An Ecuadorian judge has ordered the arrest of 3 senior retired police and army officers, in the country’s first ever trial for crimes against humanity.
A further 7 officers have been placed under house arrest, as the country investigates allegations of torture, kidnapping and sexual violence, that occurred in 1985, against three members of a banned leftist opposition group.
The crimes were alleged to have occurred during late President Leon Febres Cordero’s rule from 1984 to 1988.
The current Ecuadorian President, left-winger Rafael Correa, began to investigate the allegations when coming into power in 2007. Before then, no action was taken.
Commenting on the historic trial, and long wait for justice, the director of the Prosecutor's Office Truth Commission, Fidel Jaramillo, has stated,
"They were never tried in Ecuador because there was never the political will to do so".