HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE REVIEWS THE REPORT OF ECUADOR

The Human Rights Committee today concluded its consideration of the sixth periodic report of Ecuador on its implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Presenting the report, Guillaume Long, Minister of External Relations and Human Rights of Ecuador, stated that Ecuador placed great importance on the fight against poverty, for which many measures had been undertaken under the National Plan known as “Living Well”. Poverty was not merely a matter of economics; it was a multi-dimensional phenomenon which included the lack of a basic ability to live in dignity. Over the previous several years, Ecuador had implemented a number of measures to transform the economic and social system that was at the core of social exclusion. Those measures targeted in particular, the civil and political rights of those living in poverty. Ecuador strongly believed in inter-culturalism, which was not the same as multiculturalism, which was less focused on rights.
In the ensuing discussion, Committee Experts sought clarifications on the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the coordination and cooperation mechanisms between ordinary and indigenous justice. They were concerned about the abuse of the Organic Act on Communication of 2013 and the oversight body SUPERCOM in order to curb freedom of expression. There was also a concern regarding organisations sending people to rehabilitation clinics, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual persons. Other issues raised by Committee Experts included violence against women, use of force against peaceful demonstrators, police abuse lengthy imposition of state of emergency, detention facilities conditions, discrimination, and sexual abuse in the education system.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Long thanked the Committee for the frank and stimulating discussion. He was strongly opposed to the idea that there was no freedom of expression in Ecuador. The international community and its commercial interests could not decide how things could go forward in Ecuador. Ecuador looked at the holistic view of human rights, where human rights were not a matter of procedure but building the right institutions, right social construct and democratisation.

Fabian Omar Salvioli, Committee Chairperson, pointed out that in the history of human rights, it was Ecuador that had introduced the right to truth, demonstrating the recognition of responsibility. He ensured the delegation that no one had said that there was no freedom of expression in Ecuador; rather there were difficulties that had to be addressed.

The delegation of Ecuador included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights, and Worship, the
Undersecretary of Supraregional International Organizations, the Jurisdictional Technical Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Public Health, the Coordination Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Social Development and Human Rights Chancellery, the National Assembly, and the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will next meet in public today at 3 p.m. to consider the initial report of Burkina Faso (CCPR/C/BFA/1).

Report

The sixth periodic report of Ecuador can be read here: CCPR/C/ECU/6.


Presentation of the Report

GUILLAUME LONG, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, stated that his country was party to all the human rights instruments in the Inter-American system as well as all the all the international conventions. Ecuador placed great importance on the fight against poverty, for which many measures had been undertaken under the National Plan known as “Living Well”. Poverty was not merely a matter of economics; it was a multi-dimensional phenomenon which included the lack of a basic ability to live in dignity. Over the last years, Ecuador had implemented a number of measures in order to transform the economic and social system that was at the core of social exclusion. Those measures targeted in particular the civil and political rights of those living in poverty. Since 2007 extreme poverty had been halved, while poverty had fallen by a third. That had made Ecuador one of the countries in Latin America with the highest poverty reduction rates, as the genie index figures had shown.

Ecuador was firmly convinced of the fundamental role of civil society. However, self-proclaimed human rights defenders who travelled to international fora were not an image of Ecuadorian society, nor did they represent anyone beyond the members of their groups or the interested parties who financed those groups. Ecuador had a vibrant civil society, with over seventy seven thousand organisations, which were consulted for development projects, as well as legislative purposes.

Concerning gender equality, Mr. Long underlined that the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women had recognized Ecuador’s progress in that respect and in the empowerment of women. The Legislative Council included 43 percent women, making it one of the countries where the women were most represented in the legislative branch. The Criminal Code had brought an important landmark in legislative management, because it consolidated and simplified the administration of justice, criminalising femicide, among other issues. The organic Law on the Promotion of Youth Work allowed men and women to jointly care for new-borns.

