Ecuador

Paragraph 150 

…slavery was legally abolished in Ecuador by the Supreme Decree of 25 June 1851, issued by General José María Urbina. Subsequently, article 107 of the 1852 Constitution laid down the principle that all men are born equal and that consequently no one can be reduced to slavery. By the Legislative Decree of 25 September of the same year, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Act on the freeing of slaves, which enabled the aforesaid constitutional principle to be implemented.  

Paragraph 152 

By the Legislative Decree of 20 October 1918, the Ecuadorian State abolished concertaje and imprisonment and human bondage for debt.

Paragraph 20 

When Ecuador became an independent state in 1830, it carried on its anti-slavery tradition and in 1852 enacted the Emancipation and Manumission of Slaves Act.  

Paragraph 53 

Debt bondage, which continued to exist under the name of concertaje as an inheritance from the colonial past, was abolished by law in Ecuador in 1918 and the Labour Code enacted in 1938 gives the workers full protection against abuses of this kind… Under the Civil Marriage and Divorce Act, marriage is a free and voluntary civil contract, which may be dissolved according to the procedure provided for in the Act… all matters connected with the protection of child labour are regulated in Ecuador by the Code of Minors and come within the jurisdiction of special courts… Work is free and is guaranteed by the Constitution and the Labour Code. Article 170 of the Constitution lays down the State’s obligation to see that justice is done in relations between employers and workers, that the dignity of the worker is respected, that he is ensured a decent existence and given fair wages to meet his personal and family requirements… Paragraph (p) of the article provides that deprivation of the huasipungo, the piece of land allotted by the estate owners to native workers, shall be considered as improper dismissal… Article 187 guarantees freedom of employment relations and of labour.  

With respect to servitude, I am happy to be able to state that it is prohibited in Ecuador under existing law. Servitude is construed as the rendering of compulsory services arising out of a relationship with the landlord. It is a survival of the feudal concept of serfdom.  

According to article 3 [of the Labour Code] every worker is free to engage in such lawful employment as he may choose and he may not be compelled to work without his consent. It is expressly stipulated as a principle that all work must be remunerated.  

Article 161 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador provides that ‘no contract shall be valid which places one person at the disposal of another, in an absolute and indefinite manner; nor may conditions be prescribed by statute which impair the dignity of the human person’.

Article 11 

The exercise of rights shall be governed by the following principles: 

3. The rights and guarantees set forth in the Constitution and in international human rights instruments shall be directly and immediatelyenforced by and before any civil, administrative or judicial servant, either by virtue of their office or at the request of the party.

For the exercise of rights and constitutional guarantees, no conditions or requirements shall be established other than those set forth in the Constitution or by law. 

Rights shall be fully actionable. Absence of a legal regulatory framework cannot be alleged to justify their infringement or ignorance thereof, to dismiss proceedings filed as a result of these actions or to deny their recognition. 

4. No legal regulation can restrict the contents of rights or constitutional guarantees.
5. In terms of rights and constitutional guarantees, public, administrative or judicial servants must abide by the most favorable interpretation of their effective force.
6. All principles and rights are unalienable, obligatory, indivisible, interdependent and of equal importance.

Article 33 

Work is a right and a social duty, as well as an economic right, source of personal fulfillment and the basis for the economy. The State shall guarantee full respect for the dignity of working persons, a decent life, fair pay and retribution, and performance of a healthy job that is freely chosen and accepted. 

Article 39 

The State shall guarantee the rights of young people and shall promote the effective exercise of these rights by means of policies and programs, institutions and resources that ensure and uphold, on a permanent basis, their participation and inclusion in all sectors, especially in public sector spaces. 

The State shall recognize young people as strategic players in the country’s development and shall guarantee their right to education, health, housing, recreation, sports, leisure, freedom of expression and association. The State shall foster their incorporation into the labor force in fair and decent conditions, with emphasis on training, guarantee of access to first employment, and promotion of their entrepreneurial skills. 

Article 46 

The State shall adopt, among others, the following measures that safeguard children and adolescents: 

1. Care for children under six years of age that guarantees their nutrition, health, education and dairy care in a framework of integral protection of their rights.
2. Special protection against any type of labor or economic exploitation. The work of children under fifteen years of age is forbidden and policies shall be implemented for the progressive elimination of child labor. Adolescent labor shall be the exception rather than the rule and cannot undermine their right to education nor can it be carried out in situations that are harmful or dangerous to their health or personal development. Their work and other activities shall be respected, recognized, and supported as long as it does not jeopardize their education and integral development.
3. Preferential care for the full social integration of persons with disabilities. The State shall guarantee mainstreaming disabled persons in the regular education system and society.
4. Protection and care against all forms of violence, mistreatment, sexual exploitation or exploitation of any other kind or against neglect leading to these situations.

