home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Wayzata World Factbook 1996
/
The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso
/
pc
/
text
/
humanrts
/
ecuador.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-01-04
|
25KB
|
505 lines
TITLE: ECUADOR HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
ECUADOR
Ecuador is a constitutional republic with a president and a
77-member unicameral legislature chosen in free elections. The
1994 midterm elections left President Sixto Duran Ballen's
governing coalition only nine seats in the National Assembly.
Members of the Supreme Court preside over a judiciary that is
constitutionally independent but susceptible to outside
pressure. The Assembly has sweeping powers to question and
censure cabinet ministers; such censure results in automatic
dismissal of the minister in question. This is often used as a
political tool by opposition political parties.
The Ecuadorian military has significant autonomy, reinforced by
guaranteed access to revenues from the nation's oil exports, as
well as from civil aviation, shipping, and other economic
activities. The military has maintained a low profile in
domestic politics since the return to constitutional rule in
1979. The National Police, responsible for domestic law
enforcement and maintenance of internal order, falls under the
civilian Ministry of Government and Police. There continued to
be credible allegations of human rights abuses by the police
and in some isolated cases the military.
The economy is based on private enterprise, although there
continued to be heavy government involvement in key sectors
such as petroleum, utilities, and aviation. Inflation was
about 25 percent in 1994, though it continued a steady downward
trend begun in 1992. Most Ecuadorians are employed in the
urban informal sector or as rural agricultural workers; rural
poverty is extensive, and underemployment is high.
The most fundamental human rights abuse stems from shortcomings
in the politicized legal and judicial system. People are
subject to arbitrary arrest; once incarcerated, they may wait
years before coming to trial unless they resort to paying
bribes. Other human rights abuses included instances of
extrajudicial killings; torture and other mistreatment of
prisoners and detainees by the police; government failure to
prosecute and punish human rights abusers; and pervasive
discrimination against women, blacks, and indigenous people.
Despite these continuing problems, the Government did make
significant progress toward prosecuting those responsible for
two longstanding human rights cases in 1994.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of politically motivated killings in
1994. The police continued to be responsible for extrajudicial
killings, although the number of such reports dropped
noticeably. The police often acted with impunity in such
cases, because disciplinary action is the responsibility of the
police itself. Although special police courts usually try
cases involving police officers as defendants, the Government
in some recent cases withdrew this right and tried officers in
civil courts.
The Catholic Church-based Ecumenical Committee for Human Rights
(CEDHU) reported a total of nine extrajudicial killings,
including two individuals who died during an indigenous
protest, but with no involvement by security forces (see
Sections 2.a. and 5). Two deaths involved persons who died in
police custody while being interrogated. A stray bullet killed
one person during a military anticrime sweep in the city of
Esmeraldas.
For example, CEDHU reported that members of Interpol, part of
the National Police, arrested Angel Vega at his home on May 5.
Neighbors reported that police beat him while he was detained.
Later in the evening, the police delivered Vega's body to the
morgue of the Isidro Ayora hospital in Loja without
explanation. His body showed signs of scrapes, bruises, and
burns. The authorities took no action against the Interpol
officers. Another extrajudicial killing occurred when police
killed a striking sugar refinery worker. There was no
investigation of this case.
After long delays, there was progress toward prosecution of
those responsible for two of the principal human rights cases
in Ecuador--the 1988 disappearance and presumed deaths of the
Restrepo brothers and the 1985 disappearance and murder of
Consuelo Benavides. In the case of the Restrepo bothers, the
president of the Supreme Court made a series of determinations
on the case beginning in May when he declared two lower ranking
police officials as authors of the murders, three midlevel
officers as accomplices, and General Gilberto Molina (then the
police commander), and one other officer as involved in a
coverup. On November 15, the president of the Supreme Court
gave these seven defendants the maximum sentences for the
crimes for which they were charged. Appeals were expected.
In the Benavides case, after a long internal investigation
which strongly implicated Navy Commander Fausto Morales in the
murder, in August the Minister of Defense ordered that Morales
begin to report to his superiors on a weekly basis. When
Morales failed to appear at the second such meeting, the
authorities sent military police to pick him up and jail him.
