US EditionEcuador soldiers sentenced to decades in prison over disappearance of murdered boys
Eleven soldiers received 34-year sentences for forcibly disappearing four boys amid a militarized crackdown on gangs, with five others given reduced terms for cooperation.
- On Dec 22, an Ecuadorean court sentenced eleven Ecuadorean soldiers to more than 34 years for the forced disappearance of Steven Medina, Nehemías Arboleda, Ismael Arroyo and Josué Arroyo in Guayaquil.
- The disappearance occurred during a military offensive in Guayaquil on Dec. 8, 2024, launched under President Daniel Noboa's militarised security strategy deploying soldiers amid rising gang violence.
- Security camera footage obtained by local journalists and witness testimony showed a military patrol on night duty detained, beat, stripped and subjected four boys to mock executions before abandoning them in Taura.
- The judge ordered reparations including an official apology, a commemorative plaque, human rights training for Ecuador's military, and the convicted soldiers face a murder trial next year.
- The case has intensified scrutiny of President Daniel Noboa's militarisation of cities, as Amnesty International and other human rights groups reported 43 people missing since Noboa took office.
50 Articles
50 Articles
Quito. One year and fourteen days after the crime occurred, a court of law sentenced 11 military personnel as direct perpetrators and received a 34-year prison sentence for the crime of enforced disappearance of four children from the Las Malvinas neighbourhood in the city of Guayaquil.
A criminal court in Ecuador sentenced eleven Air Force soldiers on Monday to 34 years and eight months in prison for the crime of enforced disappearance of four minors, known as "the four of the Falklands." That was the Guayaquil area where they lived and were killed, tortured and then burned. The ruling also ordered the payment of 800 unified basic salaries (equivalent to 320,000 euros) and public apologies. For five other soldiers who accepted…
An Ecuadorian court has sentenced eleven military personnel to more than 34 years in prison for kidnapping four boys. They must also pay nearly €8,500 to the boys' families and publicly ask for forgiveness. Five soldiers received two-and-a-half-year prison sentences for complicity in the kidnapping. Ismael and Josué Arroyo and their friends Saúl Arboleda and Steven Medina were between 11 and 15 years old when they were kidnapped. Their families …
On Monday 22 December, Ecuadorian justice strongly condemned the soldiers responsible for the enforced disappearance of four minors between the ages of 11 and 15 years. Their charred bodies were discovered on Christmas Day 2024 near the city of Guayaquil. The state accepted the verdict and will have to apologize publicly.
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