 158 of the Penal Code provides that anyone who damages totally or
partially an object of religious significance belonging to a religious society recognized by
the State or an object intended for the exercise of religious worship is punishable by up to
three years of imprisonment or a fine. Article 162 of the Penal Code considers a theft to be
aggravated, with possible imprisonment of up to 10 years, when the culprit steals from the
interior of a church or any other closed building dedicated to religious worship any object
intended for the exercise of worship or religious adoration. Furthermore, article 233 of the
Code provides that anyone who, in a manner likely to upset the harmony of relations among
people, insults another person on account of his or her beliefs at a public meeting or
through publications is punishable by imprisonment for a maximum term of three years or
by a fine.
14.
The 2006 National Police Regulation of Ceremonies and Protocol also refers to
religious ceremonies. Pursuant to article 97 of the Regulation, all solemn acts arranged with
the participation of members of the National Police, according to the ritual of the Catholic
Church, are interpreted as religious ceremony. Article 99 provides that, in ceremonies
where there is no need to stand to attention, persons are required to remain with bare heads
and to follow the Catholic ritual.
15.
Article 91 of the Civil Code states that churches and religious denominations are
legal persons. For official registration with the Vice-Ministry of Worship, religious
communities are required to submit, on an annual basis, a form in which they request the
processing of registration for entities; attached to the form, a note requesting an official
annual certificate of documentation for entities; details of the persons officially in charge of
the congregation (name and last name, identity document number, position in the
congregation with indication of the dates of tenure); a completed annual questionnaire for
entities; a form with complete personal data of those officially in charge of the
congregation; a completed form for the registration of authorized signatures of those
officially in charge of the congregation; a copy of the announcement of the celebration of
the General Assembly of the entity officially recognized by public notary; a copy of the
publication in a main newspaper of the celebration of the General Assembly recognized by
public notary; a copy of the minutes of the General Assembly of the entity officially
recognized by public notary; a copy of the legal statutes of the entity officially recognized
by public notary; and a copy of the documents that establish the legal personality of the
entity officially recognized by public notary.2
2
6
See www.mec.gov.py/vmc/entradas/206242 (in Spanish).