Controversial court rulings made during Correa’s government are debated in Miami

The book “Judicial decisions that violate human rights in Ecuador: Six case studies” was presented today at the University of Miami (UM) with a debate in which some participants warned of the need to be alert to avoid similar situations in the United States.

The book, published in October 2016 by the Inter-American Institute for Democracy and the Inter-American Bar Association, presents six judicial decisions that, according to their authors, highlight the violations of human rights in Ecuador and the lack of Independence of the Judiciary branch.

Among the cases exposed is that of a man convicted by a tweet in which he suggested that a high public officer had obtained to the post because of the relations of his family, and another man who applauded the statements made by someone in a peaceful demonstration.

The book also addresses the case of the TC-Televisión and Gamavisión TV networks, seized in 2008 by the Ecuadorian Deposit Guarantee Agency (AGD), along with other assets of the Isaias business group; and other people related to the criminalization of peaceful protest in that Andean country since the arrival of Rafael Correa to the Presidency ten years ago.

The authors of the book are Daniela Salazar Marín, Jaime Vintimilla Saldaña, Jorge Zavala Egas, Fabricio Rubianes Morales, Carlos Manosalvas Silva and Rafael Paredes Corral, all of them recognized legal experts. Each of them presented a case.

In the debate held today at the Faculty of Law of the University of Miami, representatives of the two organizations that have published the book about Ecuador stressed that two similar projects on judicial procedures in Venezuela and Bolivia are under way.