A court in Ecuador has sentenced 11 soldiers to 34 years in prison for their role in abusing and disappearing four children from the city of Guayaquil as part of a country-wide crackdown on crime.

The sentencing on Monday capped a yearlong investigation into the missing children, who had been last seen on December 8, 2024, walking towards a sports field near their neighbourhood.

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The charred bodies of Steven Medina, Nehemias Arboleda, and brothers Ismael and Josue Arroyo were found weeks later, on December 31, in a rural swampy area.

The court also sentenced five soldiers ‌who collaborated ⁠with the prosecution in the case to two ‌and a half years behind bars.

The military had maintained that the boys, ages 11 to 15, were criminals who had been detained and were alive when they were released.

Several soldiers told prosecutors the boys had been beaten, subject to mock executions, and forced to strip before being abandoned naked in the remote and dangerous rural area of Taura.

The soldiers were acquitted of killing the boys.

“The patrol abandoned the minors in that area, knowing it was dangerous, desolate, and abandoned,” Judge Jovanny Suarez said in ‌the ruling on Monday.

The defence maintained that prosecutors did not prevent conclusive evidence.

It also maintained that the soldiers ‌were sent on patrol without prior training and that they ⁠had left the minors alive.

National outrage

The case triggered outrage nationwide and condemnation of President Daniel Noboa’s so-called “Phoenix Plan”.

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Under the scheme, Noboa deployed the military within the country to respond to the country’s spiralling gang violence.

In September, Amnesty International said the approach has led to an increase in enforced disappearances while failing to bring down crime rates.

“Enforced disappearances are multiplying in Ecuador while the government insists on a militarised strategy that not only has not reduced crimes, but has increased human rights violations,” Ana Piquer, the group’s Americas director, said at the time.

The organisation’s report noted that 43 people have been reported missing by the armed forces since Noboa took office in 2023.

It further accused Ecuador’s military of obstructing investigations by refusing to provide information.