Ecuador
18.07.02
Urgent Interventions
Ecuador: arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of peaceful demonstrators
Case ECU 180702 / Case ECU 180702. CC
CHILD CONCERN
Arbitrary Arrest and Detention / Incommunicado Detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention regarding the following situation in Ecuador.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information about the arbitrary detention of Luis Muñoz (a minor), Ivón Ramos, David Conrado, Juan Pablo Barragán, José Luis Proaño, Alberto Saltos, Stalin Saltos, and an American citizen, Julia Butterfly, in the city of Quito.
According to the information received from a reliable source, at about 17:30 on 16 July 2002, a group of ecologists were having a peaceful demonstration in front of the building where the company OXIS operates, located on Avenida Amazonas. A group of Migration Police officers led by Captain Carlos Aillón and under the command of Coronel Noboa proceeded to detain Ecuadorian citizens Luis Muñoz (a minor), Ivón Ramos, David Conrado, Juan Pablo Barragán, José Luis Proaño, Alberto Saltos, Stalin Saltos, and American citizen Julia Butterfly, in an arbitrary and violent manner. This occurred without the existence of an order of detention issued by a competent judicial authority, nor a prior hearing that justified such detentions, nor any valid reason to suppose that the detained persons had committed a crime.
The demonstration was reportedly being held to protest against the effects that the construction of the “Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados” (Pipeline of Crude Oil) is producing on human health and the environment.
According to the information, the aforementioned persons were brought by members of the Migration Police to a department of the Migration Police located on Avenida Amazonas and República, and later, with the participation of members of the National Police, were transferred to the Provisional Detention Centre of the city of Quito. Despite the requests of the detainees, the police reportedly refused to provide them with the reasons for the detention, the identity of the authority that issued the detention order and the names of the agents that carried out this arbitrary act.
According to the information, when the detainees were held in the Provisional Detention Centre of Quito, various human rights defenders and ecologists came to the Centre in order to request permission to drop off food and clothes for the detainees, and also request permission for the detainees to communicate with their relatives and with an attorney. However, in an arbitrary and authoritarian manner, the National Police official on duty at the Detention Centre, who refused to disclose his identity, and another agent named Sergeant Max Segura, did not permit the citizens to exercise these rights.
The source of the information recalls that these facts constitute the violation of express constitutional norms established in Article 3, Number 2; Articles 16, 17, 23, Numbers 2, 9, 26, 27; and Article 24, Numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador.
The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its condemnation of these arbitrary arrests and shares the preoccupation of the human rights organizations and ecologist groups for the safety as well as the physical and psychological integrity of the detained persons mentioned above.
Actions Requested
Please write to the authorities of Ecuador urging them to:
i. Take urgent and immediate measures in order to guarantee the safety and the physical and psychological integrity of Luis Muñoz (a minor), Ivón Ramos, David Conrado, Juan Pablo Barragán, José Luis Proaño, Alberto Saltos, Stalin Saltos, and American citizen Julia Butterfly;
ii. Order the immediate release of the aforementioned persons if the detainees find themselves without any valid legal charges to bring, or, if they have legal charges, bring them before an independent and impartial tribunal and guarantee them their procedural rights in all circumstances;
iii. Order an immediate, exhaustive and impartial investigation concerning the arbitrary detention of the aforementioned persons, with the goal of identifying those responsible, bringing them before a court and applying the civil and/or administrative penal sanctions to them, as provided by law;
iv. Guarantee the respect for human rights and fundamental liberties throughout the country, in accordance with the national laws and international standards of human rights.
Addresses:
· Sr. Dr. Gustavo Noboa Bejarano, Presidente de la República del Ecuador, Palacio de Carondelet, García Moreno 1043, Quito, Ecuador. Fax: (+59 3) 258 07 51;
E-mail: vpre@uio.telconet.net; despresi@presidencia.ec-gov.net
· Sr. Almirante Hugo Unda, Ministro de Defensa Nacional, Quito, Ecuador.
Fax: (+59 3) 258 04 31; E-mail: despacho@pop.midena.mil.ec
· Sr. Rodolfo Barnioll, Ministro de Gobierno y Policía, Fax: (+59 3) 258 00 67
E-mail: ministrog@presidencia.ec-gov.net
· Sr. Wilson Mayorga, Director de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Gobierno.
Fax: (+59 3) 258 00 67.
Please write to the diplomatic representatives of Ecuador in their respective countries.
