In the report presented by the Special Commission for Truth and Justice, this Wednesday, March 17, they also warned of various violations by the National Government of freedom of expression and multiple cases of political persecution against opposition actors. According to the document, 81 people reported psychological damage and 22 alleged acts of political persecution.
The report contains 123 testimonies from people who reported violations of the right to personal integrity, cases of injuries in general, eye injuries, fractures, trauma, as well as violations that can be considered torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and common crimes.
In the same way, the arbitrary detention of leaders of the Citizen Revolution is reported, among them, the Prefect of Pichincha, Paola Pabón, who was arrested at her home, without a court order and apparently due to two tweets she published on her networks personal socials.
The document also contains a section, which shows that the large media tried to skew the popular demonstrations, but there was also censorship of alternative media, such as Radio Pichincha Universal.
The CEVJ also verified that Cordicom issued a media observation protocol template and media monitoring report, which includes a transcription of a Pichincha Universal program. All this justified with a declaration of the State of Exception.
The former president of the Council for the Regulation and Development of Information and Communication, Édison Toro, was consulted about the case of Pichincha Universal and warned that there was no administrative process on the part of Cordicom to motivate its closure, but that there was a template of protocols for observation and the presidency of the Council requested special observation from the public media. In addition, that he confirmed that everything originated from a military report issued by the Ministry of Defense.
On the other hand, in the report of the Truth Commission, in the conclusions on Freedom of Expression, at least 38 people reported facts related to possible illegal or arbitrary detentions by personnel of the National Police or Armed Forces.
“Several cases of restrictions to collect and disseminate information were identified, as well as limitations on journalism, which could configure specific cases of censorship. The attacks on journalists in the exercise of their activity is something that worries the CEVJ a lot and should not be repeated. All measures must be taken so that the media and journalists can fulfill their task of vital importance for society ”.
Source: Ombudsman’s Office – CEVJ
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