Ecuador: resignation of interior minister after mutinies in prisons
Ecuadorian Interior Minister Patricio Pazmiño (right) here with former President Rafael Correa has resigned from his post following mutinies in prisons.
AFP - RODRIGO BUENDIA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The interior minister, retired general Patricio Pazmiño, resigned on Friday.
He was the subject of criticism after the deaths of 80 prisoners massacred in recent mutinies between rival gangs in four prisons in the country.
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From our correspondent in Quito
,
Éric Samson
Since the massacres of February 23, three senior officials were in the hot seat: the Minister of the Interior, the commander of the national police and the national director of the prison administration.
Considering himself "
unfairly criticized
", the Minister of the Interior Patricio Pazmiño chose to resign in order to be able to defend himself.
He did so a few days after the prosecution ordered the creation of a special team to investigate the recent mutinies.
The three officials had previously had to appear before the Ecuadorian parliament.
On the occasion, the police commander Patricio Carrillo recalled that more than 75 mutinies have taken place since 2014 in Ecuadorian prisons.
No leader punished
He regretted that none of the identified ringleaders had ever been punished and that several had benefited from reduced sentences for "
good behavior
".
He admitted that the mutinies saw themselves coming as several gangs sought to gain control of the prisons and the good graces of the Mexican drug cartels.
The Constitutional Court added, however, that the lack of resources, staff and prison overcrowding were also responsible for massacres which, according to the magistrates could have been avoided, if the authorities had done their job.
►Also read
: Ecuador: at least 79 dead in simultaneous mutinies in three prisons
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Ecuador: at least 79 dead in simultaneous mutinies in three prisons