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Ecuador: Information on the September 1993 appointment of a new police chief in Quito, on an Ecumenical Human Rights Commission report that denounced human rights violations by the police, and the names of persons killed, tortured, physically abused, arrested or detained by the police or armed forces, as identified in the report

Two media sources indicate that a September 1993 report by the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU) that detailed police brutality within detention centres, prompted the appointment of Commander Guido Nunez as the new national police chief (IPS 7 Sept. 1993; NotiSur 10 Sept. 1993). The appointment was made after  CEDHU and the Tribunal for Constitutional Guarantees visited the Quito Criminal Investigation Department, where they found torture devices (ibid.). The sources state that Commander Nunez undertook immediate measures to restructure the police force and promised that a judicial police force would be established (ibid.). Amnesty International Report 1994 also notes the above-mentioned subject but makes no reference to the CEDHU (AI 1994, 118).

According to Country Reports 1993, the CEDHU reported that the security forces, including the police, committed 24 extrajudicial executions in 1993 (1994, 427).

According to an excerpt from CEDHU's Spanish bulletin, Derechos del Pueblo, José Antonio Holguin was killed by the Ecuadoran air force on 26 July 1993, and Nixon Gonzabay Tomalá was killed by a rural police officer on 7 August 1993 (Sept. 1993, 6). Derechos del Pueblo also reported the torture and assault (agresion fisica) of Cristobal Núñez, Jorge Villacrés, Marlene Paez, Oswaldo Collaguazo, José Maria Collaguazo, María Bartola Collaguazo, Severino Cortez Bajaña, Galo Ortiz, José Maldonado and 14 peasants of the Asociación de Camaroneros de Naranjal (ASOCAN) (ibid.). The above-mentioned incidents were committed by various police and military bodies in the summer of 1993 (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Amnesty International (AI). 1994. Amnesty International Report 1994. New York: Amnesty International USA.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office

Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU). September 1993. Derechos Del Pueblo. Excerpt received by the DIRB on 7 February 1997, pp. 6-7.

Inter Press Service (IPS). 7 September 1993. "Ecuador: Torture Allegations Prompt Police Changes." (NEXIS)

NotiSurLatin American Political Affairs [Albuquerque, N. Mex.]. 10 September 1993. "Ecuador: Torture Allegations Prompt Police Reform." (NEXIS)

Attachment

Inter Press Service (IPS). 7 September 1993. "Ecuador: Torture Allegations Prompt Police Changes." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

DIRB Country File. 1993.

DIRB Amnesty International File. 1993.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports. 1993.

Three sources consulted did not provide information on the requested subject.

Topics: Human rights,