164. The Court reiterates that Article 2 of the Convention obliges States Parties to adopt, in
accordance with their constitutional processes and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative
or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights or freedoms protected by the
Convention (supra para. 142). The Court takes note that, as Ecuador has pointed out, a new
Constitution was adopted in 2008, which repealed the police jurisdiction. The Court also notes that,
at the time this judgment is delivered, the rule of detención en firme established in article 173-A of
the common Code of Criminal Procedure applied in this case was no longer in force. Therefore, the
Court considers that it is not appropriate to order the adoption, amendment or adaptation of
provisions under Ecuador’s domestic law.154
165. Consequently, the Court finds that, in relation to the other measures of reparation requested
by the Commission and the representative, the delivery of this judgment and the reparations already
ordered in this chapter are sufficient and adequate to redress the violations suffered by the victims.
Therefore, it does not consider it necessary to order other measures.
D. Compensation
166. The Commission asked that comprehensive reparations should be provided to each victim
by measures of compensation and satisfaction that included the pecuniary and non-pecuniary
damage caused to the victims as a result of the violations declared in the Merits Report.
167. The representative, when referring to compensation, indicated the following with regard to
each victim:
a) Jorge Humberto Villarroel Merino
168. With regard to Mr. Villarroel Merino, he argued that this situation had caused him untold
moral and mental harm that had affected his life project, given his academic, and institutional history
and his professional career, which had been publicly recognized. Therefore, in the case of nonpecuniary damage, he indicated that he “left this to the standards for fairness” of the Court.155 In
the case of pecuniary damage he requested fair compensation of US$800,000.00 (eight hundred
thousand United States dollars) for loss of earnings
b) Mario Romel Cevallos Moreno
169. For Mr. Cevallos Moreno, he requested US$400,000.00 (four hundred thousand United States
dollars) for pecuniary damage. In addition, for non-pecuniary damage and other harm, 156 he
requested US$800,000.00 (eight hundred thousand United States dollars).
Cf. Case of Carranza Alarcón v. Ecuador, supra, para. 104, and Case of Flor Freire v. Ecuador. Preliminary objection,
merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of August 31, 2016. Series C No. 315, para. 242.
154
He argued that: (a) [Mr. Villarroel Merino] had been subject to humiliation, by the confinement to a room in the
Equitation and Remount Unit (UER), a police barracks on the outskirts of Quito, for one year, of someone who had been
Commander General of the National Police and, at the time of the facts, was Director General of Training Schools for NonProfessional Drivers, administered by the Ecuadorian National Association of Tourism (ANETA) with a seat on the National
Land Transportation and Transit Board; (b) in the performance of his functions, he had received various decorations and
awards; (c) at a personal level, he had drafted a proposed for the creation of a school for non-professional drivers that he
would head, and he even received a proposal to manage a private security agency; but the events impeded both these
opportunities; (d) his family capital was affected because he had to dispose of an office in Quito and a plot of land in the
canton of Pedernales in the province of Manabí, to cover necessities such as food, health care, his children’s education, and
his maintenance costs while confined, and (e) as a result of his experience, he suffered a minor heart attack, which required
prolonged medical treatment.
155
He argued that: (a) [Mr. Cevallos Moreno’s] arbitrary detention ruined his life, prejudicing his image of police officer,
a role he had fulfilled for many years up to the position of Commander General, and causing him irreparable harm owing to
the emotional distress he suffered; (b) since he was a public figure, when the media referred to the case without analyzing
156
41