{"id":6256,"date":"2025-12-22T19:50:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6256"},"modified":"2025-12-22T19:50:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:50:47","slug":"ecuador-soldiers-sentenced-to-34-years-in-prison-for-disappearing-children-child-rights-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6256","title":{"rendered":"Ecuador soldiers sentenced to 34 years in prison for disappearing children | Child Rights News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Sentencing caps yearlong investigation into abuse, disappearance of four children in Guayaquil amid crime crackdown.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 22 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">22 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A court in Ecuador has sentenced 11 soldiers to 34 years in prison for their role in abusing and disappearing four children from the city of Guayaquil as part of a country-wide crackdown on crime.<\/p>\n<p>The sentencing on Monday capped a yearlong investigation into the missing children, who had been last seen on December 8, 2024, walking towards a sports field near their neighbourhood.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The charred bodies of Steven Medina, Nehemias Arboleda, and brothers Ismael and Josue Arroyo were found weeks later, on December 31, in a rural swampy area.<\/p>\n<p>The court also sentenced five soldiers \u200cwho collaborated \u2060with the prosecution in the case to two \u200cand a half years behind bars.<\/p>\n<p>The military had maintained that the boys, ages 11 to 15, were criminals who had been detained and were alive when they were released.<\/p>\n<p>Several soldiers told prosecutors the boys had been beaten, subject to mock executions, and forced to strip before being abandoned naked in the remote and dangerous rural area of Taura.<\/p>\n<p>The soldiers were acquitted of killing the boys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe patrol abandoned the minors in that area, knowing it was dangerous, desolate, and abandoned,\u201d Judge Jovanny Suarez said in \u200cthe ruling on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The defence maintained that prosecutors did not prevent conclusive evidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It also maintained that the soldiers \u200cwere sent on patrol without prior training and that they \u2060had left the minors alive.<\/p>\n<h3>National outrage<\/h3>\n<p>The case triggered outrage nationwide and condemnation of President Daniel Noboa\u2019s so-called \u201cPhoenix Plan\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Under the scheme, Noboa deployed the military within the country to respond to the country\u2019s spiralling gang violence.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Amnesty International said the approach has led to an increase in enforced disappearances while failing to bring down crime rates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnforced disappearances are multiplying in Ecuador while the government insists on a militarised strategy that not only has not reduced crimes, but has increased human rights violations,\u201d Ana Piquer, the group\u2019s Americas director, said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>The organisation\u2019s report noted that 43 people have been reported missing by the armed forces since Noboa took office in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>It further accused Ecuador\u2019s military of obstructing investigations by refusing to provide information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sentencing caps yearlong investigation into abuse, disappearance of four children in Guayaquil amid crime crackdown. Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A court in Ecuador has sentenced 11 soldiers to 34 years in prison for their role in abusing and disappearing four children from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}