Ecuador singled out for violence in its prisons

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Monday (August 23) condemned the violence in Ecuadorian prisons which has killed 121 people since the start of the year.

The Washington-based institution, which depends on the Organization of American States (OAS), “

”.

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

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

According to the Ecuadorian ombudsman, 103 murders were committed in the country's prisons in 2020. Ecuadorian prisons 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 announced that it would increase its prison capacity as part of a plan to restructure the "

" and "

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prison system

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