The Ecuadorian State must investigate what happened to the four children who were victims of forced disappearance after their arrest by members of the armed forces in Guayaquil, prosecute all those responsible and take measures to ensure non-repetition of situations like this, the representative of UN Human Rights in South America.
Jan Jarab stated that, like Ecuadorian society, the UN Office is shocked by the events, which constitute a serious violation of human rights.
The four minors Afro-descendants between eleven and 14 years olddisappeared on December 8 in Guayaquil after playing a soccer game, when a military patrol detained them accusing them of theft, a charge that was later denied by the Prosecutor’s Office, which found no evidence to support the charge.
Burned and with traces of torture
On December 24 they met four charred corpses with signs of torture on land near a military air base located about 40 kilometers from where the children were detained.
On the 31st of the same month, the authorities confirmed that, after forensic DNA tests, it had been proven that the bodies were those of missing children.
Minutes before the identification of the bodies was announced, a judge from Guayaquil ordered preventive detention against 16 Air Force soldiers for his alleged participation in the disappearance of the children.
Initially, the authorities had denied the involvement of public forces, but the Videos from security cameras in the area showed uniformed soldiers capturing the children and taking them away in a van.
UN Human Rights categorically condemned the events and expressed his solidarity with the families.
Likewise, he recalled that the State has the obligation to protect children and adolescents according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The agency added that the information known so far indicates that These were forced disappearancesaccording to the definition provided by the International convention against that atrocity.
The crime is not canceled
Therefore, the actions of those responsible must be pursued, investigated and punished quickly by the corresponding authorities, the Office noted, emphasizing that the crime of forced disappearance is not annulled. with the discovery of the bodies.
Jan Jarab declared that the investigation of such a serious outrage must be independent, without political pressure and exhaustive, addressing the eventual responsibilities of the command. “At the same time, the re-victimization of families must be avoided at all times,” he stressed.
The head of the Regional Office also urged address other complaints of forced disappearance that arose in the context of the media visibility of this case, and asked to adopt all necessary measures for the no repetition.
Jarab stressed that the fatal event “must mark a turning point in the way the public safety policy in the country.”
Promote racial justice
The Human Rights Office reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the families of the victims and Ecuadorian society, and reiterated its willingness to provide technical cooperation to the State in the fulfillment of its accountability obligations for the serious human rights violations committed.
Likewise, he committed to promote racial justice in the actions of law enforcement officers and to promote prevention through human rights training.
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