International committee demands that IACHR recognize diplomatic asylum status
Orlando Perez
Special for La Jornada
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, October 5, 2024, p. 20
Quito. Six months after the assault on the Mexican embassy in Quito and the kidnapping of former vice president Jorge Glas, in a letter, the international committee that advocates for his freedom asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to expand the precautionary measures in favor of of the former president so that the diplomatic status that this case implies is fulfilled and non-custodial actions are granted.
The background is that on December 31, 2019, the IACHR granted these measures to Glas in response to his chronic conditions, since treatment and medical attention were urgently needed, in addition, due to the risk of death due to the threats he received inside the penitentiary center. Since then, the IACHR has requested constant information on his health and incarceration situation.
Yesterday, in a virtual press conference, Sacha Llorenti, coordinator of the International Committee for the Freedom of Jorge Glas and former permanent representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia before the United Nations, recalled that at the request of the Ecuadorian State, the visit of a delegation of the IACHR because government officials were going to be outside the country.
In addition, he clarified that precautionary measures are not binding on a visit. In that sense, he reiterated that urgent action can be taken because Glas’s life is at stake, and the Ecuadorian State has no intention of implementing them.
At the same time, that committee reiterated that Glas’s legal defense has exhausted all ordinary judicial avenues in Ecuador without obtaining justice. For Llorenti, the measures adopted by the courts, clearly motivated by political interests, have been described as legal and legitimate the kidnapping of Glas.
He stated that this is “a case that is similar to those of the former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the founder of Wikileaks, “Julian Assange.”
In practice, this request attempts for Ecuador to comply with the asylum granted by the Mexican government to Glas, to grant him the safe passage granted by Switzerland, and thereby improve the physical and psychological health of the former vice president.
They report that their lives are at risk
Tamara Lajtman of the Lawfare Observatory insisted that Glas’s life is at risk because he has no night security, as there is no one in the adjacent cells. He even reported that on October 1 he was denied a visit from an internist who monitors his health.
Glas suffers from multiple chronic diseases (ankylosing spondylitis, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia and chronic gastritis), as well as serious mental disorders. A few days after his arbitrary detention he attempted suicide and then began a prolonged hunger strike. His condition has deteriorated dramatically, going from taking three medications daily in 2017 to more than 40 in 2024.