A recent law ensured that when individuals reached maturity, as a matter of self-determination, they could establish their own gender identity, whether feminine or masculine. Ecuador would ensure that that legislation was put into the practice when citizens voted in the February 2017 elections. The clinics that allegedly sought to cure unorthodox gender orientations were fought with vigour by the State, and twelve such clinics had been closed. In addition, there was an in Inter-Institutional Mechanism for working with representatives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

Ecuador strongly believed in interculturalism, which was not the same as multiculturalism, which was less focused on rights. Inter-culturalism had at its core the inseparability and equality of rights, which in practice meant no ghettos, among other things. This was a challenge in building a new state that had to incorporate political social and economic interactions with a central role to be played by inter-cultural integration.

Participation of citizenry in all areas was a right, including the right to protest. During 2015, a series of protests based on the Draft Law on Inheritance and Capital Gains had been reported, and had been widely covered by the press. However, not all protests had been peaceful. In some cases serious attacks on the police forces had been reported, including kidnapping of police officers. Ecuador believed that the right to freedom of assembly should be commensurate with the right to life in a democratic society, and thus protection and security measures were necessary.

The Julian Assange case, to whom Ecuador had granted asylum in August 2012, reflected the Ecuadorian Government’s belief in freedom of human rights defenders and journalistic activity. Ecuador knew that acting in accordance with universal principles would bear a high price. Indeed, that case had led to pressure on the Ecuadorian Government, which Ecuador had withstood with dignity. Whereas Ecuador had allowed the Swedish prosecutor to question Mr. Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the Prosecutor had objected to that, and had accused Ecuador of arbitrary detention and deprivation was arbitrary, asking for the immediate release and freedom of movement of Mr. Assange. Ecuador urged the international community, including the Human Rights Committee, to not allow those kinds of intimidations.

Questions by Experts

An Expert expressed his condolences over the victims of the recent earthquake. On the cases dealt with under the Optional Protocol for Civil and Political Rights, the Expert noted with satisfaction that one case had passed, but regretted that no information had been provided on four other cases.

Regarding measures against police abuse, the Expert noted that the Ombudsman was now mandated to be conducting visits in relation to the Optional Protocol of the Convention against Torture. He asked what was meant by periodic visits of the Ombudsman and whether those visits included unannounced visits to places of detention, in particular places of military detention where people were most at risk of abuse. What had the Ombudsman said publicly as a result of his visits?

An Expert inquired about the alleged use of force on demonstrators. In particular, the Expert requested information on the French-Brazilian journalist and academic Manuela Picq. He also wished to know whether force was being used to disband demonstrations against the Government. Noting that there had been a spike in terms of numbers of cases of torture perpetrated by state employees between 2011 and 2013, the Expert asked about the reasons behind that, what was being done to prevent torture and what disciplinary actions were taken against perpetrators.

Another Expert asked the delegation to clarify the mandate of the Ombudsman’s Office. Did the Ombudsman have a power to present ex-officio applications for habeas corpus and file complaints about the quality of public service? Was there an overlap between the Ombudsman’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office? Could the Ombudsman represent individuals in front of the court or public authorities? Did the law clearly define the cases of incapacity of the Ombudsman which might result in the dismissal of the Ombudsman, and was such a decision made by the Parliament? To what extent was the requirement that the Ombudsman had to hold a doctorate of law from a well-established university reasonable?

An Expert brought to the attention of the delegation General Comment 29, which limited the possibilities of declaring a state of emergency. He recognized that the political uprising in 2015 had necessitated a state of emergency and that that state had only lasted for five days, however he inquired why it had been necessary to prohibit or limit private media from reporting the natural disaster events in August 2015, and why that state of emergency had been prolonged for two months.

There were several hundred cases of detainees under the classification of terrorism and sabotage, which included many indigenous peoples. Were the provisions of the Criminal Law clear enough, and why had the Law had not been applied?

Another Expert inquired about the issues of discrimination, access to work, and labour gaps. The National Unemployment Survey had indicated that the level of unemployment among women was 7.4 percent, while that for men stood at 4.4 percent. What were the measures that the State was planning to undertake to bring down the level of female unemployment? What measures were being taken to increase women representation in the judiciary? Question was also asked on actions taken to discourage discriminatory practices in the private sector practices, especially concerning pregnant women. What was being done to counter female child labour practice?

