On July 15, 2001, Fredy Marcelo Nunez Naranjo, Sixto Rodrigo Nunez Naranjo, Napoleon Amores and Jose Santana (the “Petitioners”) were detained in the Quero Police Department. During their detention, more than 400 members of the Punachizag community from the jail of the Police Department of the Quero District in the Province of Tungurahua, abducted the Petitioners. The state was asked as a matter of urgency to take steps to ensure the return of the Petitioners to ensure their safety and protect their lives.
The present petition was filed on the contention that the state had failed to act expeditiously and that as a result, the lives of the Petitioners were endangered. Half an hour into the Petitioners’ detention, the members of the community stormed into the police station and broke out their colleague, Octavio Morales, and abducted the Fredy.
The Petitioners alleged, in particular, that the state had not acted with due diligence to respond to the alleged contraventions and investigate and sanction those responsible for the alleged victims’ disappearance.
The court declared the complaints concerning the Petitioners’ application under Articles 3, 4, 5, 7, 8(1) and 25 in conjunction with Article 1(1) of the Convention and Article I of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearances of Persons admissible. The court decided to notify the Ecuadorian State and the Petitioner of this decision, to continue with the analysis and merits of the case and to publish the decision and include it in its Annual Report to the OAS General Assembly.