Date: 14 June 2001
Ms. Leyover Jimenez was arrested at her home and detained by police authorities while undertaking Operation Cyclone. She was held in a police station, without charge and incommunicado for 39 days and in preventive detention for over 6 years before her case was dismissed. The charges related to the fact that she was the companion of a powerful drug trafficker in Ecuador and acted as a front for his criminal enterprise. The Commission held the detention without charge and the criminal procedure authorizing broad police discretion for establishing grounds for arrest was in violation of the right to liberty. The incommunicado period also violated her right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Commission also ruled that despite the Supreme Court ruling overturning Article 114 of the Criminal Code (applicable in the present circumstance for exceptions to drug related offenses and prolonged preventive detention), the authorities failed to release her until 6 months later which constituted a violation of the right to liberty. The Commission also held that repeatedly delayed habeas corpus decisions considered by the Mayor violated her right to a prompt judicial remedy by a competent authority. The gross delays in her trial proceedings combined with her indefinite pre-trial detention also violated her fair trial rights.
Citation: Dayra Maria Levoyer Jimenez v. Ecuador (Report) IACHR (14 June 2001) Report No. 66/01
© 2024 Human Rights and Drugs.