• Text size  | | |
• Email this document
• Printable version

Ecuador: Information on the actual or suspected motive for the killing of the Restrepo brothers as reported by the special commission that investigated the case or other sources

Please find attached some documents that report on the conclusions of the special international commission that investigated the "Restrepo Case." The documents do not report a specific motive; rather, they state that the commission's findings determined that the brothers had disappeared at the hands of the National Police and that torture, arbitrary detention, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment were systematic practices of the National Police Criminal Investigative Service (SIC) (Human Rights Watch 1992, 208). The commission's report also indicated that "evidence was altered, hidden and destroyed in order to hide the Restrepo brothers' detention, torture and disappearance" (Andean Newsletter Oct. 1991, 5). Some of the attached documents report that abuse, torture and related criminal behaviour against persons suspected of common crimes was a common or frequent practice in Ecuador. The attachments also report that as a consequence of the commission's findings, the SIC was disbanded by the Ecuadorean government and several police agents and officers were arrested and expected to be tried in court.

Please refer to the attached documents for additional information on the case, the international commission's conclusions and related developments.

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

Andean Newsletter [Lima]. October 1991. No. 59. "Police in Crisis.".

Human Rights Watch. 1992. Human Rights Watch World Report 1992. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Attachments

Amnesty International. October 1992. "Ecuador: Death in Custody and Torture." (AI Index: AMR 28/03/92). London: Amnesty International.

Andean Newsletter [Lima]. October 1992. No. 71. "Ex-Police Director Escapes From Prison," pp. 5-6.

. October 1991. No. 59. "Police in Crisis," p. 5.

Human Rights Watch. 1992. Human Rights Watch World Report 1992. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 207-208.

Le Monde [Paris]. 7 October 1991. "Le président Borja s'attaque aux violations des droits de l'homme."