US embassy cable - 05QUITO179

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