Date: 21 November 2007
Mr. Alvarez, a Chilean national, and Mr. Lapo, an Ecuadorian national, were respectively the owner and manager of an ice box factory in Ecuador. Upon the interdiction of a shipment bound for Miami of cocaine contained in similar ice boxes produced by the factory, both individuals were detained incommunicado initially and for over one and a half years before release. The factory was seized for five years. The Court held that Ecuador was in violation of the Convention, namely, the right to liberty, to a fair trial, to an effective judicial remedy, prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and right to property.
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