Artículo sobre penas corporales indígenas

Aplicación de castigos corporales en
La Cocha, Ecuador

Este reporte fue redactado por Álvaro Paul Díaz.

El creador y administrador de este blog, Oswaldo Ruiz Chiriboga, publicó en el portal Social Science Research Network (SSRN) un artículo en inglés referido a las penas corporales indígenas en el Ecuador y la prohibición de la tortura y los malos tratos. El artículo lleva por título Indigenous Corporal Punishments in Ecuador and the Prohibition of Torture and Ill-Treatments. Éste es el resumen:

“Indigenous customary law (ICL) has always coexisted with national law throughout the history of Ecuador. At first it was tolerated, then it became illegal, and now it is fully recognized by the Constitution and by International Human Rights Law (IHRL). An integral part of ICL is the power to enact and apply punishments. Such punishments are in principle lawful, because of the broad wording of the constitutional recognition. A number of sanctions and the rituals that precede them have a physical component. As a result, indigenous peoples and Ecuadorian authorities are engaged in a debate over the compatibility of such punishments with human rights. Some say that corporal sanctions violate the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishments (CIDP). Indigenous peoples respond that their traditional practices must be respected. The aim of this research is to show that not all indigenous corporal punishments amount to forbidden acts. I will not try to undermine the prohibition of torture, instead using the elements of the notions ‘torture’ and ‘CIDP’ given by IHRL, I will show that certain indigenous corporal punishments do not fulfill all the requirements of torture or CIDP. I will also demonstrate that despite the constant denial of several international bodies, the culture of a society is always present in what it considers acceptable suffering and in the assessment of the elements of torture and CIDP.”

Fuente de la fotografía