Geneva, 18 July 2002
Kindly inform us of any action taken regarding the present case, citing the case number of this appeal in your response.
CHILD CONCERN
Arbitrary Arrest and Detention / Incommunicado Detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention regarding the following situation in Ecuador.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information about the arbitrary detention of Luis Muñoz (a minor), Ivón Ramos, David Conrado, Juan Pablo Barragán, José Luis Proaño, Alberto Saltos, Stalin Saltos, and an American citizen, Julia Butterfly, in the city of Quito.
According to the information received from a reliable source, at about 17:30 on 16 July 2002, a group of ecologists were having a peaceful demonstration in front of the building where the company OXIS operates, located on Avenida Amazonas. A group of Migration Police officers led by Captain Carlos Aillón and under the command of Coronel Noboa proceeded to detain Ecuadorian citizens Luis Muñoz (a minor), Ivón Ramos, David Conrado, Juan Pablo Barragán, José Luis Proaño, Alberto Saltos, Stalin Saltos, and American citizen Julia Butterfly, in an arbitrary and violent manner. This occurred without the existence of an order of detention issued by a competent judicial authority, nor a prior hearing that justified such detentions, nor any valid reason to suppose that the detained persons had committed a crime.
The demonstration was reportedly being held to protest against the effects that the construction of the “Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados” (Pipeline of Crude Oil) is producing on human health and the environment.
According to the information, the aforementioned persons were brought by members of the Migration Police to a department of the Migration Police located on Avenida Amazonas and República, and later, with the participation of members of the National Police, were transferred to the Provisional Detention Centre of the city of Quito. Despite the requests of the detainees, the police reportedly refused to provide them with the reasons for the detention, the identity of the authority that issued the detention order and the names of the agents that carried out this arbitrary act.
According to the information, when the detainees were held in the Provisional Detention Centre of Quito, various human rights defenders and ecologists came to the Centre in order to request permission to drop off food and clothes for the detainees, and also request permission for the detainees to communicate with their relatives and with an attorney. However, in an arbitrary and authoritarian manner, the National Police official on duty at the Detention Centre, who refused to disclose his identity, and another agent named Sergeant Max Segura, did not permit the citizens to exercise these rights.
The source of the information recalls that these facts constitute the violation of express constitutional norms established in Article 3, Number 2; Articles 16, 17, 23, Numbers 2, 9, 26, 27; and Article 24, Numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador.
The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its condemnation of these arbitrary arrests and shares the preoccupation of the human rights organizations and ecologist groups for the safety as well as the physical and psychological integrity of the detained persons mentioned above.
Actions Requested
Please write to the authorities of Ecuador urging them to:
i. Take urgent and immediate measures in order to guarantee the safety and the physical and psychological integrity of Luis Muñoz (a minor), Ivón Ramos, David Conrado, Juan Pablo Barragán, José Luis Proaño, Alberto Saltos, Stalin Saltos, and American citizen Julia Butterfly;
ii. Order the immediate release of the aforementioned persons if the detainees find themselves without any valid legal charges to bring, or, if they have legal charges, bring them before an independent and impartial tribunal and guarantee them their procedural rights in all circumstances;
iii. Order an immediate, exhaustive and impartial investigation concerning the arbitrary detention of the aforementioned persons, with the goal of identifying those responsible, bringing them before a court and applying the civil and/or administrative penal sanctions to them, as provided by law;
iv. Guarantee the respect for human rights and fundamental liberties throughout the country, in accordance with the national laws and international standards of human rights.
Addresses:
· Sr. Dr. Gustavo Noboa Bejarano, Presidente de la República del Ecuador, Palacio de Carondelet, García Moreno 1043, Quito, Ecuador. Fax: (+59 3) 258 07 51;
E-mail: vpre@uio.telconet.net; despresi@presidencia.ec-gov.net
· Sr. Almirante Hugo Unda, Ministro de Defensa Nacional, Quito, Ecuador.
Fax: (+59 3) 258 04 31; E-mail: despacho@pop.midena.mil.ec
· Sr. Rodolfo Barnioll, Ministro de Gobierno y Policía, Fax: (+59 3) 258 00 67
E-mail: ministrog@presidencia.ec-gov.net
· Sr. Wilson Mayorga, Director de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Gobierno.
Fax: (+59 3) 258 00 67.
Please write to the diplomatic representatives of Ecuador in their respective countries.
Geneva, 18 July 2002
Kindly inform us of any action taken regarding the present case, citing the case number of this appeal in your response.