Regarding racial discrimination, an Expert commended Ecuador on the concept of “Good Living.” How was that concept ensured in practice though, and what was being done to ensure the inter-cultural rights, including bilingual education, through the lens of the Covenant?

On the issue of persons with disabilities, although Ecuador had complied with the legal framework, affirmative action was not visible. Greater transparency in such areas was needed, as was the development of policies and plans in that direction.

Another Expert noted positive developments in the Constitution on non-discrimination and gender equality. However, effective implementation and enforcement were lacking, in particular in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity. Namely, eight persons had been reported dead due to the violence based on their sexual identity and orientation. Could the delegation provide information on measures and steps undertaken to implement the constitutional provisions in that respect, and could it elaborate on discrepancies between the law and its enforcement?

The State Party was asked to provide more specific information on the prosecution of cases on gender discrimination and hate crimes, including whether there had been cases brought to courts, and what kind of sanctions had been imposed. Could more precise information be provided on reparations for the victims?

The Expert was concerned over the recurring allegations that the practice of sending people to rehabilitation clinics, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, continued. Were such establishments systematically monitored or were they just occasionally raided? Could the State Party name the clinics that had been temporarily shut down, and what was the number that currently existed? What sanctions had been imposed? Reports had indicated that clinics did not receive criminal sanctions.

The delegation was also asked to inform on discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers.

Another Expert raised a major concern about accountability for sexual violence, and the actual number of complains vis-à-vis the number of prosecuted cases. What was the State Party undertaking to increase such accountability? Had the Action Plan from 2007 been updated, as per the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women? Was it now easier to obtain restraint orders against violent spouses? What was the position of the State Party as to the division of labour between ordinary and indigenous courts pertaining to sexual and labour violence? By which of the two courts, and on the basis of what criteria were cases of sexual violence overseen?

Question was also asked about women who carried a foetus with anomalies. Were women allowed to undergo abortion in such cases, and was the State Party considering revising its abortion policy, in particular having in mind clandestine abortion? The number of women prosecuted and criminalised due to undergoing abortion was over seventy, which represented a significant increase. What was the reason for such an increase?

Regarding sexual abuse in the education system and violence against school children, the concern of the Committee was the gap of the number of complaints which were in the hundreds, and prosecutions, which were only five. Allegedly, a quarter of school children had reported that they had been victims of sexual abuse.

Replies by the Delegation

GUILLAUME LONG, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, said that some of the allegations regarding specific cases had been incorrect, and informed that correct information on specific cases would be provided in written form within 48 hours.

A delegation member stated that there was no overlap between the Public Defender’s Office and the Office of the Ombudsman. The Public Defenders started the cases whereas the Ombudsman ensured that all cases were heard. The only requirement for becoming an Ombudsman was a law degree.

Regarding the Ombudsman’s visits, it was explained that the judiciary had offices in the rehabilitation centres where the Ombudsman could enter. The National Mechanism of Torture was made up of a team of professors, psychologists, and other individuals with a view to ensure diversity and a broad and gender perspective. A number of visits had taken place to to temporary shelters, police training centres, psychiatric centres, and wards for addiction.

On the issue of police activity, there were specialised units that trained staff in a targeted manner, allowing for the identification of factors that could later be of help to the judicial branch.

Regarding public protests, a delegate stated that everyone had the right to protest. However, there was no right to generate violence against other individuals in a protest, and there was no right of impunity, when damage to public or private property was done. Sticks, spears, stones, and incendiary objects had been used against public security officers.

There were many aspects of the new 2016 Labour Law. For the first time, non-remunerated work in the household was covered by social security. The wage gap had dropped by 27 percent. Furthermore, the minimum wage had increased by over 20 percent. In the public sector, over 48 percent of the civil servants were women, while in the judiciary 43 percent were women. Of the nine members of the Constitutional Court, six were women. Those statistics spoke of the giant steps taken in the direction of gender equality.

In the Ministry of Justice Human Rights and Worship, a state policy was in place to address the issue of violence against women, children and adolescents. The plan was to have an inter-sectorial approach, which would encompass activities such as campaigns, with the aim of producing consensus in society about women’s rights. As of 2014, a project to strengthen care centres had been under way. Fourteen care centres had been set up in seven provinces, providing support to thousands of users.

