For the first time in its history, the United Nations has ruled against Ecuador in a civil rights case involving the prominent and dedicated Isaias family, which has been wrongly persecuted and violated by the Ecuadoran government. Indeed, members of the Isaias family have been political prisoners of Ecuador over the past decade. I am pleased that the United Nations Committee on Human Rights has found that Ecuador’s Correa administration’s violation of their civil rights was illegal and ordered that the family be cleared.
Isaias family members have been living in exile in the United States, waiting for the day that they could return home without being persecuted by the Correa administration. They did nothing wrong and the United Nations ruling has verified this.
I am grateful to the U.S. government for its support of the Isaias family. America is a great country that treats its citizens fairly, and where the right against illegal seizure of property, and the guarantee of due process under the law, are ensured by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. These fundamental guaranteed for its people give American the moral authority that it employed to stand up for the Isaias’ rights.
The UN Human Rights Committee has ordered the Ecuadorian government to provide compensation for all their seized property and issue a public apology to the family. They are determined to rebuild their businesses and their lives in Ecuador.
It is my hope that all Ecuadorians will question why the Correa administration sought to silence the Isaias family’s voice, and theirs as well, by seizing private media holdings. A free society cannot tolerate an action like this. None of any country’s citizens should be denied due process by the government, and the Isaias family’s victory is one I know that will be shared with all the people of Ecuador.