Ecuador’s indigenous justice system on trial (BBC News)

27 Jul Ecuador’s indigenous justice system on trial (BBC News)

A few thousand people are gathered in La Cocha, an indigenous community in the Ecuadorean Andes, as a naked man is forced to carry a heavy bag of rocks around the town square.

The 22-year-old man, called Orlando Quishpe, is then tied to a post and drenched with cold water as people call him “murderer” and “traitor” in the local Quechua language.

 

They were kept in a cesspit, naked, with the water up to their chest. Orlando came out looking like a prisoner of war”

End Quote Oswaldo Quishpe Orlando Quishpe’s uncle

The ceremony continues with women whipping him with stinging nettles and local leaders flogging his back with a leather strap.

This was the punishment that local indigenous authorities gave to Quishpe and four others for allegedly killing another local man, Marco Olivo.

The five young men were also ordered to pay $6,750 (£4,416) in reparations to the community.

The punishment took place on 23 May, but more than two months later it is still making headlines in Ecuador and raising questions. Is indigenous justice an abuse of human rights? Or is it a legitimate practice allowed by law? …Go to article.