the Armed Forces, he was initially an aeronautics technician before reaching the rank of Second Sergeant of the Air Force. From August 9, 1993, until early 1997, Mr. Cortez worked as an aeronautics radio maintenance technician at the private company Ícaro, S.A. 35. C. Facts related to the first detention of Mr. Cortez 43. On January 10, 1997, intelligence personnel with the Air Force logged the recording of a phone conversation between two individuals they believed to be engaged in an unlawful act related to the theft and smuggling of airplane equipment in exchange for money. The report stated that one of the individuals in the conversation was Mr. Cortez. 36 44. On January 20, 1997, the military criminal judge declared a “pre-trial measure in which he order[ed] the preventive detention of [Mr. Cortez],” later issuing the “corresponding detention order.” 37 45. On January 21, 1997, Mr. Cortez was detained. According to his subsequent statements, while he was working in the hangar of the Ícaro company, he was presented with a detention order issued by the Military Prosecutor of the First Aerial Zone for questioning about the theft of radio navigation equipment. He stated that he was taken violently and put in a vehicle, where he was interrogated. 38 46. That same day, Mr. Cortez made a statement, without a defense attorney present, before the Intelligence Department Chief of the Aerial Transportation Command and the Military Prosecutor of the First Aerial Zone. He explained that he had put a person interested in obtaining certain “avionics” equipment in contact with a military member, but that he had not taken any other actions and had not received any money or equipment nor made any payments. 39 He asserted that the following day, he was subjected to a medical exam and then released, but that while he was in custody, he was kept in solitary confinement without food or water, in a cold and uncomfortable room. 40 D. Facts related to the second detention of Mr. Cortez and the progress and resolution of the military criminal trial 47. On March 19, 1997, the Military Criminal Judge of the First Aerial Zone indicted four people, including Mr. Cortez Espinoza, for allegedly unlawful conduct related to the theft and smuggling of Ecuadorian Air Force equipment in exchange for money. That indictment ordered, on the basis of Article 25 of the Code of Military Criminal Procedure (supra para. 39), the preventive detention of the defendants, which in the case of Mr. Cortez had to be in the men’s detention center of Quito. To that end, it ordered that the respective detention orders be issued. 41 35 Cf. Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security. Member card of Gonzalo Orlando Cortez Espinoza; Employer attestations of arrival and departure of employee or worker (evidence file, annex 2 to the Merits Report, folio 8). Ícaro, S.A, Certificate issued on March 5, 1997 (evidence file, annex 2 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 820). 36 Cf. Report of the results of equipment theft investigation VOR-2-51-RV-4 S/N 5037 (evidence file, annex 3 to the Merits Report, folio 11). 37 Military Criminal Court of the First Aerial Zone. Military criminal court indictment 03-97 from March 19, 1997 (evidence file, annex V to the answering brief, folios 982–985). 38 Cf. Affidavit of Gonzalo Cortez Espinoza on March 8, 2012 (evidence file, annex 4 to the Merits Report, folios 270–276). Oral statement of Gonzalo Orlando Cortez Espinoza at the public hearing (supra para. 9). 39 Testimony of Mr. Cortez before the Intelligence Department Chief of the Aerial Transportation Command and the Military Prosecutor of the First Aerial Zone on January 21, 1997 (evidence file, annex 3 to the Merits Report, folio 14). 40 Cf. Affidavit of Gonzalo Cortez Espinoza on March 8, 2012, supra, and oral statement of Gonzalo Orlando Cortez Espinoza at the public hearing (supra para. 9). 41 Military Criminal Judge of the First Aerial Zone, Criminal trial indictment 03-97 of March 19, 1997, supra. 13