U.S. judge cites ‘torture’ reports in Ecuador’s prisons for not deporting assassination suspect Serrano
Although the government celebrated a Miami judge’s decision to deny asylum to former Interior Minister José Serrano, it did not mention why he will not be sent back to Ecuador to face charges in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
Interior Minister John Reimberg said Ecuador would continue extradition efforts with the U.S., but it could be years for those to be successful.
In his Wednesday ruling, U.S. immigration Judge Romy Lerner granted Serrano temporary protection against deportation based on the 1984 Convention Against Torture (CAT), which Ecuador and the U.S. signed in 1985. The decision was based on poor conditions in Ecuador’s prisons.
Serrano will remain in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Krome detention center west of Miami.
Romy’s decision cited a report by UN Rapporteur Abderrazak Rouwane and the Committee Against Torture following a January tour of Ecuador prisons. Rouwane found conditions in the institutions to be “deplorable in many cases,” and said that direct and indirect treatment of many of the prisoners amounted to torture.
He reported “human rights violations” including poor sanitary conditions, including rodent infestations, inadequate provisions of food to inmates, and poor or non-existent health care services. He also said that the “continuous participation of military personnel inside prisons” violated international protocols since soldiers are not trained in prison operations.
Rouwane talked to the families of prisoners who claimed prison sentences for non-violent offenses often amount to “death sentences” due to dangerous conditions inside prisons. “The high rate of murders and deaths due to diseases, such as tuberculosis, cannot be justified,” he said.
Rouwane and his committee presented a list to government officials of “urgent remediation actions” that were necessary for Ecuador to come into compliance with CAT standards.
