Eleven Ecuadorean soldiers have been sentenced to 34 years in prison each after being found guilty of the forced disappearance of four boys last year.
The discovery of the beaten and burned remains of the four boys, aged between 11 and 15, shocked the violence-wracked nation.
The court found that a military patrol had picked up the boys after they finished playing football in Guayaquil, stripped them of their clothing, and left them naked in a dangerous and isolated area.
One of the boys called his father but they were gone by the time he arrived. Their burned bodies were found days later near a military base.
In total, 17 soldiers were tried over the disappearance of 15-year-old Nehemías Arboleda, 11-year-old Steven Medina, and brothers Ismael, 15, and Josué Arroyo, 14. Eleven soldiers received the lengthy sentence, while five others were given reduced sentences in exchange for cooperation.
A lieutenant-colonel who was not on patrol was acquitted.
The soldiers had been assigned to patrol as part of the government's crackdown on rising gang violence, but initial claims that the boys were robbery suspects were dismissed by a judge who labeled them 'innocent victims of a state crime.' An official apology was ordered for the victims' families.
The evidence revealed that the soldiers subjected the minors to severe abuse before leaving them in a perilous location, a factor ruled as contributing to their deaths. Defense lawyers had argued for lack of direct responsibility since the boys were alive when abandoned, but the judge held that their perilous situation ultimately led to their demise.
