Jamil Mahuad petitions IACHR alleging political persecution

Former Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad has filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), alleging political persecution. Mahuad, who served from 1998 to 2000, is seeking to overturn an eight-year prison sentence for embezzlement (peculado) issued in 2014.

The legal dispute stems from the 1999 decision to freeze bank deposits during a severe economic crisis. Mahuad’s defense argues that the Ecuadorian courts misinterpreted economic policy decisions as criminal appropriation of public funds. They characterize the legal proceedings as an “arbitrary, systematic, and prolonged” persecution promoted by political sectors, specifically during the administration of Rafael Correa.

Mahuad, who currently resides in the United States, is requesting that the IACHR declare the Ecuadorian state responsible for violating judicial guarantees, due process, and the principle of legality. He is seeking to have his conviction and the standing arrest warrant annulled to allow his return to Ecuador.