rebuttal report from expert dr. vladimiro alvarez grau

-1 of 16- [initials] CERT. MERRILL

REBUTTAL REPORT FROM EXPERT DR. VLADIMIRO ALVAREZ GRAU

1. My name is VLADIMIRO XAVIER ALVAREZ GRAU. I issued a report as an expert in this

case on June 23, 2011, on the state of Ecuador’s judicial system. I attached to that report one

that I previously issued on September 2, 2010, in CPA Case No. 2009-23, which I also filed

in Chevron Corp. v. Donziger, et al., Case No. 11-CV-0691 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y.) on February

6, 2011.

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS

2. In my June 23, 2011, report (hereinafter the “June 2011 Report”), as well as in my September

2, 2010, report (hereinafter the “September 2010 Report”), I asserted, among other

conclusions, that regardless of how many reforms are made to the Constitution or the laws, if

those in power and politicians do not stop influencing or interfering in the decisions of the

courts and tribunals, the fact that the Judicial Branch in Ecuador is institutionally weak will

not change.1 I have reviewed and considered the reports and declarations filed by Dr. Alicia

Arias Salgado, Dr. Marco Vinicio Albuja Martínez, and Dr. Alberto Martín Binder, experts

for the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ two representatives, Hugo Gerardo Camacho Naranjo and

Javier Piaguaje Payaguaje (hereinafter the “Lago Agrio Plaintiffs’ Reports”). These reports

are outdated, based on theoretical considerations divorced from how the courts function in

practice, and do not change my conclusions.

3. Now, once again, I confirm my opinion from my June 2011 and September 2010 Reports that

no independence exists in the administration of justice because of the continuous violation of

the rule of law by political and social actors who interfere with the impartiality and the

independence of the Judiciary. The latest events in Ecuador concerning the reorganization of

1 June 2011 Report ¶ 24; September 2010 Report ¶ 87 (Tab A)


the Judicial Branch further confirm that the constant changes, pressures, threats, and

temptations continue to influence judges’ decisions.2

ANALYSIS

The Lago Agrio Plaintiffs’ Reports

4. I have reviewed and carefully analyzed the text of the Lago Agrio Plaintiffs’ Reports

submitted by Dr. Albuja, Dr. Binder, and Dr. Arias, and I do not agree with their arguments

or conclusions. The Reports relate primarily to legal reforms and judicial reorganization

procedures that predate the election of Rafael Correa and the enactment of the October 2008

Constitution. None of the reforms heralded in these Reports has been effective, as evidenced

by the fact that they have been followed by yet more reforms. The latest reforms of the

judicial system are currently occurring under President Rafael Correa’s leadership and under

the National Assembly and other pro-Administration bodies, which support the President’s

actions. But as explained in my June 2011 Report, these reforms will only have the effect of

further politicizing the Judiciary.

5. The Republic of Ecuador has had twenty Constitutions, all of which have provided for the

independence of the Judiciary. However, the political pressure that multiple regimes have put

on judges and justices violates rules requiring impartiality, and never before has a

democratically elected president so blatantly interfered in the Judicial Branch.

6. The arguments presented in the Lago Agrio Plaintiffs’ Reports do not alter the conclusions of

my previous reports for the following reasons:

2 The opinions I express in this report are based on my 41 years of experience as a practicing lawyer and public

official in various governments in Ecuador. Additionally, I review multiple news sources, including newspapers, television, and radio as well as the Internet, on a daily basis, all of which served me in the writing and criteria issued in this report. In particular, I rely on the sources listed in Exhibit 212. For my work regarding this rebuttal report, I have set a professional fee of $750 per hour for work performed.


7. First, these Reports are outdated. The most recent was written three years ago, and their

analysis covers only one year of President Correa’s term. Therefore, none of these Reports

could have analyzed the practical consequences in these areas of the 2008 Constitution,

which had not yet taken effect. Since President Correa has taken office, the lack of judicial

independence has been exacerbated, and the current consensus is that the judicial system is in

a state of chaos, recognized by the President himself.3

8. Second, these Reports are based on false assumptions.4 They assume that reforms are

intrinsically good, and ignore that a succession of reforms, as has occurred in Ecuador, only

increases judicial instability.

9. Third, these Reports recognize, but do not substantively address, the weaknesses of the

Ecuadorian judicial system in practice. As acknowledged by Dr. Binder, “Any

institutional reform will ultimately depend on the flesh-and-blood actors who embody the

judicial system.”5 However, institutional actors in Ecuador have not used so-called

“reforms” to improve judicial stability, but instead to consolidate their own power. The

lack of respect for the stability, structure, and judicial impartiality, and the failure to meet

legal reforms mentioned by the experts, has been fatal, as the events of past months

further prove.

