Jorge Zavala Egas

Isaias vs. Ecuador Jorge Zavala Egas

Roberto and William Isaías are proud members the third generation of Ecuadorian Isaíases. Since 1912 when their grandfather Emilio Isaias left Lebanon at the age of 19 and established in Ecuador, his descendants have remained true to their core Lebanese values: hard work, vision, and the capacity to adapt to changing situations. These hardworking entrepreneurs have continued to grow their family businesses, initially in the textile industry and subsequently expanding to the industrial, telecommunications, commercial, agricultural, and mining sectors. For over eight years now, they and their families have been the victims of the fierce political persecution unleashed against them by President Rafael Correa. In an all-out effort to seize the leading television channels, media outlets, and prosperous companies owned by the Isaias family, the Ecuadorian president has brazenly manipulated the judicial and executive branches of the government. As part of this relentless and systematic persecution, the law has been retroactively applied, due process has been violated, the right to a defense has been effectively thwarted, guilt rather than innocence has been presumed, judgments have been issued unsupported by evidence, and the right to appeal has been denied, thereby rendering the Isaíses helpless at law. The U. N. Human Rights Committee ruled in favor of the Isaias on June 2016; it affirmed that Roberto and William Isaías's human rights were violated and that their right to appeal and have a due process was blatantly ignored. The Committee has ordered the government of Ecuador to make whole their rights and to return all of the family's seized assets.