They say goodbye to minors in Ecuador who were missing for 23 days

A day after it was announced that the bodies of four minors who were missing for 23 days in Ecuador were identified, their relatives held funeral services to say goodbye to them in a case that has shocked the Andean country and in which The armed forces have been the target of complaints.

The bodies of the four boys were laid to rest on Wednesday in their homes, located in a popular sector of the coastal city of Guayaquil known as “Las Malvinas”, and later transferred to a communal house for a religious ceremony. They were then taken to a cemetery in that suburb, where they were buried.

“We want justice!” shouted relatives and acquaintances of the minors as they moved in a caravan with the coffins towards the place where they would be buried. Traditional rhythms of the Afro-Ecuadorian culture to which Ismael and Josué Arroyo, aged 15 and 14, belonged; Saúl Arboleda, 14, and Steven Medina, 11, also accompanied the honors.

The Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that the remains found a week earlier in the vicinity of a military base corresponded to the minors, who disappeared on December 8 after playing soccer and being arrested by a military patrol.

The day before, a judge ordered the arrest of the 16 soldiers involved, after the Prosecutor’s Office charged them with their forced disappearance.

According to a military report cited by the authorities, the uniformed officers arrested them in “possible flagrante delicto,” but then released them near a military base. The Prosecutor’s Office denied that the minors had committed a crime, while lawyers for the relatives accuse the government of launching a campaign of stigmatization against the victims to avoid the responsibility of the State.

Fernando Bastias, of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, explained in a previous interview with the AP that “the moment they (the military) were detained they passed into the custody of the State, which had the obligation to return them to their parents, and did not do so.” they did.”

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has not commented after confirming the death of the minors, although the Ministry of Defense issued a statement on Tuesday in which it offered transparency in the investigations “until those responsible are found.”

In January 2024, Noboa declared that the country was suffering from an internal armed conflict after the escape of a drug trafficker that unleashed a wave of violence. The president has repeatedly implemented the state of emergency, which has allowed a security block to carry out operations in different cities and for the people detained there to remain in prisons. Civil organizations say that this has facilitated the violation of human rights in Ecuador.

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