10. Specifically, the results of the May 7, 2011, referendum have allowed President Correa and

his Administration to start another comprehensive restructuring of the Judicial Branch. This

3 President asserts that the judicial chaos is the result of ‘party politics,’ EL CIUDADANO, July 8, 2011. 4 For example, Dr. Arias assumes that “[c]entral to this progress [of judicial reform] has been the forging of a

consensus from within the country to foster and promote independent branches of government, and to honor and respect their different functions.” Expert Report of Dr. Alicia Arias, ¶ 122. Similarly, Dr. Binder said that “Ecuador, like other countries in the region, is concerned with developing a more transparent, efficient and independent Judiciary, and this has been a core objective of the entire judicial reform process.” Expert Opinion of Dr. Alberto Martín Binder, ¶ 13. But these assumptions have no basis in reality, as demonstrated by events after 2004 in Ecuador, because there is no such consensus.

5 Expert Opinion of Dr. Alberto Martín Binder, ¶ 16(a).


has undermined judicial stability, because judges from various levels, courts, and tribunals

feel a serious threat to the permanence of their jobs, and try to ingratiate themselves with the

Administration in order to be appointed in the restructured Judiciary. Moreover, President

Correa has dramatically advanced, through judicial proceedings, his strategy of attacking and

intimidating the press, similar to how he implicated those he considered responsible for the

events of September 30, 2010.

Referendum and Popular Vote of May 7, 2011

11. As I expressed in my June 2011 Report, the referendum called by President Correa received a

favorable vote to replace the Judicial Council established in the 2008 Constitution—whose

“raison d’être,” according to the expert Dr. Alberto Martín Binder, was “to consolidate the

independence of the Judiciary and increase its transparency”6—now substituting a

Transitional Judicial Council in its place.7 This Transitional Council is made up of three

members, appointed respectively by the Executive, Legislative, and Transparency and Social

Control Branches.8 In practice, however, the branches appointing the delegates are under

President Correa’s political control.

12. The preliminary results of the plebiscite were challenged by political and social actors

who said that there had been irregularities when the National Electoral Council counted

the votes.9 However, the Electoral Dispute Tribunal ultimately rejected all the claims that

had been filed and confirmed that the questions and proposals made in the referendum

6 Expert Opinion of Dr. Alberto Martín Binder, Sept. 22, 2008, ¶ 13(b). 7 June 2011 Report ¶ 48. 8 June 2011 Report ¶ 38. 9 June 2011 Report ¶ 48.


had been approved by the public.10 The National Electoral Council, the successor to the

Supreme Electoral Tribunal which had supported President Correa’s first plebiscite in

2007 after he had threatened its members,11 then certified and announced the official

results.12 As a result of this decision, the members of the Judicial Council resigned,

resulting in the Council’s dissolution.13

13. After an extensive national debate about judicial chaos, the members of the Transitional

Judicial Council were recently appointed, and the Council has now been constituted. The

majority of the Council is made up of members who were supported and promoted by

President Correa and his political movement, Alianza País.

14. On behalf of the Executive Branch, and instead of appointing an attorney or a legal scholar,

the President, arguing that the courts and administration of justice require technological

restructuring, appointed an information and telecommunications engineer, Paulo

Rodríguez, an expert on computing and the former Director of the Civil Registry for the

Administration.14 The National Assembly designated as its delegate to the Transitional

Judicial Council the candidate proposed by Alianza País, Dr. Tania Arias, who had been

acting as the President of the Electoral Disputes Tribunal when that Tribunal discarded the

challenges to the referendum results.15 For its part, the Transparency and Social Control

10 Objection to election results rejected in Ecuador, ECUADOR INMEDIATO, July 9, 2011. 11 September 2010 Report ¶¶ 37-38. 12 Official Gazette, Supplement, Year II, No. 490, July 13, 2011. 13 The current Judicial Council is about to be dissolved, EL COMERCIO, July 8, 2011. 14 Correa Selects a Delegate to the Judicial Council, EL UNIVERSO, May 13, 2011. 15 The Judiciary: The Transitional Council is Ready Today, EXPRESO, July 14, 2011; The Transitional Council, with

aligned members, EL UNIVERSO, July 17, 2011; Opposition will try to block Arias’ appointment to the Judicial Council, EL UNIVERSO, July 15, 2011; Tania Arias, Delegate from the Assembly to the Transitional Council, EL

CIUDADANO, July 21, 2011.


