9
daughter without the presence of her father during her first two years of live,
was humiliated in the Courts, and lived in a permanent situation of anguish
and fear. She also receives psychological treatment biweekly. During his
imprisonment, several of his workmates donated part of their salaries to him;
moreover they had his wife’s salary from her work in a high school in Quito.
They also received help from their respective families. He painted and sold
separators and bread in his cell block. Nonetheless their resources did not
suffice to pay the necessities of their recently born daughter. On regaining
his freedom, he had to begin his life again. With respect to Mrs. Margarita
Ramadán, it was very difficult to return to live with her, owing to the
situations that they both had been through. He has to learn to be a full time
father, and his daughter had to overcome her fear that her father would
abandon her. He refused to return to his work for fear of being detained
again if there was another situation involving narcotics. He worked for a time
in a utensils factory with people who knew his situation and had confidence in
him; he is trying to start a business with a cousin and is administrating a
living complex. Based on his history, he was denied his request to buy
twenty dollars in the Bank of Ecuador, which caused him great insecurity and
humiliation.
b.
Testimony of Ana Burbano de Ramadán, mother-in-law of Mr. Rafael
Iván Suárez Rosero
She lives in a condominium next door to the house of Mr. Rafael Iván Suárez
Rosero. She has a very close relationship with him and all of his family. Her
husband, who was very close to Mr. Suárez Rosero, died two years and ten
months after his imprisonment. She visited her son-in-law once a week and
brought him food. After the birth of her granddaughter she took her daughter
to the prison on Monday mornings and brought her home in the afternoon,
due to the difficulty caused by her daughter’s inability to drive. Since her
daughter became pregnant she practically went to live with her to help her
with her chores and work, which wouldn’t have been necessary if her son-inlaw had been present. Mr. Suárez Rosero left the prison very affected. He
was aggressive and had problems living with Mrs. Ramadán Burbano although
not with the other members of the family.
c.
Testimony of Magdalena Rosero de Suárez, mother of Mr. Rafael Iván
Suárez Rosero
She lives in Ambato. Her husband, Rafael Suárez, died on May 24, 1998 as a
result of an illness of emotional origins provoked by the suffering that his
son’s imprisonment caused him. During his youth, her son always behaved
affectionately with his siblings and family and was very dear to his friends and
the community in Ambato. On learning of the arrest of her son she felt
distressed, desperate, and impotent before the injustice that was being
committed against him. She and her husband tried by every means to hire
an attorney but almost all of them refused. This made them feel humiliated.
It took more than three hours to get to the jail to visit her son, and she could
only visit him after a degrading personal search. Her husband felt great
distress at having to visit his son in prison and for that reason did not visit
every Tuesday as she did. One time it caused her a nervous shock to find
herself in the prison. Owing to his confinement her son suffered many
personality changes.