Granting asylum to the American whistleblower Edward Snowden is likely to strain the already shaky relationship between Ecuador and the United State but the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister said his country values "human rights" above any other party's interests.
Confirming Snowden's asylum request, the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino on Monday said Snowden was being "persecuted" because he revealed "rights violations," calling it "paradoxical."
"It should be asked, who betrayed whom," said Patino at a press conference in Hanoi, defending the American whistleblower who leaked U.S. intelligence program of monitoring online activities and communications of its people.
"Is this betraying the citizens of the world, or betraying some elites that are in power in a certain country?" asked Patino.
The U.S. government has charged the Snowden with espionage and theft of government property.
When asked about the possible impact of protecting Snowden, the minister said that the U.S. government in the past had denied the extradition of several Ecuadorian bankers charged in Ecuador.
"The relationship between the US and Ecuador should be based on respect for the sovereignty of both countries and our actions are founded on our principles. We consider the consequences of our decisions, but we act in the name of our principles," said Ricardo.
The minister also stressed that the Ecuadorian constitution guarantees the safety of people who freely exercise their opinions through media and work in any form of communication.
Legal experts said that though Ecuador has an extradition treaty with the U.S. government, there is also an exception under that treaty where if the character and the conduct is of a political nature, the asylum giving country, in this case Ecuador, is excused from its responsibility to extradite.
After leaving Hong Kong on Sunday and landing in Moscow, the exact whereabouts of the whistleblower are unknown-not only to the CIA but even to the media as well.