Branch designated as its delegate to the Council Dr. Fernando Yávar, a former prosecutor

from the Guayas Province.16

15. On July 26, 2011, the Transitional Judicial Council designated as its President the engineer

Paulo Rodríguez, the President of the Republic’s candidate and a non-lawyer.17

16. With all these proceedings, and as I noted in my June 2011 Report, President Correa’s

Administration is advancing its objective to control the Judicial Branch, including justices,

judges and other judicial servants. This has caused agents who administer justice to feel the

general instability of job insecurity. The obvious and immediate consequence is that judges

seek to ingratiate themselves with the Administration, backing and accepting its motions to

avoid removal from their jobs and to put themselves in a positive light for the imminent

assessment of their posts and new appointments.

Judicial Instability

17. Despite what the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ experts have asserted in their reports—referencing

legal reforms and the integration of courts and tribunals, as well as court rulings pre-

September 200818—political, social, and economic pressures in the decisions of judicial

courts and tribunals existed during the period analyzed in those reports, and have only

intensified since then. As I said in my June 2011 and September 2010 Reports, political and

social influences on judges have affected the administration of justice, which has been

exacerbated by the current Administration, as further confirmed by subsequent events.

18. Everything occurring in the administration of justice in Ecuador has caused chaos of such a

magnitude that judges, courts, and tribunals face constant instability. In numerous cases and

16 The Transitional Council, with aligned members, EL UNIVERSO, July 17, 2011. 17 Paulo Rodriguez Presides over the Transitional Judicial Council, EXPRESO, July 27, 2011. 18 Expert Statement of Marco Vinicio Albuja Martínez, Jan. 30, 2008, ¶ 46; Expert Report of Dr. Alicia Arias

Salgado, Sept. 22, 2008, ¶ 137.


lawsuits, the competent judge is changed in the middle of the process. In his place, a

temporary, transitional, or acting judge is appointed, and then is removed or assigned to other

proceedings after the ruling is issued. There also continue to be attempts to punish judges

who rule against the Administration’s actions or decisions, as I discuss below.

19. The recent lawsuit pursued by Rafael Correa against El Universo, its directors, and its former

editorial opinion editor is emblematic. In his dual role as a citizen and the President of the

Republic, he accused them of slander and non-pecuniary damages. During this case, five

different judges presided in four months, one of whom signed the judgment that I will

analyze in the next section.19

20. Another example of such instability and judicial chaos are the events surrounding the

dismissal of the Judicial Council’s president, Dr. Benjamín Cevallos, who had suspended for

ninety days the members of a tribunal investigating the events of September 30, 2010.20 After

that suspension, President Correa harshly questioned in public statements the actions of Dr.

Cevallos, describing him as “shameless” and stating that his actions were “part of a plot” to

“manipulate the justice system.”21 Only two days later, Dr. Cevallos was unconstitutionally

dismissed by a lower court judge, Santiago Coba, who did not have authority over the

Judicial Council in this situation.22

21. When Dr. Cevallos tried to enter his office at the Judicial Council, he was impeded by the

police on orders from the Interior Minister José Serrano.23 Similarly, Dr. Cevallos asserted

19 Multi-Million Dollar Judgment against El Universo, EL COMERCIO, July 21, 2011. 20 A Suspended Court Sentenced Coronel Tapia, EXPRESO, July 1, 2011. 21 Judge Removes the President of the Judicial Council from Office for “Failing to Perform his Duties,” EL

UNIVERSO, July 5, 2011. 22 Cevallos, off the Judicial Council, 2 Days after criticized by Correa, EL UNIVERSO, July 5, 2011. 23 The Judicial Council ends on Monday, HOY, July 8, 2011. Minister Serrano publically acknowledged issuing

these orders.


that he believed Judge Coba “was influenced by someone,” and, moreover, declared that

“[i]n this transitional stage, after the referendum, there are a lot of frightened, complacent

judges who want to score points to see if they can be reelected or even promoted.”24

22. President Correa noted that this was another example of the judicial chaos in Ecuador, stating:

“I do not know, I am not a legal expert, but on principle I think it is weird that a judge is able to remove the president of the Judicial Council. But this is another example of the chaos in the judiciary. Therefore, I ask that party politics not be used to hinder the will of the people by delaying the referendum results, which support the appointment of a new Judicial Council and the organization of this judicial system that is truly in chaos.”25

