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Ecuador officers face arrest over 'crimes against humanity' | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A judge has ordered the arrest of three army and police officers in Ecuador's first trial involving alleged crimes against humanity. | |
They are part of a group of 10 former senior officers accused of abducting and torturing members of an illegal opposition group in 1985. | |
Judge Lucy Blacio ordered that six other retired senior officers be put under house arrest. | |
Activists travelled to Quito for the opening day of the landmark trial. | |
The events took place under the government of late President Leon Febres Cordero, who was in power from 1984 to 1988. | |
Chief prosecutor Galo Chiriboga had requested that ten retired police officers be detained or put under house arrest. | |
Ms Blacio rejected the request to have one of the accused detained: an elderly army general who is seriously ill. | |
But he was told he cannot leave the country. | |
The three victims - Susana Cajas, Javier Jarrin and Luis Vaca - were detained in November 1985 for alleged links with an underground opposition group, the Eloy Alfaro Popular Armed Forces. | |
They will testify next week and are expected to give details of their ordeal. | |
'Tortured and beaten' | 'Tortured and beaten' |
Ms Cajas and Mr Vaca were in court today alongside Mr Chiriboga, who denounced the cruelty of the crimes committed 28 years ago. | |
"They were tortured, beaten, and submitted to particularly sadistic forms of torture, including electric shocks to their genitals" he said. | "They were tortured, beaten, and submitted to particularly sadistic forms of torture, including electric shocks to their genitals" he said. |
Defence lawyers have asked the prosecutor to clarify his accusations. | |
Lawyers, politicians and human rights activists from other Latin American countries were at the National Court of Justice in the capital, Quito, for the trial. | |
Among them was Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino. | Among them was Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino. |
The director of the Prosecutor's Office Truth Commission, Fidel Jaramillo, said crimes against humanity only began to be investigated in 2007, when left-wing President Rafael Correa came into power. | The director of the Prosecutor's Office Truth Commission, Fidel Jaramillo, said crimes against humanity only began to be investigated in 2007, when left-wing President Rafael Correa came into power. |
"They were never tried in Ecuador because there was never the political will to do so," the director of , Mr Jaramillo told the Efe news agency. | "They were never tried in Ecuador because there was never the political will to do so," the director of , Mr Jaramillo told the Efe news agency. |