The toll is terrible: since the beginning of the year 121 people have died in Ecuadorian prisons.

In view of these figures, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) therefore expressed its dissatisfaction with Ecuador on Monday.

The Washington-based institution, which depends on the Organization of American States (OAS), “urges the state to adopt immediate and effective measures to guarantee the right to life and physical integrity of those in detention, as well as to prevent the repetition of these acts ”.

The Ecuadorian authorities attribute the violence to clashes between rival gangs linked to drug trafficking.

Overcrowded establishments

In February, simultaneous riots in four major prisons across the country left 79 people dead, some of whom were beheaded.

According to Ecuador, 103 murders were committed in the country's prisons in 2020. The prisons there are overcrowded and house 39,000 inmates for a maximum capacity of 30,000 places.

After another riot in July that left 27 prisoners dead, the government replaced the authorities in charge of the country's 65 prisons and declared an emergency in the prison system.

Last week, Ecuador also announced that it would increase its prison capacity as part of a plan to restructure the "precarious" and "chaotic" prison system.

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  • Human rights

  • Violence

  • Jail

  • Drug traffic

  • Prisoners

  • World

  • Ecuador