23. Even Prosecutor General Washington Pesántez—who, like Dr. Cevallos, was previously

President Correa’s ally in his intent to reorganize the courts—asked President Correa to

“control some of your ministers who are infringing upon the autonomy of the Judicial

Branch.”26 Dr. Cevallos has made similar charges, declaring that President Correa is

“invading forbidden territory. How can he want to meddle with the judiciary? That’s not me

saying it, he said it. That threatens democracy, and it would put us on the edge of a

dictatorship.”27 Subsequently, Dr. Cevallos dismissed Santiago Coba—the same judge who

had dismissed Dr. Cevallos—for violating the Constitution.28

24. Another case of the Administration’s interference in judicial decisions occurred when the

National Electricity Board, a government agency, on the Administration’s recommendation,

resolved to increase electricity rates. When a judge, Mariela Zunino, ordered the suspension

of the rate increase, President Correa expressed his disgust, stating: “We are going to try to

24 Benjamín Cevallos: “We’re approaching a dictatorship, if we aren’t there already,” EL UNIVERSO, July 10, 2011. 25 Judge subjects Cevallos’ return as President of the Judicial Council, EL UNIVERSO, July 6, 2011. 26 Removal of Benjamin Cevallos: “Criminals do less harm than a bad judge,” according to prosecutor Pesántez,

ECUADOR INMEDIATO, July 8, 2011. 27 “The President Is Invading Forbidden Territory,” HOY, July 10, 2011. 28 Benjamin Cevallos removes Pichincha judge Santiago Coba, ECUAVISA, July 11, 2011.


have this judge sanctioned because of the procedures followed in the case; we are going to

ask for an investigation of the case and that she be sanctioned, that she be suspended.”29

While the judge defended her opinion, noting that the rate increase violated several

constitutional rights, the Minister of Electricity, Esteban Albornoz, asserted that the judge’s

sentence had no legal effect and that the resolution of increasing the electricity rates would

go into effect.30

25. Other analysts have arrived at conclusions consistent with my view, that justice in Ecuador

today is less independent from political power:

This is revealed by the preliminary results of an investigation of judicial

independence in Ecuador, Peru and Chile, done by Santiago Basabe Serrano of the

Public Policy Program of the Latin American School of Social Sciences (FLACSO),

which believes that “[t]he case in Ecuador is one of high judicial instability... The

judges are thinking about how to stay in their positions and they know that is going to

depend on how close they are to the administration.”31

An editorial of the newspaper El Comercio, stressing that political interference and its

pressure complicate the picture of justice in Ecuador, expressly stated:

“The President’s statement about meddling with the judiciary was unfortunate. The actions that have arisen as a result of that political thinking are terrible, and the future of an institution that is essential to national life is unpredictable. “Controversial decisions, the presence of government ministers at trials, and inappropriate visits paid on judges, and on top of everything else that is wrong, a police presence ordered by the Minister of the Interior—who earlier had been none other than the Minister of Justice—outside the Judicial Council

29 Judge Criticizes Correa’s reasons for sanctioning her, EL UNIVERSO, July 14, 2011. 30 Id. 31 “Meddling” in the justice system will be a process managed by Correa’s people, EL UNIVERSO, July 17, 2011.


to block the entry of the Council president, who had been ousted by a judge. What a disgrace!”32

The editorialist Ana Angulo Benavides held that “[t]he constant intrusion of other

branches in the judiciary has severely weakened it to the point that currently it is

difficult to fully rely on the decisions of judges—many of them raise the suspicion

that political interests are at play.”33

The collective Cauce Democrático, composed of politicians, academics,

entrepreneurs and people of culture, rejected “the Administration’s arbitrary

intervention in court cases of interest to it” and also stated that “[t]his ‘meddling

in the justice system’ constitutes a worrisome harbinger of what will happen in

the future when an ad-hoc commission controlled by the President reorganizes

the Judicial Branch.”34

The columnist Marlon Puertas opined that “[i]t sounds pretentious to say that the

Triumvirate will clean up, even partially, the mess in the Courts selecting young

people who sympathize with the ideas of the revolution that, for now, suits them,”

adding that “[r]educing the issue down to a change of names of the administration

of the Courts is to ignore the reality that is buffeting us and to which, for the sake of

survival, we have adapted ourselves.”35

26. All these events are just examples of the continued judicial instability that provokes

insecurity and lack of confidence in the administration of justice in Ecuador, which is subject

to structural chaos due to the lack of institutional consistency, as well as political interference

32 Justice: A Serious Matter, EL COMERCIO, July 11, 2011. 33 Ana Angulo Benavides, Justice: More of the Same, HOY, July 17, 2011. 34 Cauce Democrático demands that the President not interfere with the judiciary, EL COMERCIO, July 9, 2011. 35 Marlon Puertas, Justice in an Unjust Country, HOY, July 16, 2011.


in decisions to be made by judges and the threats to the judges once these sentences have

been handed down.

