Amnesty International Report 1997 - Ecuador

Seven prisoners of conscience arrested in 1993 were released. Numerous cases of torture continued to be reported. At least two people were killed in circumstances suggesting that they may have been extrajudicially executed. Hundreds of human rights violations committed during previous years remained unresolved. Constitutional reforms approved in 1995 came into effect in January, including provision for the establishment of a Defensoría del Pueblo, Office of the Ombudsman. However, by the end of the year the Office of the Ombudsman had yet to come into operation. Following elections in July, Abdalá Bucaram Ortiz took office as President on 10 August. Days later, the new government decreed a country-wide state of emergency. The decree made provision for mobilizing the military and the police to combat widespread corruption and crime. In September, the National Congress set up a special commission to investigate allegations made public by former policeman Hugo España. According to these allegations, a police "death squad" had been responsible for the torture, "disappearance", and extrajudicial execution of suspected members of an armed opposition group, Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (Alfaro Lives, Damn it!) (see Amnesty International Reports 1985 to 1992). Some victims had been buried in unmarked graves in a police precinct in Pusuquí, near Quito, the capital, and close to the Cuenca–Girón highway. The authorities visited the sites but, in the absence of precise locations, did not order excavations. Also in September, the Ministry of Government and Police established the Comisión Verdad y Justicia, Truth and Justice Commission, to investigate unresolved cases of human rights violations which had taken place since 1979, when military rule ended. By the end of the year the Commission was reported to have received information on almost 300 such cases. The Commission investigated reports of unmarked graves in the Fumisa police precinct, near the town of Quevedo, province of Los Ríos, said to contain the remains of scores of peasants who had died under torture or been summarily executed during the 1970s. Both the congressional and Truth and Justice commissions were expected to publish their findings in 1997. In September, President Bucaram announced that he was seeking the opinion of Roman Catholic Church leaders concerning his proposal that the Constitution be amended to allow the death penalty for the rape and murder of children. Following a rejection of the proposal by church leaders, the government announced preparation of a bill to allow the castration of those who rape children. Seven agricultural workers arrested in 1993 in connection with an armed attack against Ecuadorian forces patrolling the river Putumayo were released in September (see Amnesty International Reports 1995 and 1996). They were prisoners of conscience. Their release followed a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice which overturned the convictions and sentences handed down to the seven defendants in February by the Napo Criminal Court. However, the judicial authorities failed to bring to justice those responsible for the torture of the seven, and of four other peasants detained with them but released in 1995. Numerous cases of torture by police officers were reported. For example, in January, Patricio Vaca, a cobbler, was detained in the city of Quevedo on suspicion of having information about the killing of a policeman. According to reports, Patricio Vaca was taken to a building where he was blindfolded, handcuffed, and repeatedly punched and kicked. He was later transferred to a cell in the Oficina de Investigación del Delito, Office for the Investigation of Crime, where members of the Grupo de Operaciones Especiales, Special Operations Group, allegedly placed a hood over his head into which gas was pumped, and beat and kicked him. In July, a judge ruled that there was no conclusive proof against three policemen and two civilians implicated in the detention and death under torture of Vicente Muñoz Ruiz (see Amnesty International Report 1996), and ordered their release. At least two people were shot in circumstances suggesting that they may have been extrajudicially executed. In February, Pedro Pablo Armas, a Quito-based taxi driver, stopped his vehicle while his passenger loaded the boot. According to reports, a policeman whose vehicle the taxi was obstructing approached Pedro Armas, hit him in the face, drew a gun and shot him dead. The policeman was reportedly dismissed from the force but later readmitted. In September, five police officers conducting an anti-drugs operation broke into a house in the district of La Tola, Quito. According to the police, José Miguel Manrique Morales, a 16-year-old student, was accidentally shot by one of the police officers during a struggle. However, a witness claimed that a policemen took him to a back yard and deliberately shot him. He died hours later. A judicial warrant ordering the policeman's detention was reportedly obstructed by police authorities, who claimed jurisdiction over the case. By the end of the year a High Court had yet to rule whether the case was to be referred to the jurisdiction of the civilian or police courts. Hundreds of cases of human rights violations in previous years remained unresolved. These included the deaths of at least 25 men, women and children shot by police during a mass protest by workers and their families at the Aztra sugar mill in October 1977 (see Amnesty International Report 1978); the torture, "disappearance" or extrajudicial execution over a four-year period by members of the police and armed forces of scores of people suspected of belonging to Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (see Amnesty International Reports 1985 to 1989); and the torture of four Colombian refugees in a military establishment in August 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). In July, the Consuelo Benavides case was formally admitted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights following a submission to the Court by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (see previous Amnesty International Reports). By the end of the year the Court had yet to hear the case. In July, the government wrote to Amnesty International rejecting "the claims made [in Amnesty International Report 1996], in so far as there exists a clear difference of perceptions between the facts and the unfounded claims made in the report". The communication referred to several cases included in the report, but failed to respond to Amnesty International's specific concerns. In July, Amnesty International wrote an open letter to President-elect Bucaram urging his government to outline a plan of action for the protection and promotion of human rights. In the letter the organization appealed for the immediate and unconditional release of the prisoners detained in connection with the Putumayo incident. Amnesty International also urged the President-elect to ensure that urgent measures were taken to end Ecuador's pattern of impunity; to prevent torture and ill-treatment; to reject all proposals to reintroduce the death penalty; and to put into practice domestic and international human rights standards. In September, Amnesty International publicly welcomed the establishment of the Truth and Justice Commission and urged the authorities to ensure that the Commission was able to carry out its mandate successfully.