Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global nonprofit, has led its personal investigation into what occurred that day within the lead-up to Vega’s dying.
Final month, it denounced the capturing as an “obvious extrajudicial execution” in an open letter to President Noboa, detailing alleged human rights abuses dedicated by the army.
In line with HRW, an post-mortem report revealed Vega’s physique had 4 projectile wounds, inflicting lacerations to his lungs and gut. He finally died from inner bleeding.
The nonprofit additionally mentioned that witness descriptions, in addition to photographs and movies of the altercation, reveal the troopers appeared to “have been sluggish to supply assist”, regardless of the life-threatening accidents.
“They delayed a number of minutes earlier than calling an ambulance, and this was decisive as a result of the injuries have been severe,” mentioned Abraham Aguirre García, a lawyer for the Everlasting Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, a nonprofit in Guayaquil.
Aguirre is representing the Vega household in ongoing authorized proceedings in opposition to the army: The Lawyer Normal’s Workplace is investigating the troopers to be used of extreme pressure. He believes the army opened fireplace on February 2 with the intent to kill.
“The army by no means complied with the duty to make use of pressure progressively. They by no means took under consideration the dangers of capturing,” he mentioned.
The army, nevertheless, supplied its personal model of occasions in its February social media put up. It mentioned Vega and Velasco “acquired first assist” from the native fireplace division on the scene, earlier than “being transferred by the chain of custody to a well being facility”.
In an interview with the native tv community Ecuavisa, army commander Carlos Salvador additionally mentioned that the troopers aimed on the Chevrolet’s wheels, not its passengers.
He blamed “the irregularities of the realm, the motion of the automobile and the recklessness of the motive force” for Vega’s dying and Velasco’s accidents.
The Vega household, nevertheless, has referred to as for a ballistic examination to create a three-dimensional mannequin of the crime scene, with the intention to perceive the exact circumstances surrounding the capturing. A prosecutor is investigating the troopers concerned within the incident.
In response to questions from Al Jazeera, the Ministry of Defence mentioned in a press release, “The case is being investigated by the competent authority. Our establishment is offering all of the associated help.”
Within the aftermath, although, Velasco was charged with assault and resisting arrest. He spent a month and a half below home arrest.
In the end, a neighborhood decide closed the investigation into his behaviour and set him free on April 10.