Article 66 

The following rights of persons are recognized and guaranteed: 

17. The right to freedom of work. No one shall be obligated to carry out free or forced labor, unless provided for by law.

29.The rights of freedom also include: 

1. Recognition that all persons are born free.
2. Prohibition of slavery, exploitation, bondage and smuggling and trafficking in human beings in all their forms.

The State shall adopt measures to prevent and eliminate trafficking in persons and to protect and socially reinsert victims of trafficking and other forms of the infringement of freedom. 

1. That no person can be incarcerated for debt, costs, fines, taxes or other obligations, except in the case of alimony payments.
2. That no person can be obligated to do something forbidden or to cease from doing something not forbidden by law.

Article 67 

Family in its various forms is recognized. The State shall protect it as the fundamental core of society and shall guarantee conditions that integrally favor the achievement of its goals. They shall be comprised of legal or common-law ties and shall be based on the equality of rights and the opportunities of their members. 

Marriage is the union of man and woman and shall be based on the free consent of the persons entering into this bond and on the equality of rights, obligations and legal capacity. 

Constitution of Ecuador (PDF)

Article 82. Slavery 

A person who exercises all or some attributes of the property right over another, constituting slavery, shall be punished with a custodial sentence of twenty-two to twenty-six years. 

Article 89. Crimes against humanity 

Crimes against humanity are those committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population: extrajudicial execution, slavery, forced displacement of the population that does not aim To protect their rights, illegal or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture, rape and forced prostitution, non-consensual insemination, forced sterilization and enforced disappearance shall be punishable by imprisonment for twenty-six to thirty years. 

Article 91. Trafficking in Persons 

The capture, transportation, transfer, delivery, reception or reception for himself or for a third person, of one or more persons, either inside the country or to or to other countries for exploitation purposes, constitutes a crime of trafficking in persons. 

Any activity which results in tangible or intangible gain, an intangible advantage or any other benefit, for himself or for a third party, by means of the submission of a person or the imposition of living or working conditions obtained from: 

1. Illegal extraction or marketing of organs, tissues, fluids or genetic material of living persons, including tourism for organ donation or transplantation.
2. Sexual exploitation of persons including forced prostitution, sex tourism and child pornography.
3. Labor exploitation, including forced labor, debt bondage and child labor.
4. Promise of marriage or servile de facto union, including early, arranged marriage, as compensation or transaction, temporary or for purposes of procreation.
5. The illegal adoption of children and adolescents.
6. Begging.
7. Forced recruitment for armed conflicts or for the commission of acts punishable by law.
8. Any other form of exploitation.

Article 92. Sanction for the crime of trafficking in persons 

Trafficking in persons will be sanctioned: 

1. With deprivation of liberty from thirteen to sixteen years.
2. With imprisonment of between sixteen and nineteen years, if the offense falls on persons of one of the priority attention groups or in situations of double vulnerability or if there has been an affective, consensual relationship between the victim and the aggressor, Conjugal, coexistence, family or economic dependence or there is a link of civil, military, educational, religious or labor authority. 
3. With imprisonment of between nineteen and twenty-two years, if, in the event of trafficking in persons, the victim has suffered serious or irreversible psychological or physical illness or damage.
4. With deprivation of liberty from twenty-two to twenty-six years, if by reason of trafficking in persons the death of the victim occurs.

Trafficking is pursued and punished independently of other offenses committed in its execution or as a consequence thereof. 

Article 95. Extraction and illegal treatment of organs and tissues. 

Any person who, without complying with legal requirements, extracts, preserves, manipulates organs, their parts, vital anatomical components or irreproducible tissues, cells or other fluids or body substances from Persons, shall be punished with imprisonment of ten to thirteen years. 

Article 96 

A person who, outside the cases permitted by law, acts that have as purpose the intermediation onerous or negotiate by any means or transfers organs, tissues, fluids, cells, anatomical components or corporal substances, will be sanctioned with a custodial sentence From thirteen to sixteen years. 

Article 100. – Sexual exploitation of persons 

A person who, for his own benefit or that of a third party, sells, lends, takes advantage of or gives in exchange to another to perform one or more acts of a sexual nature, shall be punished with a custodial sentence of thirteen to sixteen years. 

If the conduct described is carried out on older adults, children, adolescents, pregnant women, persons with disabilities or catastrophic illness, persons at risk or are in a situation of vulnerability, or between the victim and the aggressor A consensual relationship of partner, family, conjugal or economic dependence or there is a link of civil, military, educational, religious or labor authority, the custodial sentence shall be from sixteen to nineteen years. 

