COMMUNISTS have called for the immediate release of Paraguayan political prisoner Carmen Villalba, saying that her continued detention is illegal.

In an open letter published on Saturday, the signatories argue that keeping her in prison is a breach of her human rights, since she finished serving a 17-year sentence in July this year, having already completed others.

“This situation, if it persists, exposes the Paraguayan state to responsibilities for violation of constitutional guarantees and human rights treaties,” the letter said, demanding her immediate release.

Ms Villalba has been held in Asuncion women’s prison since 2004, after being jailed for what supporters describe as “her revolutionary activities,” including the kidnapping of Maria Edith Bordon de Debernardi.

As a member of the Patria Libre party, Ms Villalba played a leading role in the struggle against the US-backed dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, which ruled Paraguay from 1954 to 1989.

While in prison, she joined the Paraguayan People’s Army, a left-wing guerilla group formed in 2008 and seen as the successor to the clandestine armed wing of Patria Libre. 

Protests have been held demanding her immediate release, but the Paraguayan government and judiciary have remained unmoved.

They refuse to recognise time served on the 17-year sentence, brushing off appeals from her lawyers.

The denial of her freedom is seen as part of continuing state persecution of her family. 

Her 14-year-old daughter, Carmen Elizabeth Oviedo Villalba “Lichita,” went missing last November and is presumed to be the victim of a forced disappearance.

Last September, her nieces were murdered and her sister Laura was arrested.

Harassment by the security forces has forced many of her other relatives into exile in Argentina, while her son Nestor has also been killed.