A judge has ordered 16 members of the military to remain behind bars while an investigation into the deaths continues.
Ecuador's attorney general has confirmed that the charred remains found last week in the city of Taura are the bodies of four youths who disappeared on December 8.
The attorney general's office announced the decisions on Tuesday after the disappearance of the boys sparked nationwide outrage, as well as questions about the involvement of Ecuador's military.
“The results of the forensic genetic tests confirm that the four bodies found in Taura correspond to the three teenagers and a child who disappeared after a military operation on December 8,” the office said in a social media post.
The families of the four missing boys – aged 11 to 15 – said they had gone out in the coastal city of Guayaquil to play football when they disappeared.
Surveillance footage appeared to show two of the four boys being taken away by soldiers in a pickup truck.
But The Associated Press news agency reported that the investigation into the boys' disappearance appeared to have been halted. While authorities had the surveillance images a day after the suspect's removal, an investigation into the military's involvement was not announced for another 15 days.
The investigation into the military allegation only began after family members pressed for more information on social media and in the media.
The boys' disappearance comes amid a crackdown on gang-related crime in Ecuador that has included several state of emergency declarations.
These decrees have given sweeping powers to the state's security forces, but critics have warned that the increased militarization could open the door to human rights. abuse.
Last week, 16 members of the Ecuadorian military were arrested in connection with the disappearance of the boys.
Shortly before their remains were identified on Tuesday, Judge Dennis Ugalde Alvarez ordered the 16 armed members to be kept behind bars pending an investigation into their involvement.
Antonio Arroyo, the uncle of two of the missing boys, told the Reuters news agency after Tuesday's verdict that he hoped to lock up the military members involved in the case.
“Let them go straight to prison where they belong. We want them to be held (in prison), not in a military base,” Arroyo said.
Protests over the disappearances, known as “Caso Malvinas” or “Malvinas Case”, have erupted in the capital Quito as well as in Guayaquil.
“We will not accept it. We are angry and angry because the government and the authorities have not said anything,” retired Fernando Bustamante, 70, told Reuters as he stood with demonstrators outside the court in the Guayaquil where the judge made the decision.
In his efforts to face a increase in violent crime in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa has designated some 22 criminal organizations as “terrorist” groups and declared several states of emergency to allow the military to assist the police.
In April, there were also voters highly agreed a series of measures to give law enforcement wider powers to fight crime.
But such a state of emergency has a long and troubled history in Latin America, where security forces have sometimes claimed extraordinary powers in its name against crime.
State abuses such as corruption, torture and forced disappearance have often been linked to such emergency declarations.