Regarding family violence, over 3,000 women had been supported through mobile units. The aim was to reach remote areas and provide legal aid. The Ombudsman had reported that in 2014, the Office had supported 905 victims of violence, including with protocols for health and gynaecological care. There was a guide to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. There were 125 units which could receive complaints in the 224 cantons of the country. Physical, psychological and sexual abuse was criminalized and 18 specialised prosecution units for investigating family violence and sexual crimes were available. Prevention and initial care for violence courses were being provided to police authorities, and the contributing factors to violence were being studied.

The Constitution set out the basis on which the state of emergency could be declared, and those requirements were rigorous, and included proportionality, territoriality, and temporary nature, in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

On the state of emergency regarding natural disasters, the delegation said that the Cotopaxi volcano threat had lasted for three months. The transfer from a yellow to an orange state of alarm explained the protracted state of emergency. A state of emergency could be declared for up to thirty days with the possibility for extension for another thirty days. That state had been extended throughout the entire country, because the wind of the volcano affected all regions. Nevertheless, the police had only acted in four provinces, as the direct effects had only been felt in those four provinces.
Regarding the El Niño state of emergency, that had been only applied to the region affected, and thus the territoriality requirement had been complied with.

In the new Constitution, same sex unions were recognized. Restrictions to the Civil Code had been lifted, meaning that as soon as those couples wanted to formalize their union, they could do so. Two laws had been enacted, one on gender identity, and the other on sexual orientation. The National Electoral Council was undertaking a campaign which would allow people to have their sex or gender registered on their identity cards. In practice, that meant that if a person of masculine sex had changed gender, they would be able to vote as a woman, with the rest of the women. Thus the practice would not induce discrimination, but rather provide precedence to the gender that people identified with, rather than the gender they had been born with.

A roadmap for reporting violence against children in schools had been signed. Since 2013, under the coordination of the State Prosecution Service, those cases had been followed up and pursued on the provincial level. From February 2015, over 300 cases of sexual violence in schools had been reported.

There had been extensive debates on legal pluralism or the co-existence of different legal systems. However, Ecuador was against the idealised view of the indigenous societies, by which the indigenous allegedly protected nature and the mestizos did not. Those issues had to be addressed by listening to the legitimate claims of indigenous peoples. The bilingual education system could not be relegated to a poor education system for the indigenous peoples. Ecuador strived to install an inter-cultural system that ensured that bilingual education was not ghettoised.


Questions by Experts

An Expert lamented that the Committee had received no information from the State party on the criminalization of terrorism. He asked whether there were plans to set up an effective reparations mechanism for victims of abuse, noting that only one case had received compensation. The Ombudsman had allegedly reviewed 150 such cases with no follow-up, and refused to examine new cases. Moreover, it seemed that many victims of arbitrary arrest preferred not to complain for fear of reprisals and because of the lack of protective measures. Some 80 cases of torture were registered officially. What plans did the State Party have for those?

Another Expert asked for information on measures taken, in terms of reparations for the fight against trafficking. What was the situation of adolescents aged 15 to 17 years who worked and who were very often heads of households?

The State had committed to abolishing corporal punishment. What were the concrete steps taken in that regard?

The water act, mining act and land act had allegedly been passed without sufficient dialogue with the indigenous peoples. In relation to that, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had recently held Ecuador responsible, and had awarded reparations, on a case involving the question of free informed and prior consent concerning a group of indigenous peoples. What steps had been taken for the implementation of that judgment? Some languages had been declared as official by the Constitution. Did public and private institutions use those languages, asked the Expert.

Regarding violence against women, another Expert asked for more specific information, including how the National Plan was evaluated, and what the benchmarks and budgetary allocations to the programme were.

On prison conditions, the Expert was pleased to hear about the positive steps, but his concerns remained. The number of pre-trial detainees appeared to be too high – namely a third of the incarcerated persons were awaiting trial, and many reached the maximum period for pre-trial detention. What were the legal timetables for bringing judges upon arrest, for charging detainees with trials, and for commencing trials? Did the laws and policy make it clear that detention was a last resort option in criminal investigation cases? Had there been any change in willingness of judges to resort to alternatives to detention?

