Juan Carlos Chaparro Alvarez and Freddy Hernan Lapo Iniguez v. Ecuador (Objections, Merits, Reparations, Costs) IACtHR (21 November 2007) Series C No 170

Mr. Alvarez, a Chilean national, and Mr. Lapo, an Ecuadorian national, were respectively the owner and manager of an ice box factory in Ecuador.  Upon the interdiction of a shipment bound for Miami of cocaine contained in similar ice boxes produced by the factory, both individuals were detained incommunicado initially and for over one and a half years before release.  The factory was seized for five years.  The Court held that Ecuador was in violation of the Convention, namely, the right to liberty, to a fair trial, to an effective judicial remedy, prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and right to property.