The Minister of Defense announced that the investigation of the
case had uncovered enough evidence of Morales' guilt that the
Government would withdraw his traditional right to a military
court trial and turn him over to a civilian court for
prosecution. By the end of the year, the Supreme Court's penal
chamber had moved into the final stages of the case, and a
decision was expected soon.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Although the law prohibits torture and similar forms of
intimidation and punishment, police continued to physically
mistreat suspects and prisoners, usually with impunity. CEDHU
regularly published detailed reports on suspects claiming that
the police had tortured them, frequently naming police
officials alleged to be responsible, and often including
photographs of the victims with their wounds. In most cases,
the police appeared to have abused such persons during
investigations concerning ordinary street crime. According to
CEDHU, the victims reported that the police beat them, burned
them with cigarettes, or threatened them psychologically. The
Government has never responded to CEDHU's reports.
The law permits police or military courts to try police
officers and members of the armed forces in closed sessions.
The police court in particular does not announce verdicts or
punishments, if any, creating the strong impression that the
police are immune from prosecution. In some high-profile cases
(as in the Consuelo Benavides case and the Restrepo case noted
in Section l.a.), the civilian authorities may decide to remand
a case to a civil court.
The most significant case of alleged mistreatment of prisoners
involved the suspects arrested by the military following a FARC
(Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrilla ambush along
the Colombian border. The military picked up 11 alleged FARC
members or supporters, 10 Colombians and 1 Ecuadorian, in a
sweep following an ambush in which 11 soldiers and police
officers died. All but two of the suspects signed confessions
admitting to taking part in the ambush. Two, however, later
recanted saying that they had signed the confessions as a
result of torture. Others also claimed the military tortured
them but did not recant their confessions. The one female
prisoner said she was raped. Several human rights
organizations examined the prisoners and confirmed that they
had a variety of injuries ranging from bruises and abrasions to
a broken arm. The military said the injuries were a result of
being handcuffed and of traveling through the jungle on foot.
According to some human rights observers who were close to the
case, medical examinations of the suspects indicated that the
injuries were consistent with either explanation, and that
there was no conclusive evidence of torture. In August the
authorities released 4 of the 11 for lack of evidence,
including the 2 who had never confessed and the 2 who had
recanted.
Conditions in Ecuador's detention centers generally continued
to be poor. Prisons in the tropical coastal areas tend to be
worse than those in the temperate highlands. Overcrowding is a
chronic problem, although conditions are notably better in the
women's prison in Quito than in other facilities. There are no
separate facilities for hard-core or dangerous criminals, nor
are there effective rehabilitation programs.
Indigenous organizations continued to charge that private
paramilitary groups target indigenous people and other peasants
for violent and lethal reprisals during illegal land invasions
and other squatter demonstrations. However, there were no
substantiated reports of any serious incidents between the
paramilitary groups and squatters in 1994. Modifications made
in the agrarian land reform law changed the former legal
framework that had prompted many landowners to form their own
private armed security units to protect their land holdings.
Under the new law, civil courts settle land disputes.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution and the Penal Code provide that no one may be
deprived of liberty without a written order from a governmental
authority, but the authorities often violated these legal
protections against arbitrary arrest or detention. By law the
authorities must issue specific written orders within 24 hours
of detention--even in cases in which a suspect is caught in the
act of committing a crime--and must charge the suspect with a
specific criminal offense within 48 hours of arrest. All
detained persons have the right to a review of the legality of
their detention within 48 hours of arrest, a review that is
supposed to be carried out by the senior elected official
(usually the mayor) of the locality in which the suspect is
held. Regardless of the legality of a detention, the law
requires a court order in order to release a prisoner. In some
cases, detainees unaware of this, or who do not have the funds
to hire a lawyer, may remain in prison for an extended period
before being released. Bail is not generally available.
Families of detainees sometimes intervene in an attempt to
secure the prisoner's freedom through illegal means.
Human rights organizations reported occasional cases of
incommunicado detention, although the law prohibits this
practice. Despite provisions of the Penal Code, the police
often detained suspects without the required written order.
Even when an order was obtained, those charged with determining
the validity of detention often allowed frivolous charges to be
brought, either because of overwork or because bribes were paid
by the accuser. In many instances, the system was used as a
means of harassment in civil cases in which one party sought to
have the other arrested on criminal charges. The authorities
frequently detained suspects longer than 24 hours before orders
were signed and charged few within 48 hours of arrest.
Preventive detention up to and including trial is legal under
certain circumstances.
The Government does not use exile as a method of political
control.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The regular court system tries most non-military defendants,
although some indigenous groups try members privately for
violations of tribal rules. Despite efforts begun in 1992 to
depoliticize and modernize the court system, the judiciary
continues to operate slowly and inconsistently. Judges
reportedly rendered decisions more quickly or more slowly
depending on political pressure or the payment of bribes.