Regarding prisoners in remote areas, including maximum security areas, the Expert was concerned that visitors had allegedly been subjected to inappropriate body searches, including search of cavities. In this respect, he referred to the Nelson Mandela Rules 58, 59 and 60 that dealt with the rights of prisoners and visitors. There were also reports on the lack of private beds, access to food, around the clock medical facilities and other harsh conditions. Was the State Party familiar with the fact that in some prisons prisoners were required to pay for their beds? The Committee had received allegations that prisoners in a certain prison were held in one room called the incarceration room, unless they paid up to 20,000 dollars for a private room. Regarding violence in prisons, and death in custody, could the State Party provide specific information on the cause of deaths? How was the State dealing with that problem?

How was the Council for the Judiciary appointed and did opposition members have a role in that? Were there safeguards to ensure that there was no excessive control by the party in power? Did the general public have channels to contest decisions of the Council with regard to judicial appointments?

How were judges elected to the Constitutional Court? What safeguards were there against undue political influence in the selection process, asked the Expert.

Questions were asked on the purpose of the Institution of Temporary Associated Judges and its compatibility with the notion of judicial independence.

How was the process of appraisals of judges done? There were sixteen grounds for disqualification, the contents of which were of concern to the Expert. In particular, he was concerned about the inexcusable error ground, which appeared to be rather open-ended, as well as periodic qualification examinations, on the basis of which they could be removed from office. Those had to be in line judicial independence, while the practice and the number of disqualifications were high. Allegedly, 250 judges had been disqualified and an additional 90 had been removed – could the State Party confirm those statistics?

What was the progress on the draft Bill on Coordination and Cooperation between the Indigenous and Ordinary Justice System? Where there other legal instruments being developed in this regard?

Another Expert referred to the acknowledgement or recognition of indigenous peoples, and asked the State to give information on the current indigenous population. One of the factors that led to the invisibility of indigenous peoples was a form of discrimination concerning their identification. How was the criteria of self-recognition used? When the Government said that indigenous peoples did not even account for 7 percent under self-definition, what criteria was used to come up with that figure? What was the current situation of the Tigari peoples who were very isolated, whose territory was considered to be intangible, and yet who claimed that their territorial map was shrinking over time due to extractive industries?

The delegation was asked to provide details on the National Equality Councils.

On child labour, did the official statistics take account of child labour, and what were the criteria used to determine that?

Regarding freedom of association, how much importance did the Government attach to that principles, not just in terms of indigenous peoples but also when it came to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons?

On freedom of expression, the Committee had received information on complaints on the application of the Organic Act on Communication of 2013 in order to restrict freedom of expression, resulting in self-censorship, or the fear to speak out. The number of fines handed out by the oversight body, SUPERCOM, seemed to be fairly high. Did SUPERCOM have the power and jurisdiction to impose fines? In relation to that, could complaints be filed against any government official or employee who violated the rights of peoples, and could the State Party provide examples? The State Party had been accused excessive control on bloggers, Twitter, Facebook, and other online platforms. The Organic Act on Communication of 2013, required that the information disseminated by the media be precise and verified. The problem lay in the scheme of surveillance on which the concept was not defined and whereby a journalist was required to reveal his or her source to reliability. That opened up possibilities for investigations to take place and jeopardize the right not to disclose information sources. What was media lynching and how could a media company be accused of it?

An Expert brought up the right to freedom of association, noting that in the past, there had been cooperation mechanisms and agencies that gave funding to civil society, which were now forced to disclose their sources of funding. Were those agencies obliged to have specific development targets in accordance with specific Government programmes? It seemed as though the sources of funding of the non-governmental organisations that had not left the country had been stifled. Was there a favourable treatment for organisations that did not criticize the Government?

Another Expert stated that the population of African descent, was allegedly between 17 and 20 percent. What was the percentage of the black population in civil service, and what kind of outreach or affirmative action had been taken in Ecuador to ensure that those people were uplifted?

Did the Ombudsman have the right to do unannounced visits and had such visits been undertaken?

