IACHR takes to Inter-American Court case concerning Ecuador about extrajudicial killings and torture

December 29, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on October 27, 2025, in Case 13,167, with regard to Ecuador. The case concerns false imprisonment and torture against Pedro Baque Tuárez and the extrajudicial killings of brothers Carlos Enrique and Pedro Jorge Jaramillo Mera.

The petition—taken to the IACHR in July 2004—mentioned that Baque and the Jaramillo brothers had been arrested as suspects in the killing of a police officer. While in custody, the two brothers were subjected to extrajudicial killings, while Baque was shot several times and subjected to torture.

In 2002, five police officers were sentenced to 12 years in prison in this case, but this decision was only partially enforced. Only one of those police officers was arrested. The rest remained at large and their sentences expired in 2015, based on a statue of limitations, after more than 10 years of impunity.

In Admissibility and Merits Report 333/22, the IACHR noted that the victims had not been informed of the reasons for their arrests and that they had not been taken before a court of competent jurisdiction, while the subsequent investigation had been conducted by institutions with ties to the suspects. The report further noted that Pedro Jorge and Carlos Jaramillo had been killed by officers of the State while in State custody, which means that they were subjected to extrajudicial killings. Key procedural steps were omitted, including autopsies and an adequate crime scene investigation, which precluded accountability.

The IACHR found that the lack of diligence and oversight in efforts to arrest the men who had been convicted in this case amounted to a violation of the State duty to ensure justice. The IACHR further noted that the violence that Carlos Jaramillo and Pedro Baque had been subjected to had been intentional, caused them intense physical suffering, and sought to force the young men to confess to having committed crimes they had not committed. The IACHR noted that this amounted to torture. Further, the IACHR said that these instances of arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killings had also caused suffering and anxiety to the families of the three men, which entailed a violation of their right to mental and moral integrity.

The IACHR concluded that the State of Ecuador was liable for violations of the rights to life, personal integrity, personal liberty, judicial guarantees, and judicial protection held in Articles 4, 5, 7, 8, and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in keeping with the obligations held in Article 1.1 of that instrument, to the detriment of Pedro Baque and Carlos and Pedro Jaramillo, as well as their families.

The IACHR therefore asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to demand that the State take the following measures:

1. Provide comprehensive reparations—including financial compensation and other measures—for the human rights violations mentioned in the report
2. Provide physical and mental healthcare to Baque and his family, as well as to the families of Carlos and Pedro Jaramillo, should they want such healthcare, in agreement with them
3. Conduct thorough, effective investigations of the human rights violations mentioned in the report, among others by criminally prosecuting anyone responsible for them, without the statute of limitations hindering proceedings
4. Implement mechanisms of non-recurrence, including training for judicial officers and public prosecutors in Jipijapa about due diligence, investigations concerning extrajudicial killings, and the applicable international standards

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 289/25

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