Article 101.- Forced prostitution 

A person who obliges, demands, imposes, promotes or induces another against his or her will to perform one or more acts of a sexual nature shall be punished by deprivation of liberty from thirteen to sixteen years in one or more of the following circumstances : 

1. When taking advantage of conditions of vulnerability of the victim or using violence, threat or intimidation.
2. When, with the offender, he maintains or has maintained a family relationship, consensual of a spouse, spouse, ex-spouse, cohabiting partner, ex-partner, partner or ex-spouse in deed, family or relative up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or second affinity the victim.
3. When you have some kind of trust or authority relationship with the victim.

Article 103. Pornography with the use of children or adolescents. 

The person who photographs, films, records, produces, transmits or edits visual, audio-visual, computer, electronic or any other physical material or format containing the visual representation Of real or simulated disassemblies or semi-nudes of girls, boys or adolescents in a sexual attitude;  

Shall be punished with imprisonment from thirteen to sixteen years.  

If the victim also suffers some form of disability or serious or incurable illness, he shall be punished with imprisonment from sixteen to nineteen years.  

When the offending person is the father, mother, relative up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of affinity, guardian, legal representative, Healer to the intimate environment of the family;  

Minister of religion, teacher, teacher, or person who by virtue of his profession or activity has sought the victim, shall be punished with a custodial sentence of twenty-two to twenty-six years.  

Article 104. Marketing of pornography with the use of children or adolescents. 

The person who advertises, buys, possesses, carries, transmits, downloads, stores, imports, exports or sells, by any means, for personal use or for exchange Pornography of children and adolescents, will be served with a prison sentence of ten to thirteen years Shall be punished with imprisonment from twenty-two to twenty-six years. Article 104.- Marketing of pornography with the use of children or adolescents.- The person who advertises, buys, possesses, carries, transmits, downloads, stores, imports, exports or sells, by any means, for personal use or for exchange Pornography of children and adolescents, will be served with a prison sentence of ten to thirteen years Shall be punished with imprisonment from twenty-two to twenty-six years. Article 104.- Marketing of pornography with the use of children or adolescents.- The person who advertises, buys, possesses, carries, transmits, downloads, stores, imports, exports or sells, by any means, for personal use or for exchange Pornography of children and adolescents, will be served with a prison sentence of ten to thirteen years 

Article 105. – Forced labor or other forms of labor exploitation 

The person who submits another to forced labor or other forms of exploitation or labor services, inside or outside the country, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty from ten to thirteen years. 

There will be forced labor or other forms of exploitation or labor services in the following cases: 

1. When a person is forced or deceived to perform, against his will, a job or service under the threat of causing harm to him or to third parties.
2. When children or adolescents under 15 years of age are used in these facilities.
3. When adolescents older than 15 years of age are used in hazardous, harmful or hazardous work as stipulated by the corresponding regulations.
4. When a person is forced to perform a job or service using violence or threat.
5. When a person is forced to commit or render personal services or those of someone over whom he exercises authority, as collateral for a debt, taking advantage of his debtor status.
6. When a person is forced to live and work in a land belonging to another person and to render to it, for remuneration or gratuitously, certain services without freedom to change their condition.

Article 106. Promise of marriage or de facto servile union. 

The person who gives or promises in marriage to a person, to contract marriage or de facto union, in exchange for a consideration given to his parents, his tutor or tutor, His family or any other person who exercises authority over him, without the future spouse or partner or partner has the right to oppose, will be punished with imprisonment of ten to thirteen years. 

Article 107. Illegal adoption 

The person who facilitates, collaborates, carries out, transfers, intervenes or benefits from the illegal adoption of persons shall be punished with a custodial sentence of ten to thirteen years. 

The same sanction shall be imposed on the person who circumvents legal procedures for fostering or adoption and for the purpose of establishing a relationship similar to filiation, induce, by any means, the holder of parental authority to the delivery of a girl, Child or adolescent to another. 

Article 110. Common Provisions. 

For the crimes foreseen in Sections 2 and 3 of this chapter, the following common provisions shall be observed: 

1. In these crimes, the judge or judge, in addition to the custodial sentence, may impose one or more non-custodial sentences.
2. In cases where the alleged perpetrator is an ascendant or descendant, collateral up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of affinity, spouse, exonerate, cohabiting, ex-partner, partner or ex-partner in de facto union, tutor or guardian, Legal representative, curator or curator or any person in charge of the care or custody of the victim, the judge orCriminal Guarantees as a precautionary measure will suspend parental authority, guardianship, guardianship and any other modality of care about the victim in order to protect their rights.
3. For these crimes, the attenuation provided for in number 2 of article 45 of this Code does not fit.
4. The public or private behavior of the victim, prior to the commission of the infraction, is not considered in the process.
5. In these crimes, the consent given by the victim does not exclude criminal responsibility or reduce the corresponding penalty.
6. Victims in these crimes may enter the victims and witnesses program

Criminal Code (Spanish) (PDF)