Rafael Ivan Suarez-Rosero was detained by Ecuadorian police during a large-scale drug crime operation. He was detained incommunicado for 36 days and without a trial for over 50 months. The Court held the conditions of pre-trial detention along with the incommunicado nature of the initial period of detention amounted to inhuman treatment. Further, the process of the trial denied him his right to habeas corpus and a trial within a reasonable time. The Court also declared the criminal provision permitting extended pre-trial detention for those charged with drug related offenses to be incompatible with the Convention, most notably the right to judicial review of a detention.
Citation: Rafael Ivan Suarez-Rosero v. Ecuador (Merits) IACtHR Series C No 35 (12 November 1997)