A court in Ecuador is for the first time investigating crimes against humanity committed by a past administration.  Prosecutors are seeking the arrests of 10 military and police officials, accusing them of torture, sexual violence, and kidnapping.

The violence happened during the government of President Leon Febres Cordero, just another in a series Latin American ultra-conservative autocrats backed by a United States government as helmed by then-President Ronald Reagan.

Chief prosecutor Galo Chiriboga wants to freeze the assets of the ten, as three of their surviving victims next week will testify about the abuses of 1984 – 1988. 

“They were tortured, beaten, and submitted to particularly sadistic forms of torture, including electric shocks to their genitals,” said Chief Prosecutors Chiriboga, because of alleged ties to a Left-wing group.

The crimes have gone unprosecuted for three decades and have only been investigated since the election of President Rafael Correa in 2007.