Attacks on the Press

27. As I have noted in my earlier reports, the Administration’s political strategy to silence reports

or criticisms made about its leadership has been to constantly attack the media with both

offensive and discrediting statements against the media and against journalists, reporters and

editors, and criminal and civil prosecutions of those they deem have issued criticisms or

made offensive accusations. The President of the Republic has filed several lawsuits against

journalists or writers who, in his opinion, have offended, defamed, or slandered him,

demanding compensation for scores of millions of dollars.

28. The suit filed by President Correa against El Universo, its directors, and its former editorial

opinion director, Emilio Palacio, is emblematic. As I have discussed both above and in my

June 2011 Report,36 President Correa requested that the accused be sentenced to prison and

pay eighty million dollars in damages for the text of an op-ed column written by editorialist

Palacio entitled “NO to lies,” in which he stated that a future president could charge Rafael

Correa criminally “for having ordered fire at his discretion without prior notice on a hospital

full of civilians and innocent people.”37

29. Five different judges have acted in that case, and the last one, Dr. Juan Paredes, who was also

temporary and transitory, served for only thirty-three hours,38 during which time he attended

a hearing that lasted for several hours with the presence of all the parties and at the same

time, supposedly read and analyzed more than 5,000 pages of the record, reviewed case law,

36 June 2011 Report ¶ 63. 37 Emilio Palacio, NO to lies, EL UNIVERSO, Feb. 6, 2011. 38 Judge Juan Parades had previously presided over this case but only for a few hours, but was removed from the

case, returning only for the final hearing and the signing of the judgment.


reached a decision, and drafted and wrote a 156-page judgment, after which he left his post to

return to the court in which he had previously served.39

30. This judgment condemned editorialist Palacio and the directors and owners of El Universo,

one of the country’s largest newspapers, to each serve a sentence of three years in prison and

pay a twelve-dollar fine. The four defendants were also ordered to pay President Correa a

compensation of thirty million dollars, and the newspaper as a legal entity must pay an

additional ten million dollars, totaling forty million dollars to President Correa, plus two

million dollars (five percent) to the President’s lawyer.40

31. Despite that judgment, President Correa declared that he did not agree with it and filed an

appeal on the grounds that he had requested eighty million dollars.41 The accused also filed

an appeal rejecting that judgment.42

32. One day after the judgment against El Universo and its directors, the newspaper left its first

page blank, putting only the headline “Doomed” and a thought from the novelist and

philosopher Ayn Rand, at the bottom:

“When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed.”43

33. In the face of this, several prominent international organizations, newspapers, as well as the

United States Government, have rejected the above-mentioned trial and sentencing.

39 State Budget—Guideline for Correa’s Award, EL UNIVERSO, July 24, 2011; Multi-Million Dollar Judgment

against El Universo, EL COMERCIO, July 21, 2011. 40 Final Part of the Judgment against EL UNIVERSO, EL UNIVERSO, July 23, 2011. 41 Correa appeals and insists that he wants $80 million and not 40, EL UNIVERSO, July 23, 2011. 42 Id. 43 Doomed, EL UNIVERSO, July 21, 2011.


Human Rights Watch for the Americas stated: “Criminal conviction for those who

criticize the president is a direct attack on freedom of speech in Ecuador.”44

The Inter-American Press Association (SIP), declared: “Rafael Correa’s

administration continues its systematic and deliberate campaign to do away with the

independent press and establish, by law or court action, the wellspring of truth to be

consumed by all Ecuadorians.”45

The United States State Department stated: “We join the IAPA (Inter-American Press

Association) and the Committee to Protect Journalists and other organizations that

have expressed their concern about the judgment in the EL UNIVERSO case... A free

and independent press is essential to a properly working democracy.”46

The Economist opined: “For a man who calls his country’s legal system

dysfunctional and corrupt, Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s president, has fared

remarkably well before the courts.”47

The Washington Post expressed that President Correa is seeking to destroy or silence

the independent media, which, to his distress, have taken on topics such as the

hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts awarded to his brother. This

affirms that President Correa is part of a populist authoritarianism that a few years

ago seemed to be sweeping all of Latin America.48

34. With the attacks of President Correa and his Administration on the press and journalists,

President Correa seeks to censure the freedom of opinion and information, which is one of

