superior22 in December 1991. In 1994, Mr. Grijalva Bueno publicly disclosed to the media the allegations he had made previously within the institution.23 B. Administrative process of dismissal of Mr. Grijalva Bueno 46. In February 1992, Mr. Grijalva Bueno was appointed Port Captain of Puerto Bolívar, in the province of El Oro.24 According to a statement by the Navy contained in an official letter dated August 27, 2007, in July 1992, the Intelligence Service (hereinafter “SERINT”) began to investigate Mr. Grijalva Bueno and other agents for: i) the publication of newspaper articles in which fishermen claimed to be victims of extortion by naval personnel in Puerto Bolívar; and ii) allegations made by the intelligence chief EG and others regarding fuel smuggling by naval personnel in Puerto Bolívar, and iii) charging sex workers money to allow them to board ships in that port.25 47. The Intelligence Service report, which is not dated and is marked “Confidential” on the header and footer, stated that Mr. Grijalva Bueno: i) illegally received the sum of $300,000.00 sucres for processing paperwork for a “post-larval” shrimp nursery, having submitted receipt No.0506 for only $5,260 sucres; ii) authorized the transportation of 2,000 gallons of contraband fuel to be sold in Tumbes, and iii) faced an accusation for abuse of authority and arrogance according to M.C. who, according to this report, also claimed that Mr. Grijalva Bueno had a verbal contract with LV for shrimp production. The report added that “the group of crew members involved in these anomalies had enough time to agree on the answers they would give in the interviews that would be conducted by SERINT. It also noted that they received good legal advice, since they all answered using the same phrases and terms.”26 48. On October 2, 1992, the Intelligence Service prepared an extension of its report, which was also marked “Confidential” on the header and footer of the document. In said extension it was indicated that Corporal FCh had accused Mr. Grijalva Bueno of In his affidavit, Mr. Grijalva Bueno stated that in August 1991 two officers, BF and FAB, “verbally denounced the atrocities committed by members of the Naval Intelligence Service, led by [FM]; these included the cases of Élito Véliz, Manuel Stalin Bolaños and Consuelo Benavides Ceballos. [… I] n December 1991, he reported these atrocities through regular channels to Admiral TL, head of the First Naval Zone [, who] said he would report these allegations to the Commander General of the Navy so that they [could] be investigated.” Cf. Statement of Vicente Aníbal Grijalva Bueno rendered by affidavit for the Court, supra. (evidence file, folios 4681 to 4761). Also, in a communication addressed to the Minister of National Defense, Mr. Grijalva mentions the various occasions on which he internally informed his superiors of the “criminal conduct of CPCB –AD- [FM], and mentions, inter alia, that on October 7, 1992, “once the process that ended with [his] discharge without trial had begun, he testified before the INVESTIGATIVE Commission composed of [HC] , CPNV [DR] , CPNV [JL], CPNV [HM] with CPCB [ES] acting as Secretary, that Mr. CPCB –AD- [FMV], at that time SUB-DIRECTOR of NAVAL INTELLIGENCE and director of the Intelligence operation that investigated [his] supposed irregularities as PORT CAPTAIN of PUERTO BOLIVAR, was responsible for several deaths and disappearances” (capitalization of the original). Cf. Communication from Mr. Grijalva Bueno to the Minister of National Defense of February 24, 1994 (evidence file, folios 640 and 641). 23 Cf. DVD Case of Vicente Grijalva Bueno, Annex 2 regarding the content of the DVD. List of press reports: “Death of Consuelo Benavides is clarified”, El Universo, Friday August 19, 1994 (evidence file, folio 379); “AVC killed Consuelo Benavides, says Morales”, Diario Universal, Sucesos, (evidence file, folio 380); “Between Truth and Fear” by José Gómez Izquierdo, Vida y Palabra, (evidence file, folio 381); “Let justice be done!” Opinion of September 27, 1997 (evidence file, folio 425); “Human Rights denounces flaws in the trial of Captain Vicente Grijalva,” Diario Universo of March 18 (evidence file, folio 426); “Records of 456 victims announced in report”, El Universo, Actualidad, Tuesday, June 8, 2020; “President apologized to the victims” (evidence file, folio 428); letter from the sister of Consuelo Benavides to Mr. Grijalva Bueno, and communication from JSR to the Minister of Defense of May 27, 1994 (evidence file, folios 653 to 657). 24 Cf. Statement of Vicente Aníbal Grijalva Bueno rendered by affidavit for the Court, supra. 25 Cf. Naval Force, Official letter No. COGMAR-JER-484-O of August 27, 2007 (evidence file, folios 6 to 19). 26 Cf. Ecuadorian Navy, Naval Intelligence Service, “Final Report on the investigations conducted into anomalies detected in the Captaincy of Puerto Bolívar”, Confidential, undated (evidence file, folios 21 to 22). 22 14