27 Killed in Riots at Two Prisons in Ecuador

Ecuadorian authorities announced on Friday that the death toll from riots this week at two prisons in the country has risen to 27 inmates, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in the prisons. President Guillermo Lasso declared on Thursday a "state of emergency in the prison system to mobilize all necessary human and economic resources to restore order" following outbreaks of violence on Wednesday at prisons in Guayas (southwest) and Cotopaxi (central). The prison administration tweeted on Friday, "19 inmates have been reported dead, one of whom was hanged" in Cotopaxi prison. Reports indicate that eight were killed in Guayas prison. Earlier on Friday, authorities reported that 22 inmates had been killed and 57 others injured, including eight police officers, one of whom was raped. The governor of Cotopaxi province, Osvaldo Coronel, explained in a press conference that bodies found on Thursday evening were not included in the initial count. The prison administration stated that police arrested 86 inmates who had escaped from Cotopaxi, without clarifying how many remain at large. In February, clashes between gangs for control of the main prisons in the country resulted in the death of 79 inmates in one day. Ecuador has about sixty prisons with a capacity for 29,000 people, but the inmate population is 38,000, exceeding capacity by thirty percent. There are 1,500 guards monitoring the prisons, while an effective security force is supposed to consist of four thousand personnel. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ecuador has resorted to alternative penalties for minor crimes to reduce the inmate count, decreasing overcrowding from 42% to 30%. The Ombudsman’s office reported "103 killings" in the country’s prisons during the year 2020.