A delegation of human rights activists and community leaders from Ecuador joined Amnesty International in Washington D.C. last week to present devastating firsthand accounts of serious human rights violations and impacts of illegal economies on Indigenous and peasant communities throughout Ecuador and to urge the U.S. government to help in ending these human rights violations.
The delegation – comprised of Amazon Watch, Comision Ecuménica de Derechos Humanos CEDHU, CDH Guayaquil, Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos INREDH, FOIN, and communities affected by militarization – held meetings with U.S. government officials, including members of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the State Department, specifically from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. They also met with representatives of the National Security Council of the U.S. Presidency.
The groups also met with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Department against Transnational Organized Crime (DDOT), and several mandates of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to highlight the severity of human rights abuses in Ecuador. Discussions included abuses committed by the security forces, the situation of detainees, freedom of expression, the situation of human rights defenders, including the criminalization of activists defending their land and territories, and the rights of Indigenous and peasant communities.
“The U.S. can be more involved in aiding Ecuador in their security crisis and ending these human rights violations,” said Daniel Noroña, Director of Advocacy for the Americas, Amnesty International USA. “Although Ecuador has received over $200 million in foreign aid from the U.S. for security assistance, serious concerns remain about the protection of human rights amidst rising violence and militarization. Where’s the accountability? Congress, the Senate, and the executive branch must actively demand from their Ecuadorean counterparts that U.S. taxpayer funded assistance is being used in accordance with international human rights and U.S. federal law. Ecuador cannot be forgotten by the international community.”
According to the organizations, the human rights abuses have occurred in the context of the security measures implemented by the Ecuadorian government, some of which is funded by the U.S., the expansion of organized crime, and the increasing threats against human rights defenders. Additionally, concerns were raised about the shrinking civic space for civil society and journalists, as well as human rights violations within Ecuadorian prisons.
Since January 9, 2024, following a surge in violence that shocked Ecuadorian society, President Noboa’s government declared a state of emergency due to severe internal unrest, accompanied by the declaration of a “Non-International Armed Conflict” (NIAC), as a measure to address insecurity, the prison crisis, and organized crime. However, several months after the implementation of these measures, concerns have emerged about their effectiveness.
Despite efforts, no structural actions have been taken to dismantle the long-term networks of organized crime or reduce violence. Policies have focused on the militarization of penitentiaries, coastal areas, and border zones, without addressing the proliferation of illegal economies. Against this background, reports of human rights abuses have increased, tied to police and military operations in the streets and in prisons, that have been carried out with little transparency. In the past three months, Amnesty International has denounced allegations of human rights violations, including torture, extrajudicial executions, and threats and attacks against human rights defenders, in recent submissions to United Nations treaty bodies, including the Committee against Torture and the Human Rights Committee.
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