at least 15 dead in new riot

It is a recurring episode in the Andean country. On Monday, October 3 at night, a riot broke out in the Cotopaxi Number 1 prison, in the vicinity of the city of Latacunga, which resulted in at least 15 deaths and 21 injuries. This was reported by the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), which assured that when the prison authorities regained control of the prison, nothing could be done for the victims.

It all started with a simple collection and updating of data in Cotopaxi Number 1. The prisoners were participating in the updating of the Ecuadorian prison census when the clashes began. Realizing the situation, the SNAI notified the police to activate “all security protocols, in order to protect the security of the prison center.”

Police tactical teams entered the center to try to regain control and the Armed Forces guarded the surroundings. Some civilians recorded images of how some inmates tried to take refuge on the roofs of the building to avoid getting involved in the clashes.

The SNAI has warned that the death toll could rise at any time, as the work of forensic doctors and investigations are still ongoing. In social networks, the version is being considered that among the deceased would be Leandro Norero, accused of leading the Jalisco Nueva Generación drug gang.

“Regarding the death of the defendant Leandro N., the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office reports that after the corresponding identification skills, his death may or may not be confirmed,” said the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office regarding the speculations.

Meanwhile, as has happened on previous occasions in this type of brawl, the relatives of the inmates wait nearby for information on the whereabouts and condition of their loved ones.

A long-term tragedy in Ecuador

The problem in Ecuadorian prisons has been around for a long time. In 2021 alone, at least 316 prisoners died during various prison riots in Ecuador. A figure that exceeds more than 400 deaths in prisons if we go back to 2020, mainly the result of clashes between rival illegal gangs.

In 2006, four prisoners died and 22 were injured in a shootout at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil.

Except for this rather isolated incident, the real escalation in prison violence began in late 2020. In December of that year, at least eight inmates died in the Esmeraldas Number 2 prison, in an alleged conflict to see who would get the jail control.

In 2021, on February 23, there were three simultaneous riots: in the prisons of Guayas, Azuay and Cotopaxi. An event that resulted in at least 80 deaths in the three places, 20 of them beheaded, all in alleged retaliation for the murder of a drug trafficker known as alias ‘Rasquiña’.

On July 21, the brawls returned in the Cotopaxi and Number 1 prisons in Guayas, with a balance of 22 dead. Faced with the outbreak of violence, President Guillermo Lasso decided to declare a state of emergency.

But the most serious incident that has been recorded in recent times was on September 28, 2021, when 120 inmates died in a riot in what is known as the Litoral Penitentiary, Guayaquil’s Number 1 Deprivation of Liberty Center.

Since then there have been at least five more riots and dozens of deaths in them. The last one before this Monday was less than three months ago, in Santo Domingo de los Colorados.

Why are there so many prison riots in Ecuador?

Although gang violence is one of the main reasons for these episodes, it is not the only one. The government of the conservative Guillermo Lasso has attributed this violence to the struggles between gangs over drug trafficking routes and control of various areas of the country., strategic in drug smuggling due to its location between Colombia and Peru. But it is a problem that goes further.

“Ecuador is under a serious external threat due to the attack of the drug trafficking mafias, the same ones that intend to take control of the country’s detention centers and take away our freedom in the streets and cities,” President Lasso said during a press conference in November 2021.

However, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has affirmed that this problem is centered rather on the absence of the State itself. In a report on the situation, the organization maintained that the Ecuadorian prison system is plagued by state abandonment, the absence of a comprehensive policy, and the poor conditions of inmates.

“The IACHR identifies the absence of effective control by the State in the centers where the most serious acts of violence occurred, which would have meant that, in practice, intra-prison control is the responsibility of the detainees themselves,” the organization pointed out in its report on the prison crisis in the Andean nation.

Something that adds to the collusion of the State and its officials with the members of drug trafficking networks. On September 20, the police arrested three agents from Cotopaxi Number 1 for participating in ammunition trafficking, after they were discovered trying to bring almost 500 bullets into the jail.

In the raids and searches after episodes of violence, the police have always found firearms, bladed weapons -such as machetes- and different types of ammunition.

Corruption, clashes between gangs, state abandonment and overcrowding are part of the environment of Ecuadorian prisons. Currently, Ecuador has 36 prisons that house more than 32,000 inmates and exceed their maximum capacity by 11.3%, according to official figures.

With EFE, Reuters and local media