probationary sentence, during which she was deprived of her papers, including her passport, and her civil and political rights as an Ecuadorian national. 2.2 The author alleges that she was again detained on 13 December 1995, after having organized and participated in a unauthorized political demonstration of about 200 persons. According to the author, she was kept in detention for 10 days and allegedly starved, kicked and beaten with truncheons before she being sentenced to 10 days' imprisonment. To support her statement, the author refers to copies of medical records from the medical doctor she visited after her release. 2.3 On 26 April 1996, the author was appointed political leader for a women's group of the party. Her main tasks were to organize meetings for women, particularly from poor neighbourhoods, and inform them about their rights. She also provided assistance to families where one or both parents had disappeared. 2.4 The author's fiancé, who was also active in PRE, allegedly disappeared in 1996 after having been taken away by police in plain clothes. 2.5 According to the author, she was again detained on 27 January 1997 for having participated in a political demonstration in Santo Domingo. The author was allegedly sentenced to six months' imprisonment and claims that during her imprisonment she was starved, electric chocks were applied to her fingers and she was raped. After her release, the author contacted a doctor, but no medical records are available. The author further states that, while she was in prison in 1997, her home was broken into and everything was taken, and that she has reason to believe that the police were responsible. 2.6 The author states that at the time of her release she was told by the police to leave the country. However, instead, she joined her family in the mountains, where they had fled to prevent the author's children being taken by the authorities. While in hiding, the author learned from her sister that a warrant for her arrest had been issued because she had not left the party and had not reported to the police,after her release, as ordered. The author hid in the mountains for six months with her children before she could leave the country, allegedly with the help of PRE. 2.7 The author left Ecuador by car with her children and entered Colombia on 15 August 1998. She travelled on a valid passport issued in September 1996. On 16 August 1998 she left Colombia and arrived in Denmark on 20 August 1998 after having stayed two days in the Netherlands. The author immediately applied for asylum. 2.8 The author's request for asylum was turned down by the Danish Immigration Service on 30 October 1998. Subsequent to her appealing the Immigration Service's decision, the Refugee Board confirmed that decision on 17 February 1999. On 24 March 1999, the non-governmental organization "Let Bosnia Live", on behalf of the author, requested the Board to re-examine the case in light of new information about the author's political activities, including a letter from PRE and a copy of an order for her arrest issued by the Ministry of the Interior, dated 26 February 1999. On 28 May 1999, the Board refused the author's request to renew her application for asylum. On 30 July 1999 an appeal was made to the Ministry of Interior on humanitarian grounds. It was refused on 12 August 1999. 2.9 The author further submits that the case is not and has not been the subject of investigation or settlement, by any other international body. 155