However, the norm is for lengthy periods before cases come to
the courts (see below).
The law provides for internationally accepted due process
rights for criminal defendants, but the authorities often did
not observe these rights in practice. By law, the accused is
presumed innocent until proven guilty, and defendants have the
right to a public trial, defense attorneys, and appeal. They
may present evidence but have the privilege not to testify
against themselves, and they may confront and cross-examine
witnesses. Although a public defender system exists, in
practice there are relatively few attorneys available to defend
the large number of indigent suspects.
Trial is supposed to begin within 15 to 60 days of the initial
arrest, but in practice, initiation of the trial phase can take
years. An end-of-year census of the penitentiary system found
that only 29 percent of the 9,227 prisoners had been convicted
of a crime. Indigenous people and other minorities are
disproportionately affected by these delays as they are more
likely to be poor and unable to buy their way out of pretrial
detention. However, there was no evidence of a systematic
effort to discriminate against women or minorities.
There were no political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The law requires police to have a warrant to enter a private
home or business, except in the case of hot pursuit. The
police generally respect the sanctity of private homes and
correspondence. Police surveillance is permitted, but the
Constitution prohibits wiretapping, and the results of a
wiretap are not admissible as evidence in court.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech, and the
authorities generally respected this provision in practice, but
with some notable exceptions. All of the major media organs--
television, newspapers, and radio--are in local private hands
except for two government-owned radio stations. (Foreign
investment in media is prohibited.) However, using a law
(promulgated by the last military regime) that requires the
media to give the Government free space or air time, the
Government can and does require television and radio to
broadcast government-produced programs featuring the President
and other top administration officials. It also requires
newspapers to carry a minimum amount of news prepared by the
National Secretariat of Social Communications. The media and
opposition political figures often criticized the Government's
use of the media for its own political ends.
In June, following a protest by indigenous people against an
agrarian reform law, troops took over several radio stations in
heavily indigenous areas. The Government accused the stations
of inciting the protest which resulted in the deaths of two
persons in altercations between striking indigenous people and
other civilians. The Government allowed the stations back on
the air after they agreed not to broadcast news or other
information related to the protest. The Government said the
public service stations had violated their charters by
broadcasting news reports. (Public service stations are
prohibited from airing news, opinion, or commercial messages.)
The media represent a wide range of political views and often
criticize the Government. However, some degree of
self-censorship in the print media occurs, particularly with
respect to politically sensitive issues or stories about the
military and its related industries. The media also willingly
censored issues considered to be in the realm of national
security when the Government so requested.
The Government does not interfere in issues involving academic
freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for the rights of free assembly and
association for peaceful purposes. These rights are generally
respected in practice. Public rallies require prior government
permits, which are generally granted, although exceptions
exist. Numerous political demonstrations took place in the
capital and the outlying regions, including a major national
protest by indigenous groups. In general the security forces
intervened in demonstrations only when there was violence
against bystanders or property. Although the authorities
usually showed restraint in the use of force, riot police in
two instances fired tear gas canisters at protesters, causing
some serious injuries.
Following the court decisions in the Restrepo case (see Section
1.a.), the Government continued to refuse to renew a permit for
the Restrepo family to hold its weekly protest in the main
plaza in front of the presidential palace. However, the weekly
demonstrations continued because the boys' father believed the
convictions should have included higher government officials.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution prohibits discrimination for religious
reasons, and citizens are free to practice the religion of
their choice. Numerous foreign-based religious orders and
missionary groups are active.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution assures the right of all citizens to travel
freely throughout the country, to choose their place of
residence, and to depart from and return to Ecuador. These
rights are respected in practice.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Since the return to civilian rule in 1979, citizens have
actively exercised their right to change their national and
local governments. Free and fair elections resulted in the
peaceful transfer of power to parties of opposing views in
presidential elections every 4 years. There are 15 legally
registered political parties, spanning the ideological
spectrum, 13 of which are represented in Congress. The 1992
national elections resulted in the peaceful transfer of power
from a center-left government to a center-right government,
with a realignment of power within the National Assembly as
well.
Voting is mandatory for literate citizens over the age of 18
and voluntary for illiterate citizens. The Constitution bars
members of the clergy from election to Congress, the
presidency, or vice presidency. Candidates must belong to one
of the recognized parties and may not run as independents.
