Geneva, April 01 (teleSUR-RHC) The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) urged the Paraguayan government under President Horacio Cartes on Monday to review human rights violations committed in the South American country.

The statement specifically referred to actions of the Joint Task Force group, a unit of the Armed Forces of Paraguay including military and police fighting against the Paraguayan People's Army guerrillas in the north.

Following the release of the report, the head of the Joint Task Force group, General Ramón Benitez, was sacked by Cartes. The U.N. concerns comes following a report by the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Paraguay which warned that the country's legal framework allows the task force to conduct military incursions on matters of “internal security” without any time limit.

It also expressed concern about repeated human rights violations, mentioning the case of three minors who were arrested on charges of terrorism without trial or defense.

The young detainees were released after six months as no evidence was found against them. Other evidence mentioned included a growing number of armed attacks by the military against unarmed civilians on unfounded suspicions, along with abuses in rural estates which have been reported by Catholic clergy.