44 Condemnation and astonishment for judgment in favor of the president, EL UNIVERSO, July 24, 2011. 45 Id. 46 Id. 47 Id. 48 Ecuador’s autocrat cracks down on media freedom, WASH. POST, July 28, 2011.


the only real tools that citizens have to control the actions of public officials. Moreover, by

sowing fear, the situation could reach a point where there is self-censorship, where the

owners and directors of the media, just like their reporters, commentators, and columnists,

limit their personal opinions or criticisms about the actions of public officials for fear that

they will be sanctioned beyond what is just and reasonable.

Aftermath of September 30, 2010

35. As I mentioned in my June 2011 Report,49 the events of police and military insubordination

that occurred on September 30, 2010, resulted in a series of judgments and processes which

once again demonstrated President Correa’s desire to interfere in and influence the

administration of justice. The President uses great efforts to convince the courts and judges,

and citizens in general, that the events of September 30 were a kidnapping, assassination

attempt, and attack on state security.

36. One of these trials that President Correa has publically focused on is the case brought against

Police Colonel Rolando Tapia, former head of the Legislative Escort (the police responsible

for protecting National Assembly members), who was accused of allegedly threatening state

security by preventing the National Assembly from meeting on the day these events

occurred.50 At Colonel Tapia’s adjudication hearing, multiple Alianza País supporters were

present in a show of the Administration’s political pressure, including Minister of Foreign

Relations Ricardo Patiño and other ministers of state, as well as the assembly members of the

majority and the Governor of the Guayas province, Roberto Cuero.51

49 June 2011 Report ¶¶ 69-70. 50 President says that September 30 can’t be allowed to go unpunished, ECUADOR EN VIVO, June 18, 2011; Correa

discusses a possible pardon for convicted police officers, EL UNIVERSO, June 28, 2011. 51 Tapia Being Judged Behind Closed Doors, EL DIARIO, June 21, 2011.


37. Protesters from Alianza País also shouted slogans such as “assassin, assassin,”52 which

has no connection with the acts allegedly committed by Colonel Tapia. According to

Expreso, “[t]he massive presence of PAIS party supporters made Court President Renato

Vásquez uncomfortable.”53

38. Shortly thereafter, the court sentenced Colonel Tapia to three years in prison and imposed

various punishments on five members of the Legislative Escort; President Correa in response

expressed his satisfaction with the conviction.54 Meanwhile, when Colonel Tapia left the

court after hearing the guilty sentence, he said: “The influences present at all levels worked.

They found the head they were looking for.”55

39. These proceedings are now on appeal before a higher court.

40. The Administration has heavily lobbied all of these trials and proceedings with the intention

of punishing those considered opponents or critics, or contrary to their interests, and the

regime’s comprehensive restructuring of the administration of justice will unquestionably

influence future decisions.

CONCLUSIONS

41. With respect to the reports and declarations submitted by Dr. Arias, Dr. Albuja, and Dr.

Binder, I affirm my view that regardless of how many reforms—referred to in their reports—

are made to the Constitution or the laws, if those in power and politicians do not stop

influencing or interfering in the decisions of the courts and tribunals, then such reforms will

have had no effect in the past nor will they in the future, in practice. I believe none of the

52 Administration Applies Pressure Against Tapia in the Street, EXPRESO, June 21, 2011. 53 Id. 54 Correa discusses a possible pardon for convicted police officers, EL UNIVERSO, June 28, 2011. 55 Colonel Tapia Convicted of the Events of September 30, EL UNIVERSO, June 28, 2011; Correa criticizes National

Judicial Council for favoring political groups, EL TELÉGRAFO, July 3, 2011.

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reforms change the fact that the Judicial Branch in Ecuador is institutionally weak, and that

judgments are subject to political, social, or economic pressures on judges.

42. Due to these facts occurring subsequent to my June 2011 Report, I reaffirm my opinion

that continued legal and constitutional reforms violate the existing rule of law, political

actors use the Judiciary as an instrument of constant confrontation and there is no

independence in the Judicial Branch, as I demonstrated with the events described in my

previous and present reports.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. I sign this affidavit in the

city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, on the 31st day of July 2011.

[signature] Vladimiro Alvarez Grau

rebuttal report from expert dr. vladimiro alvarez grau

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