[JURIST] The government of Ecuador has set up a truth commission [declaration and articles, in Spanish] to investigate rights abuses committed in the country beginning in the early 1980s, a period that includes the 1984-88 presidency of right wing politician León Febres Cordero [Wikipedia profile]. The four-member commission, announced Thursday by current leftist President Rafael Correa [personal website] and Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea, is comprised of a lawyer, two human rights activists, and a member who lost two sons who were apparently "disappeared" during the regime of Febres Cordero. Correa said the commission was intended to "halt impunity;" it will explore some 327 unsolved cases of disappearance, torture and political assassination.

The commission follows in the wake of others recently established in Guatemala, Peru and Chile to address wrongs and abuses committed during recent "dirty wars" and harsh regimes. AP has more.