UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Edwards on Thursday called on Ecuador to investigate and prosecute the alleged torture of its former vice president Jorge Glas.
The Special Rapporteur raised alarm over the conditions of Glas, who has shown signs of physical and psychological torture. According to medical reports provided, Glas has suffered “dislocated thumbs, lacerations on wrists from over-use of handcuffs, and contusions and bruising on his arms, thighs and thorax” which are signs indicative of physical beatings. He is also reportedly held in a small cell without windows and social interaction for up to 23 hours per day.
Glas served as vice president of Ecuador from 2013 until 2017 when he was convicted of corruption and bribery-related charges in two separate proceedings. In December 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years for being implicated in the Odebrecht scandal. After his conditional release in 2022, he was arrested again on corruption charges and has remained incarcerated in La Roca maximum-security prison, where the condition is said to fall short of international standards.
International human rights law provides an absolute prohibition of torture. Both Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights state no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Adopted in 1984, the UN Convention against Torture puts the responsibility on states to implement measures to prevent torture and other forms of ill-treatment under their jurisdiction. The Convention identifies four elements, that if combined, constitute torture: 1) infliction of severe physical or mental suffering; 2) the intention to instrumentalize the pain and suffering; 3) for a specific purpose, such as by extracting confession, punishment, or to intimate or coerce, or any reason based on discrimination; and 4) by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of State authorities.
Prison abuse has long been an issue in Ecuador. In October 2022, the UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture called on the Ecuadorian government to take immediate measures to tackle the country’s prison crisis and to ensure the rights of those deprived of liberty remain respected. In July 2024, the UN Committee Against Torture also expressed concerns about Ecuador’s use of armed forces and human rights violations inside the prisons.
The special rapporteur has written to the Governments of Ecuador, Germany, where Glas holds nationality, and Mexico, which granted political asylum to Glas earlier this year. Edwards additionally expressed alarm at the storming of Mexico’s Embassy by Ecuadorian security forces in order to arrest Glas, which she called a violation of the inviolability of diplomatic premises
