Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05QUITO179
2005-01-25 17:23:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Quito
Cable title:  

SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY REPORT

Tags:  PGOV PREL EC 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 000179 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/AND AND DRL/PHD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY REPORT
SUBMISSION

REF: STATE 267453

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 000179

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/AND AND DRL/PHD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY REPORT
SUBMISSION

REF: STATE 267453


1. (U) We are submitting the following information in
response to the request for the 2004 Supporting Human Rights
and Democracy Report (reftel). On January 25, Post emailed
the version with tracked changes to DRL/PHD.


2. (U) Although Ecuador enjoys a democratically elected
government that generally respects human rights, its weak
government institutions, widespread corruption and limited
resources contributed to human rights abuses. There were
credible reports that security forces committed killings
using unwarranted lethal force; however, members of the
security forces faced prosecution and prison sentences for
some violations. Police tortured and otherwise mistreated
prisoners and detainees. Prison conditions remained poor.
Persons were subject to arbitrary arrest, and over 70 percent
of the detainees in jail had not been sentenced formally.
Pervasive discrimination against women, the indigenous and
Afro-Ecuadorians continued to occur and included occasional
violence. Child labor and trafficking in persons (TIP)
remained problems.


3. (U) The U.S. human rights and democracy strategy aims to
help strengthen the judicial system and the rule of law,
promote human rights education, improve the media's
effectiveness, combat child labor and trafficking in persons,
and assist Colombian refugees. The U.S. government supports
democracy, good governance and protection of the human rights
of migrants. U.S. officials advocated respect for democratic
institutions, stronger workers' rights protections, and
development of legislation and a national plan to combat TIP.


4. (U) The judicial system of Ecuador is plagued by
inefficiency and corruption that undermines the rule of law
and hinders speedy and fair trials; the United States
supports a number of projects to strengthen judicial
effectiveness and fight corruption. Judicial reform programs
funded through the State Department's International Narcotics
and Law Enforcement Bureau and the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) provided approximately $2
million to help train police, prosecutors and judges in
criminal justice reform and the proper application of the
legal system, including the oral accusatory system and oral
litigation skills. Although the national government has made

little progress in advancing its anti-corruption program,
USAID implemented programs at the local level to improve
transparency and accountability.


5. (U) With U.S. assistance, Ecuador's inter-institutional
commission to advance criminal justice reform has developed a
detailed action plan, made some progress on improving
coordination among judicial institutions, and written a bill
to reform the criminal code. USAID developed and distributed
a multimedia training package to inform civil society about
applying the criminal procedures system. To strengthen an
inadequate public defense service, USAID provided funding of
nearly $70,000 to expand citizens' access to justice,
especially that of poor people in rural regions of the
country.


6. (U) A wide range of U.S. programs support Ecuador's
democratic institutions, and throughout the year the
Ambassador, other embassy officials and visiting high-level
U.S. officials publicly advocated respect for those
institutions and constitutional processes. The United States
sponsored Ecuadorian participants in programs providing
in-depth looks at the administration of justice, responsible
policing, grass roots democracy, drug control policy,
responsible media, indigenous community development, economic
and agricultural development and improving educational
systems. U.S. experts were brought to Ecuador to work with
local leaders on judicial ethics and citizen participation in
democratic processes and to participate in an international
youth conference on leadership. The Embassy sponsored
performances of "Dialogues of Liberty," which emphasized the
importance of individual liberty and personal responsibility
in a democracy through dramatic speeches by Ecuadorian
historical figures. USAID expanded its program to strengthen
local government effectiveness and transparency to three
additional provinces. The program also increased citizen
participation through citizen audit committees to oversee
implementation of local assistance projects and development
of legal proposals to decentralize government. Additionally
USAID began a project to train teachers on their
constitutional rights and responsibilities and a separate
program to lobby Ecuador's Congress for passage of a Freedom
of Information Act (which occurred in May 2004 and was signed
by the President in January 2005). The program will train
citizens on their rights and institutions on application of
the law.


7. (U) U.S. SOUTHCOM continued military-to-military contact
focused on promotion of fundamental human rights and
humanitarian outreach including medical assistance and
peacekeeper exercises. The Embassy coordinated interagency
human rights' vetting of military units proposed for U.S.
training and/or support, and human rights training was
integrated into all U.S.-supported military exercises and
operational training conducted in the country.


8. (U) USAID implemented two programs to fight sexual and
domestic violence against women and children. Of these, a
domestic violence and gender program in Quito continues to
work to improve the city's monitoring of domestic violence
cases and processing of sex crime cases.


9. (U) The U.S. Labor Department supported government efforts
to combat child labor and funded two major programs. Catholic
Relief Services will administer a four-year, $3 million
project, targeted at child laborers and children at risk of
entering the banana and flower industries, and aims to meet
their education needs. An ongoing $2 million project aims to
combat the worst forms of child labor in Ecuador, through
projects in the agriculture and construction sectors and
targets the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. The
United States advocated the strengthening of Ecuador's labor
laws and practices, including reform of Ecuador's outdated
labor code to ensure the right of association without fear of
retribution, and requested action by the Government in
specific labor rights cases.


10. (U) In addition to working against the worst forms of
child labor, the United States repeatedly raised with
Ecuadorian officials the need for coordinated action against
the broader problem of trafficking in persons. The U.S.
Department of State funded an $800,000 program with the
American Bar Association to review proposed TIP legislation
and coordinate efforts to combat trafficking. USAID partnered
with a U.S. based NGO, Geneva Global, to fund 12 projects
that will be implemented in 2005. USAID also began work with
local governments to fight TIP. Trafficking was targeted
through assistance to government efforts to dismantle alien
smuggling organizations, where cooperation between U.S. and
Ecuadorian officials led to the dismantlement of 27 alien
smuggling rings and the arrest of 128 alien smugglers. The
United States also provided equipment for airports and border
crossings to allow authorities to better monitor travelers.


11. (U) As of November 30, almost 8,000 Colombians had sought
refugee status in Ecuador. To help this vulnerable
population, the United States provided funding to the UN High
Commission for Refugees, the International Organization for
Migration, the American Red Cross and the Pan American Health
Organization to support refugee centers and services for
Colombians seeking refuge in Ecuador.


12. USG Projects of $100,000 or more:
- Support Our Youth Child Labor Project, Dept. of Labor,
$3,000,000;
- Judicial reform program, NAS and AID, $2,000,000;
- ILO-IPEC Time-Bound Child Labor Project, Dept. of Labor,
$2,000,000;
- American Bar Association's TIP project in Ecuador, Dept. of
State, $800,000;
- The Time is Now: Strategically Mobilizing Anti-Trafficking
in Organizations in Ecuador, AID and Geneva Global, $600,000;
- Values Education - CORDES, AID, $165,000;
- Control of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors in the
city of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, AID, $120,000.
Kenney