Regarding the use of force against peaceful demonstrators, the delegation was asked to provide more information on the use of force, on the clearly non-violent demonstrations being disbanded, and on the use of “agents provocateurs” to create violence within the protest.

On the case of Manuela Picq and the response by the delegation that she had not been deported, the Expert informed that her visa had been confiscated by the Government and therefore she had been put in the position of an unlawful immigrant, which had forced her to leave.

Another Expert stated that the National Electoral Council had reportedly not been updating its electoral registers, leading to 500,000 erroneous persons who were either registered twice, registered with an invalid name, or deceased. There were also concerns of that rather than one universal registry, there were a civil and an electoral one. Could the accuracy of that information be confirmed? What steps did the State Party plan to take to rationalise the electoral register and establish a universal electoral register prior to the upcoming elections next year? Did the State Party intend to monitor the elections?

An Expert asked about positive measure taken for the protection against discrimination of national minorities and indigenous peoples.


Replies by the Delegation

GUILLAUME LONG, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, thanked the Committee for the very constructive dialogue and said that Ecuador had to be perceived as a State under construction, with a very responsible attitude towards human rights. The challenge for the delegation was lack of time to deal with the responses, due to which the majority of those issues would be answered in writing.

Concerning Executive Decree No. 16 and whether some associations were legitimate and others not, it was explained that there were over 70,000 registered organisations, without counting those that were not on the list. Associations were allowed to exist even if they did not register, however many chose to register because that alleviated their work. It was crucial that international cooperation fit in the development criteria of the country, so that there was no contradiction with the national plans. Non-governmental organisations were truly non-governmental, and the Government had no decision power on their membership, programme and funding.

The CONAIE (“Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador”) did not bring together all indigenous peoples. Historically, there had always been different trends and many factions within CONAIE, and those defined the organisation’s relationship with the Government. The Pachakutik peoples had once been part of CONAIE, while a greater part of them had asked Government not to treat the indigenous peoples as one mass. These were pluralistic societies and grouping them together could lead to epistemological problems.

The people of African descent were called Afro-Ecuadorians. The issue of self-identification was very complex and frequently debated. About 7 percent of the population identified as indigenous and a little over 7 percent identified as people of African descent. The decision was not to use census techniques that were more of a geneticist style. Ecuador desired to be at the forefront of the inter-cultural dialogue. The best approach they had come up with until now was self-identification. It was true that in the civil service and in the civil society, people of African descent had historically been excluded. However the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had turned that trend upside down, and included higher percentages of both indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorians.

The delegation stated that the high technical quality and transparency of elections in Ecuador had been underscored as its success story. The Organisation of American States and the Union of South American States had been invited to monitor the elections, and both had commended Ecuador on the electoral process.

Ecuador had honoured its commitments on the issue of trafficking, which was part of the National Plan for “Good Living”, and which was tailored to cover all aspects of trafficking, putting the focus on prevention with the coordination of fifteen state institutions. There were specialised units for intervention within the Ministry of Interior and National Police Force. The process started with identifying places where people were detained, and working with the victims through psycho-social support. Identity change was used as a measure to ensure protection of identity of the victims. Some of the other measures in that direction were strengthening the institutions, changing social and cultural patterns, communication with the public, continuation of ratification of international agreements, criminalisation of trafficking, identification of the crimes, training for the identification, and so forth.

Regarding the Truth Commission, the Ombudsman covered health, memory, and education, inter alia, while the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Worship provided reparations. Among the submitted cases, 63 cases had been heard, and three were awaiting compensation. The Ministry of Health was in charge of the psycho-social rehabilitation. There were 118 documented cases, for a total of 486 victims. Those were part of the process received by the Truth Commission.

Social rehabilitation programmes were in place, and within the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Worship, there were educational, cultural, sports, artisanal training and other programmes in place for inmates.

The number of persons deprived of liberty stood at 26,421, of whom 70 percent were sentenced, and the remaining 30 percent had not been sentenced yet. Detainees were entitled to receive visits as soon as they were in custody, and could establish a list of 10 persons who would be visiting them. On the allegedly humiliating procedure for bodily searches, there was a protocol in place, by which body scanners were used to search visitors, with the use of a chair that had the ability to detect whether the person would carry something into the facility. Bodily searches were prohibited.

