The Minister of Defense of Ecuador, Gian Carlo Lofredohas denied this Monday that the arrest of the four young people from the Las Malvinas neighborhood – still missing – was part of an Army operation, but was motivated by an “alleged act of flagrante delicto” by those involved.
Lofredo has appeared alongside the leadership of the Armed Forces in a commission of the Assembly to give more details of what happened on December 8, when an Army patrol detained a man in this neighborhood located in the south of Guayaquil. four young people between 11 and 15 years old and whose whereabouts are still unknown.
“The arrest of the teenagers was not part of an operation,” explained Lofredo, who has assured that the soldiers were returning to the Taula base when they surprised those involved committing an alleged crime and acted in compliance with their “citizen duty” by arresting them.
In parallel to its intervention, the Ecuadorian NGO Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDH) has requested the Assembly to launch an impeachment process against the Minister of Defense, thus joining the one also presented by the main force of the opposition Citizen Revolution.
More than 20 days after the disappearance of the four teenagers, a judge recognized that a “forced disappearance” with responsibility of the State after accepting an appeal presented by the families, who have denounced the inaction of the authorities despite the fact that there are images of what happened.
The images that were released last week show how Several soldiers detain two of these children near a shopping center, They beat them and put them in a truck. On Tuesday, December 19, four charred bodies were found near the Army air base in Taura, 30 kilometers from Guayaquil.
Waiting to know the identity of these four corpseswhich could last up to a month due to the advanced state of decomposition, there are 16 soldiers who are being investigated and are expected to be formally accused of crimes of forced disappearance.
The military gave an interview in which they stated that the young people were detained for allegedly robbing a woman. When they were being transferred to the nearest police station, they received a call about a mass fight, so they decided to release them. “safe and sound” to be able to attend to her.
The case has once again called into question the militarization of the State by the president Daniel Noboawho decreed a state of internal armed conflict in January 2024 to combat organized crime. Since then, the Army has been involved in at least ten disappearances.
He United Nations (UN) Committee on Enforced Disappearances issued last Tuesday a set of urgent measures to Ecuadorian state to speed up the search and location of the four minors.
The Committee urged Ecuador to develop “urgently” a comprehensive strategy that includes an action plan and a clear schedule to find the brothers Ismael and Josue Arroyo15 and 14 years old, and their friends Saul Arboleda (15) y Steven Medina (11).
(With information from EP and EFE)
