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Carmen Bogado, the same prosecutor who charged gay performer Bruno Almada Comas with "exhibitionist acts" in public during a Kiss-In in Asunción, is now seeking to identify all the people who participated in the event.

To that end, the prosecutor of Criminal Unit No. 8 of the Public Ministry requested that the National Police provide information, including the full names of the individuals appearing in the recording, their addresses, and whether they have criminal records, as reported to Presentes by Bruno Almada's lawyer, Margit Genre.

[READ ALSO: Controversy in Paraguay over the presence of children at an LGBTI festival]

The “Kiss-a-thon” was an activity convened on May 17th in the Plaza de Armas by the organizations Somos Gay and Lesvos to celebrate diverse love through art and continue fighting against all discrimination, according to the statement released by these organizations.

There, the performer Almada gave his performance and was filmed by self-proclaimed "pro-family" groups, who stormed in and denounced the presence of children watching and called it an obscene act. The prosecutor took up this complaint and opened a case against Almada.

“Currently, the investigative stage is concluding, and on Sunday, November 25, we will know how the case will proceed, revealing whether an indictment will be filed, whether there will be alternative resolutions, or whether the definitive dismissal requested by the defense will be granted, since there was no punishable act and, therefore, the act does not fit what the Penal Code establishes as 'exhibitionist acts',” Genre added.

The complainants and a Justice system “that seeks to instill fear” 

Evangelical pastor Mario Cáceres and the president of the Paraguayan Association of Users and Consumers (Asucop), Juan Vera, filed the complaint and called for the expulsion of LGBT people from Paraguay. According to Genre, Vera is listed as a complainant in the case against the Paraguayan artist and also sought to join the legal action.

According to Genre, the prosecution's request to the Criminalistics Unit is illegal because they are asking for the identification of people—presumably of the same sex—kissing, when the Penal Code does not criminalize this act. "The goal is to instill fear and make the LGBTI community feel the presence of a state where their freedoms are not guaranteed."

Human rights violation

In a 2015 report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed concern about the misuse of criminal offenses to criminalize LGBTI rights defenders in the Americas

Among these criminal offenses, he cites some such as "public incitement to commit crimes, the glorification of crime and illicit association," although there is no reference to cases in which the criminal figure of exhibitionism has been used.

[READ ALSO: The Minister of Education supported the anti-rights march in Asunción]

Likewise, the IACHR also warns that “the criminalization of LGBT rights defenders does not only occur in the context of countries that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations, but is also observed in other countries in the region where the defense of LGBT rights is not well received.”

For its part, the Human Rights Coordinator of Paraguay (Codehupy) warns in its 2017 report on the human rights situation that the country led the anti-LGBT rights position in that year at the assembly of the Organization of American States.

The report also highlights the “pressure that fundamentalist groups exert on public authorities”, constantly making “a pejorative use of LGBTI identities, describing them as sick and threatening to Paraguayan children”.