In the Commission on Constitutional Guarantees, Human Rights, Collective Rights and Interculturality, the deadline to approve the report of the 371 petitions for amnesties and pardons presented by leaders of social organizations, unions and activist citizens is running out.
The term expires on February 12, but the commission chaired by Fernando Cabascango (Pachakutik) plans to approve the final document until Friday, February 11. To do this, he must overcome some obstacles, such as the presentation of the draft reports that were in charge of the nine members of the table that distributed the applications. This period derives from the Organic Law of the Legislative Function, which grants the table a period of 30 days to approve the report.
Amnesty process begins in the Assembly: Criminalization of protest and political persecution, petitioners allege
Even last Monday, the legislative commission granted one more day to legislators Virgilio Saquicela (BAN), Gruber Zambrano (ex-PSC), Édgar Quezada and Sofía Sánchez (Pachakutik) to present the report with the analysis and recommendation of the cases they had to study; In addition, information from the State Attorney General’s Office is expected on the cases that are analyzed to add them to the file.
The 371 requests were segmented according to the subject into four groups: social protest of October 2019, defenders of nature, indigenous justice and territories.
Virgilio Saquicela (BAN) stated that there are still discrepancies in the origin or not of some cases and that it is possible that they will take a few more days to resolve, as allowed by the regulations that govern Parliament.
The president of the table, José Cabascango, presented a draft report to the commissioners in which all the amnesty requests were given way; but, according to Assemblyman Saquicela, some cases have to be reviewed, such as those presented in ordinary justice, for example, for the crime of kidnapping.
Those cases presented as kidnapping would not have legislative endorsement, because the Constitution basically states that there is no amnesty when it comes to that kind of crime. Therefore, the Assembly cannot even analyze, affirmed the first vice-president that integrates the commission that analyzes the 371 petitions for amnesty.
On the other hand, the cases of crimes of rebellion and terrorism should be reviewed, and the commission must base its decision, said Saquicela, who insisted that, if they are political crimes, such as rebellion, even if they had been sentenced, amnesty is possible; but not in cases like kidnapping.
Regarding the request for amnesty of the prefect of Pichincha, Paola Pabón, prosecuted for the crime of rebellion, is also on the list; and, according to the legislator Saquicela, if the legal foundations exist, it will have to give way, since it is not a question of a political or sectoral analysis, but within the legal framework.
In the draft report of the amnesties it is considered pertinent that, in accordance with the provisions of article 99 of the Organic Law of the Legislative Function and articles 8 and 9 of the Regulation for the Admission and Processing of Requests for Amnesties and Humanitarian Pardons of the National Assembly, proceed within case No. 17100-2019-00014 and in the final resolution grant amnesty to Messrs. Paola Verenice Pabón Caranqui, Virgilio Humberto Hernández Enríquez and Cristian Fabián González Narváez.
Legislator Paola Cabezas (UNES), a member of the legislative table that processes the amnesties, confirmed that the commission cannot wait any longer and that on Friday it must approve the report that will later be presented to the plenary session of the National Assembly. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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