Ecuador confirms that the charred bodies are those of the four missing boys | Military Affairs

A judge has ordered 16 members of the military to remain in custody pending an investigation into the deaths.

Ecuador’s attorney general confirmed that the charred bodies found last week in the town of Taura are the bodies of four children who disappeared on December 8.

The attorney general’s office announced the findings Tuesday after the boys’ disappearance sparked nationwide outrage, as well as questions about Ecuador’s military involvement.

“The results of the genetic analysis confirm that the four bodies found in Taura belong to the three youths and a child who disappeared after the military operation on December 8,” the office said in a social media post.

The families of the four missing boys – aged 11 to 15 – say they were out in the coastal town of Guayaquil to play football when they disappeared.

Surveillance footage appeared to show two of the four boys being taken away by soldiers in a truck.

But the Associated Press news agency reported that the investigation into the disappearance of these boys seems to be still on hold. Although the authorities were on high alert the day after the alleged abduction, an investigation into the involvement of the military has not been announced for another 15 days.

An investigation into the alleged involvement of the military began after family members pressed for more information on social media and newspapers.

The boys’ disappearance comes amid a crackdown on gang-related crime in Ecuador that has included several declarations of emergency.

Those orders gave various powers to the regime’s military, but critics warned that military expansion could open the door to human rights abuses.

Last week, 16 members of the military were arrested in Ecuador in connection with the disappearance of these boys.

Shortly before the identification of their remains on Tuesday, Judge Dennis Ugalde Alvarez ordered that 16 soldiers be detained in prison pending an investigation into their alleged involvement.

Antonio Arroyo, the uncle of the two missing boys, told Reuters after Tuesday’s verdict that he hoped to see the military members involved in the case behind bars.

“Let them go to jail and go where they belong. We want them arrested [in jail]not in the military area,” said Arroyo.

Protests over the disappearances, known as “Caso Malvinas” or “The Malvinas Case”, broke out in the capital Quito and Guayaquil.

“We will not accept it. We are angry and upset because the government and the authorities have not said anything,” retired Fernando Bustamante, 70, told Reuters as he stood with protesters outside the court in Guayaquil where the judge made the decision.

In his efforts to deal with the increase in violent crime in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa has designated some 22 criminal groups as “terrorist” organizations and declared several states of emergency to allow the military to assist the police.

In April, voters also overwhelmingly approved a series of measures aimed at giving law enforcement expanded powers to fight crime.

Such emergencies, however, have a long and troubled history in Latin America, where the military has sometimes taken extraordinary powers in the name of fighting crime.

State abuses such as corruption, torture and enforced disappearances are often associated with such emergency declarations.