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(CNN Spanish) - The final report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - IACHR - on the kidnapping and subsequent murder in 2018 of three members of a newspaper team from El Comercio, Ecuador, was revealed Thursday in Washington. The document concludes that there was lack of coordination and lack of risk prevention in the Colombian-Ecuadorian border. It does not determine responsibilities and also if there was an attempt to rescue workers.
A year and eight months have elapsed since the government of Ecuador confirmed the murder of the newspaper team of the newspaper El Comercio, made up of reporter Javier Ortega, photographer Paúl Rivas and the driver.
Efraín Segarra, in the hands of a FARC dissident criminal group led by Walter Patricio Arízala, better known as alias "Guacho". The team members were covering the escalation of violence on the border between Ecuador and Colombia,
when they were kidnapped on March 26, 2018 in the Mataje sector and executed days later in Colombian territory, according to the report.
The Special Monitoring Team (ESE) appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to investigate and gather information about the case concluded its mission and presented the final report in Washington with the observations, conclusions and recommendations. The document was delivered to the families of the victims.
MIRA: Family members of the victims of the newspaper El Comercio newspaper team question actions taken by the Ecuadorian government
Within the conclusions, the IACHR team determined:
Insufficient prevention against gravity
- The measures adopted by Ecuador "were insufficient" to face "the obvious situation of extraordinary risk generated both by the presence of armed criminal groups with transnational presence."
- There was a lack of coordination in the evaluation and application of measures in the response.
- Details that months before the kidnapping there was a communication channel between the Ecuadorian Police and alleged delegates of the Oliver Sinisterra Front who led alias “Guacho” and adds that “the Ecuadorian authorities knew early the magnitude of the problem” and that preventive measures “did not they seem to have been neither sufficient nor adequate to the seriousness of the situation ”.
The loss of "Guacho" was an obstacle
The Special Monitoring Team notes that the withdrawal of alias “Guacho” in December 2018 constitutes an “obstacle to the full investigation of the facts”. Therefore, he insists that "military units should privilege catches over developing deaths in military operations."
The newspaper team did not mock the controls
The IACHR document determines that the journalistic team arrived in the area to cover “without jumping controls” and that they requested authorization from the head of the Single Command of San Lorenzo to enter Mataje, border with Colombia. That was the last call made by reporter Javier Ortega, cites the report.
MIRA: Thousands of people gave their last goodbye to the murdered journalists of the newspaper El Comercio in Quito
Possibility of a hostage exchange
The report describes that, from the highest political level, the Ecuadorian State reported that it had taken the decision to “negotiate a swap” of three detainees in Ecuador from the group of alias “Guacho” in exchange for the release of journalists, but that It was not possible to specify when that decision was taken. It was also not possible for the team to specify what alternatives were available for the release or if a rescue operation was possible. Colombia ruled out that rescue operations for the victims have been carried out, the IACHR mentions.
It does not establish responsibilities
It recognizes that the report "does not have the objective of establishing responsibilities of the States", but that "the victims lost their lives in the context of a conflict led by an armed terrorist group" and that both States should analyze issues of prevention and protection.
There was no torture
According to the autopsy report, the IACHR mentions that Paúl, Javier and Efraín were shot in the skull and other parts of their bodies with their backs to the shooter with a 9 mm caliber weapon and then were buried in graves surrounded by antipersonnel mines. He adds that no signs of torture or abuse were found.
Recommendations:
Declassify information
For the IACHR, “it is essential to declassify the information held by the Armed Forces of both countries about operations in the area during the kidnapping, and intelligence or investigation work.” It also suggests re-examining the forensic information of mobile telephone equipment. and computing seized during the operations related to the case. According to the team, both Colombia and Ecuador "seem to have no" technology to intervene messaging and considers
it is necessary that the states adjust the technological platforms
Special commission and repair
Recommends that a special commission be appointed that guarantees independence and impartiality so that families can access the necessary information. It also suggests to the two countries that they value the creation of mechanisms for integral reparation to family members.
IACHR Commerce