State of emergency declared in Ecuadorian prisons due to riots

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The Ecuadorean authorities declared today a state of emergency in the country's prisons with the aim of restoring order to them against the background of riots erupting inside them, causing dozens of deaths and injuries.

Agence France-Presse reported that Ecuadorean President Guillermo Laso declared a state of emergency in prisons and mobilized all the human and economic resources necessary to restore order after riots inside them, which left 22 dead and sixty injured, according to the latest official toll, especially in Cotopaxi province, where the majority of victims were recorded.

"We will start a mechanism for a complete restructuring of the prison system," President Lasso said, stressing that "the army will be tasked with monitoring access to prisons, while the police will take care of security inside."

The Ecuadorean Prison Authority announced yesterday that it had arrested forty-five prisoners while they were trying to escape from Cotopaxi prison, where ten prisoners were killed and 35 wounded, while eight other prisoners were killed in Guayas prison.

It is noteworthy that at least 79 prisoners were killed last February during clashes between rival gangs inside Ecuadorian prisons.