Regarding medical facilities, the delegation stated that there was a 24-hour a day medical service. On access to communication, and the Nelson Mandela Rules, detainees had access, including telephone booths, in addition to the registered visits they were entitled to. Detention was a measure of last resort.

On the relationship between justice and indigenous justice, the Constitution recognized pluri-culturalism, which meant that indigenous justice was equal to ordinary justice, and both world views were represented. Many, but not all, conclusions of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples had been incorporated. Indigenous communities were not homogenous, and therefore one-size-fits-all rules could not be adopted. Decisions were based on the identities and structures of the indigenous communities. Any citizen could be involved in the participation mechanisms, including submitting bills to parliament, which was part of the concept of social participation. The Council for Citizen Participation was the outcome of participation processes.

The selection of judges of the Council for the Judiciary was based on merit, with the organisation of a public competitive exam. The Constitutional Court was also set up on a merit-based competitive exam. An oversight and vetting process were involved.

The Organic Act on Communication, approved on 14 June 2013, was meant to enshrine the rights of citizens to receive truthful contextualised information. This right stemmed out of history of misinformation and periods of angst and pain which had hindered the exercise of rights. Therefore, the State had aimed to ensure that standards were in place with regard to the media.

On the decriminalisation of abortion, the well-being of all Ecuadorians needed to be taken into account. A plan of eradication of violence against women had been established in that direction.

Corporal punishment and child labour had dropped by 30 percent, which was a significant reduction in relation to 2001. Hundreds of children had been recovered living in garbage dumps. Over 800 inspections had been carried out systematically, and over 500 children had been turned over to services for child protection. Programmes for prevention and detainment were in place, and a network of private firms had been established to promote responsibility. The new Criminal Code had criminalised for the first time physical violence against members of the family. Three of the five Councils were in full operation.

Questions by Experts

Did the Decree 136 still have pertinence or had it been overridden by another decree, an Expert asked. What was the procedure for setting up an association?

On the Constitutional Court, who did the vetting of the candidates and on the basis of what criteria? Was the perception of the State Party that the public had the ultimate power on how to interpret the laws and decide who to appoint as judge?


Concluding Remarks

GUILLAUME LONG, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, thanked the Committee for the frank and stimulating discussion. Mr. Long strongly rejected the idea that there was no freedom of expression in Ecuador. Rather there was political polarisation which had to be situated in a historical process. Media could be sexist, racist and discriminatory against women, indigenous people, and people of African descent. The Government had not placed limits on the media; on the contrary, there was a high and diverse selection of media. The fact was that there was political activism among some media, and Ecuador did not see human rights in a bubble. The freedom marches in June 2015 had been encouraged by media outlets. The middle and upper middle class had been tricked by discussions on the tax on inheritance and the value added tax, whereas the Government had only been trying to stop speculation on land sales and these efforts been manipulated. All recognized the tragic nature of human rights abuses by police forces. The fact was that the police had acted very cautiously while facing an unprecedented violent situation. The international community and its commercial interests could not decide how things could go forward in Ecuador. At times, in the United Nations itself, there were institutions that demanded some things while other institutions prevented them. Thus, Ecuador looked at the holistic view of human rights, where human rights were not a matter of procedure but building the right institutions, right social construct and democratisation. There was a need to diversify and democratize society through measures that were not just procedural in nature, but cross cutting and multi-sectoral.

FABIAN OMAR SALVIOLI, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation, noting that Ecuador had introduced the right to truth, demonstrating the recognition of responsibility. He noted that the Committee was not a court but a forum in which recommendations were made with a view of States showing their responsibilities towards the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. All countries encountered difficulties, and there was a need to focus on resolving them. He ensured the delegation that no one had said that there was no freedom of expression in Ecuador; rather there were difficulties that had to be addressed. In human rights there was always room for improvement. In the current Report, Ecuador mentioned that it had ratified all human rights instruments. Mr. Salvioli hoped that the next report would reflect how the rights in those instruments were being practically implemented.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CT16/024E