Pesántez Rejected the Idea of Having Police Officers to Undergo a Lie Detector Test

Today Ecuador’s attorney general, Washington Pesántez, rejected the government’s decision to submit all the members of the Judicial Police (PJ) to a lie detector test as it means a form of combating corruption in the body.

Pesantez, who as a prosecutor chairs the Governing Board of the PJ, said that this practice is contrary to the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the “good name” and “privacy.”

The Interior Minister, José Serrano, defended the measure that will involve some 4 000 troops, as a way to “build trust with citizens.” “It will be a merely evaluative instance” he said.

However, the Prosecutor indicated that the test will ask the police whether they were perpetrators, accomplices or abettors of crimes, and those who fail will be reassigned to other areas.

Correa began a police restructuring after a wage claim rebellion of officers in September 30, which left ten dead and 274 wounded.

Source: El Comercio Newspaper / AFP