Traditional elites tend to be self-perpetuating, and blacks,
indigenous people and women continued to be almost completely
absent from high positions in government, although no specific
laws or policies prevent women or minorities from attaining
leadership positions. Grassroots community groups,
particularly among the indigenous population, were increasingly
successful in pressuring the central Government to assist
them. Several traditional political parties began to court the
rural indigenous vote, and at least one, the Maoist Popular
Democratic Movement, did unexpectedly well in the May
congressional elections because of support it received in
heavily indigenous areas.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Domestic human rights groups such as CEDHU and the regional
Latin American Human Rights Association (ALDHU) are independent
and actively monitor human rights issues. These groups,
particularly CEDHU, have been outspoken in their criticism of
the Government's record on specific cases. Nevertheless, the
Government contracted with ALDHU to provide human rights
training to the military and the police.
International human rights organizations operate without
hindrance in Ecuador.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race,
religion, sex, or social status. However, women, blacks, and
indigenous people face significant discrimination.
Women
Discrimination against women is pervasive in Ecuadorian
society, particularly with respect to educational and economic
opportunity in the lower economic strata. The increasingly
active women's movement blames culture and tradition for
inhibiting achievement of full equality for women. There are
fewer women in the professions or working as skilled laborers
than men, and salary discrimination against women is common.
Although the law prohibits violence against women, including
within marriage, it is a widespread practice. Many rapes go
unreported because of the victims' reluctance to confront the
perpetrator. An individual alone may not swear out a complaint
against a spouse or companion, but must have a third party do
so. While some communities have established centers for
counseling and legal support of abused women, the Government
only began to address this question with the formation of the
"Comisaria de la Mujer," or Women's Bureau, which initiated
work in early November. Still, while the Comisaria can accept
complaints about abuse from women, it has no authority to act
on them.
Children
The Government is committed in principle to the welfare of
children but has not taken effective steps to promote it.
Government resources to assist children have traditionally been
limited, though in October it instituted a program to care for
the children of the working poor called "Operation Child
Rescue." Several private organizations are very active in
programs to assist street children, and the U.N. Children's
Fund also runs a program in conjunction with the Central Bank.
Especially in urban areas, the children of the poor often
experience severe hardships. It is common to see children as
young as 5 or 6 years of age selling newspapers or candy on the
street to support themselves or to augment the family income.
There also are instances of prostitution by girls under 18 in
urban areas. In rural areas, young children often must leave
school at an early age to help out on the family's plot of land.
Indigenous People
While at least 85 percent of all Ecuadorians claim some
indigenous heritage, culturally indigenous people make up about
25 to 30 percent of the total population. The vast majority of
these people live in rural areas and most live in varying
degrees of poverty. Land is scarce in the more heavily
populated highland areas. High infant mortality, malnutrition,
and epidemic disease are common, and potable water and
electricity too often unavailable. The rural education system
is seriously deficient.
Indigenous people enjoy the same civil and political rights as
other citizens and also have several special privileges
designed to allow them to manage their own affairs within their
own communities. This is especially true in the Amazon area,
where indigenous groups have claim to specific land areas.
Amazon indigenous groups also have begun to play an active role
in the decisionmaking process in the use of their lands for oil
exploration and production through direct pressure on the
Government and through their contacts with foreign
nongovernmental organizations. Many indigenous groups
participated actively with the Ministry of Education in the
development of the bilingual education program used in rural
public schools.
Indigenous leaders argue that the Government does not take
their interests into consideration when making national policy
and that the only way to get attention is through active
protests. In one such action in June to express opposition to
a newly passed agrarian reform law, indigenous groups blocked
roads in the highland region of the country, isolating cities
from other regions and from food-producing areas for almost 2
weeks. During confrontations in the protest, persons affected
by the stoppage of commerce killed two indigenous people. When
the Government finally announced a military mobilization to end
the protest, the authorities restored peace rapidly and without
further bloodshed. As a result of the protest, the President
named a commission with significant indigenous participation to
redraft the Agrarian Reform Law. Congress then quickly passed
a modified reform law.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The population of the rural, northern coastal area includes
large numbers of black citizens. They suffer widespread
poverty and pervasive discrimination, particularly with regard
to educational and economic opportunity. There were no special
government efforts to address these problems.
People with Disabilities
There are no laws to guarantee disabled people access to public
buildings or services, nor are they provided any other special
government assistance.