Ecuador soldiers sentenced to 35 years in deaths of 4 children

GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR - Eleven Ecuadoran soldiers were sentenced to nearly 35 years in prison over the abduction and deaths of four children last year, whose burnt bodies were later discovered, prosecutors said Monday.

The children, aged 11 to 15, went to play soccer in the violent port city of Guayaquil before being detained by the Ecuadoran Air Force, according to video and family testimony.

On Christmas Eve, their bodies were found incinerated, with gunshot wounds to the head and evidence of torture.

All 11 soldiers were sentenced to 34 years and eight months in prison for the crime of forced disappearance, the Attorney General's Office said.

Five other personnel who cooperated with the investigation were given 30-month sentences.

During the trial, video evidence showed one of the children being shot at point-blank range and another soldier beating a child with his rifle.

The case has rattled Ecuador and fueled claims from rights organizations about growing abuses by the country's armed forces amid President Daniel Noboa's anti-gang campaign.,

Nataly Morillo, who heads Ecuador's Ministry of Government, said Monday in a statement posted to X that the sentences are "a definitive step toward truth and justice," adding that "nobody is above the law and every public official, at any level, who violates norms or rights, must be sanctioned."

Amnesty International had called throughout the trial for the armed forces to stop "resisting acknowledging their responsibility."

In January, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo made a public apology over the incident.

Since 2024, Ecuador's military has been deployed for policing in Guayaquil, which has become a hotspot for gang violence linked to drug trafficking.

Ecuador, once one of Latin America's safest countries, has become a key cocaine transit hub between top producers Colombia and Peru, and consumers around the world.

Car bombings, shootings and extortion have been on the rise in Guayaquil, which recorded 1,900 murders between January and September -- the highest toll in Ecuador.