The lawyer explained in his social media that the ruling that catalogs the case as forced disappearance, issued last December 24 by Judge Tanya Loor, is valuable for the search for truth, justice and reparation for the families.

With this action of appeal, all the words of “solidarity” go to waste, Bestias, who is also an activist and human rights defender, said.

In his opinion, the defence of the 16 soldiers, combined with the campaigns of disinformation and attacks they orchestrate against the families of the victims, are clear signs that they want impunity for this enforced disappearance and extrajudicial execution.

On Sunday, December 8, 2024, brothers Ismael and Josué Arroyo, aged 14 and 15, and their friends, Nehemías Arboleda and Steven Medina, aged 15 and 11, respectively, went out to play football and were then stopped by a group of 16 military personnel and taken away in a van.

That same day at night, they were seen by a witness in the parish of Taura, in the canton of Naranjal, province of Guayas, 40 kilometers from Guayaquil.

The bodies were found on December 24 and on December 31, as the country was preparing to celebrate the new year, the Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed their identities.

ef/arm/ro/avr