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Integrity Scorecard

2007 Assessment

Ecuador: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Ecuador: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: National Ombudsman
Indicators		Score
52	In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?	100
53	Is the national ombudsman effective?	55
54	Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?	75

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

52: In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

Score:

YES

Comments: Ecuador has several agencies.

References: National Constitution: Article 96, La Defensoria del Pueblo; Article 275, El Tribunal Constitucional; and Article 217, Ministerio Público

Is the national ombudsman effective?

53a: In law, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: These agencies by the law are protected from political interference, nevertheless the form in which their members are selected through the National Congress results in political interference.

References: Article 130 lit. 11 (Deberes y Atribuciones del Congreso: Nombrar a las autoridades del National Ombudsman). National Constitution: Article 96, La Defensoria del Pueblo; Article 211, De la independencia de la CGE; Article 275, De la forma de integrar el Tribunal Constitucional.

53b: In practice, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Ombudsman is not protected from political interference, because the head of National Ombudsman is appointed by the National Congress, which is composed of various political parties. It is difficult to believe that there is no political interference.

References: Interview with Gustavo Yalk (Projusticia)

53c: In practice, the head of the ombudsman agency/entity is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments: The head of the National Ombudsman is protected with immunity; he cannot be removed from his public position without relevant justification.

References: Interview with Gustavo Yalk (Projusticia)

Peer Review Comments: The National Ombudsman has been accused of acts of corruption and there have been unsuccessful attempts to remove him from his position.

53d: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Ombudsmans office is located in Quito. There are offices in the 22 provinces of the country, which means, there are 22 commissioners that solve the cases. Also there are several departments that are focused on the population's vulnerable groups. Among the vulnerable groups are the natives; the elderly and people who have handicaps, children and adolescence; afro-Ecuadorians; and migrants. The staff is not sufficient.

References: Interview with Iván Granda (Defensoria del Pueblo)

53e: In practice, agency appointments support the independence of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

Comments: Projusticia is an agency that advises to the Supreme Court of Justice in the judicial function. The National Ombudsman should be an independent institution. The National Ombudsman is an institution that was founded in 1998.

The head of National Ombudsman is designated by the National Congress. Consequently, the citizens will be represented by the head of National Ombudsman; also human rights agencies can observe the appointments process. This way, the head of National Ombudsman would be designated by the Congress but with the opinion of the citizenship.

References: Interview with Gustavo Yalk (Projusticia)

53f: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Ombudsman receives an annual contribution from the Budget of the Ecuadorian State through the Ministry of Economy and Finances. The resources are not enough.

References: Interview with Iván Granda (Defensoria del Pueblo)

Peer Review Comments: he available resources are totally inadequate to perform the ombudsman's' duties, including enforcement of FOI law.

53g: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) makes publicly available reports.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Ombudsman publicizes, through press bulletins information about the actions it iscarrying out. It also puts out a bimonthly publication with articles about human rights. Recently, there was the publication of Homus man, which is a magazine that contains articles about human rights with foreign and national experts in the topic.

References: Interview with Iván Granda (Defensoria del Pueblo)

53h: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency aggressively starts investigations -- or participates fully with cooperating agencies\' investigations -- into judicial misconduct. The agency is fair in its application of this power. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency will start or cooperate in investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, though limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency rarely investigates on its own or cooperates in other agencies\' investigations, or the agency is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments: The National Ombudsman begins investigations when there are cases of "Habeas Data, " "Habeas Corpus" and "Recurso de Amparo," also when the citizens feel their human rights are violated.

The National Ombudsman also defends the human rights of the foreigners that are residents in the country and the foreigners that are tourists in the country.

There are many branches (Habeas Data, Habeas Corpus and Recurso de Amparo) in which the National Ombudsman will intervene, but one of the most important problems is the lack of public defenders.

References: Interview with Iván Granda (Defensoria del Pueblo)

53i: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Ombudsman doesn't hand out sanctions or dictate sentences. It does not have coercive power. The National Ombudsman receives complaints from people when their rights are harmed, it promotes a respectful culture of the human rights, intervenes as mediator in the conflict of people or social organizations with the public administration, it intervenes in the matters of environmental protection.

The National Ombudsman is limited in its effectiveness.

The National Ombudsman mediates conflicts only between legal persons and popular organizations with the Public Institutions.

References: www.defensordelpueblo.gov.ec [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The National Ombudsman provides information and proof of violations to the judicial system on behalf of the people, but it does not have the power to impose penalties.

53j: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Ombudsman\'s reports are taken seriously, with negative findings drawing prompt corrective action. <p>50 Score Criteria: In most cases, ombudsman\'s reports are acted on, though some exceptions may occur for politicalally sensitive issues, or particularly resistant agencies. <p>0 Score Criteria: Ombudsman reports are often ignored, or given superficial attention. Ombudsman reports do not lead to policy changes.$

Comments: The majority of cases that are undertaken by the National Ombudsman do not receive support from the government. Only a small percentage of cases that the head of National Ombudsman receives are supported. For example, the case of the fumigations of glifosato occurred on the border between Colombia and Ecuador. The government has supported this cause through the Ministry of Exterior Relationships.

References: Interview with Gustavo Yalk (Projusticia),

Informe de Misión de Verificación, Impactos en Ecuador de las fumigaciones realizadas en el Putumayo dentro del Plan Colombia, elaborado por Acción Ecológica.

53k: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) acts on citizen complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The mediations that are carried out through the National Ombudsman do not need lawyers. In fact, 80 percent of the cases are solved quickly. Another 10 percent of the cases cannot be solved quickly because the social conflict is more complicated and it requires time for the mediation.

References: Interview with Iván Granda (Defensoria del Pueblo)

Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?

54a: In law, citizens can access reports of the ombudsman(s).

Score:

YES

Comments: The Resource of Habeas Data, aforementioned in the constitution, authorizes to the citizens to access information.

The principle of publicity of the information is supported by the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information (Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública).

References: Article 94 Habeas Data

54b: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The reports that the National Ombudsman publicizes for the citizens are annual, but the cases where the National Ombudsman is serving as a mediator are reserved information.

References: Defensoria del Pueblo

www.defensordelpueblo.gov.ec.

54c: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: The reports of the National Ombudsman are found on its Web site. The information is free. But not all the information is available.

References: Defensoria del Pueblo