Portillo Cáceres v Paraguay
2019 UN Human Rights Committee court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portillo Cáceres v Paraguay[lower-alpha 1] (Communication No.2751/2016) was a case decided by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 2019.
Portillo Cáceres v Paraguay | |
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Court | United Nations Human Rights Committee under the 1st ICCR Optional Protocol |
Full case name | Portillo Cáceres y Otros v. Paraguay |
Decided | 9 August 2019 (2019-08-09) |
Session | 126 |
Citation(s) | CCPR/C/126/D/2751/2016
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Committee membership | |
Yadh Ben Achour, Ilze Brands Kehris, Arif Bulkan, Ahmed Amin Fathalla, Shuichi Furuya, Christof Heyns, Bamariam Koita, Duncan Laki Muhumuza, Photini Pazartzis, Hernán Quezada, Vasilka Sancin, José Manuel Santos Pais, Yuval Shany, Hélène Tigroudja, Andreas Zimmermann [de], Gentian Zyberi | |
Opinion in | English, French, and Spanish |
Decided in | Geneva, Switzerland |
Laws applied | |
Area of law |
The case was initiated by a group of farmers in Paraguay who lived next to soybean plantations that had been using illegal agrochemicals. Contamination from negligent practices had resulted negative health effects, including the death of one farmer, Rubén Portillo Cáceres, and the poisoning of 22 others as well as negative impacts on the livelihoods of families living in the area. Despite an investigation by local and state officials finding evidence of wrongdoing, the state did not put environmental protection measures into effect and large amounts of chemicals continued to be released near the victims' homes.
In a resolution on 9 August 2019, the committee ruled in favor of the farmers, finding that their rights to life, privacy, family life, and residence were violated, and that Paraguay did not adequately demand compliance with environmental regulations or repair the damage caused.
Portillo Cáceres v Paraguay is a landmark court case in international toxics regulation. It marked the first instance of the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognizing that a state can violate its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by failing to take action in cases of environmental harm. Paraguay was the first country in the world to be condemned by the Human Rights Committee for the death of a person from pesticide poisoning.