Right to asylum and the responsibility of the Ecuadorian state: Julián Assange case study

Abstract

Asylum is an entity of universal protection in human rights, whose modern origin is found in inter-American law, but its scope is universal, by virtue of the principles of non-refoulement, equal protection of the law and non-discrimination. In Latin America, the right of asylum is, therefore, a human right recognized as such in the American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man, of 1948; in the American Convention on Human Rights, 1969; and, in the Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, of 1954, and in other regional instruments signed by the Ecuadorian state throughout the 20th century and since the end of the 19th century. The Ecuadorian state, by declaration of asylum, dated August 16, 2012, recognized the right of Mr. Julián Assange to seek, receive and enjoy asylum in any country after considering his well-founded fears of finding himself facing a real threat and potential persecution justified. politically motivated for having vindicated the rights of freedom of expression and information. In accordance with this rule of international law, Ecuador decided to recognize the Ecuadorian nationality of Mr. Julián Assange, granting him a letter of naturalization, bearing in mind that the Ecuadorian constitution proclaims certain principles of human mobility that cannot but be invoked in this asylum case, such as are the principles of universal citizenship and the gradual abolition of the condition of foreigner, rights that are guaranteed by our constitution. Pursuant to this antecedent, Mr. Julián Assange obtained Ecuadorian nationality and thereby acquired rights against the Ecuadorian State, as well as obligations before it. Later, when the State unilaterally and without establishing the proper procedure, withdrew his nationality, and this generated several legal conflicts, among them the due process, the legal security of the citizen, was violated; since in order to withdraw his nationality, in the first place the act that originated this right had to be declared harmful, by means of the injunction and through a process before the contentious administrative court. Finally, the process of granting the naturalization letter by the Ecuadorian state in favor of Julián Assange is analyzed as an acquired right, its connection with the right to identity and the veracity about the responsibility that Ecuador had when making decisions against an asylum seeker and later naturalized as an Ecuadorian; through the development of a jurisprudential research method from an explanatory descriptive research with a qualitative approach to reach the conclusions on this case.