IACHR urges Ecuador to take effective action against ongoing prison violence

November 26, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) stresses its concern about persistent prison violence in Ecuador and once again urges the State to take immediate, effective measures to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of all individuals who are deprived of liberty. The IACHR also urges the State to investigate the violence and identify and punish the people responsible for it, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future.

During 2025, up to November 9, the IACHR confirmed at least 72 deaths of inmates killed in prison violence, who join the 591 similar deaths mentioned in its press release of January 14, 2025. This adds up to an IACHR estimated total of at least 663 inmates killed in prison violence in Ecuador since 2020. The country is immersed in a decades-old prison crisis, as the IACHR noted in a thematic report.

The most recent violence took place in the Machala 1 penitentiary facility, in the province of El Oro. According to the national penitentiary service, a prison riot on November 9 claimed the lives of 31 inmates. Of these, four were found dead in the early hours and a further 27 in the afternoon. On September 23, the IACHR had condemned the deaths of 14 individuals, including a prison guard, at the same facility.

The State said it had launched an investigation and was implementing the new Public Policy 2025–2029 to strengthen the Ecuadorian prison system. This new policy includes improved infrastructure, better control, more security staff, and inmate transfers—including transfers of inmates considered to be high risk, in order to prevent new riots, minimize risks, and protect the integrity of both inmates and staff.

From November 10, the IACHR monitored the transfer of hundreds of inmates regarded as “the most dangerous” to the new high-security prison El Encuentro, in the province of Santa Elena. One of these inmates was former Ecuadorian President Jorge Glas, of whose transfer the current government issued footage with stigmatizing comments.

The IACHR is concerned that these transfers may have been rushed, because, according to the available reports, construction at El Encuentro has not been completed. The State told the IACHR that the facility had obtained all required permits and offered all basic utilities. Inmates at El Encuentro are reportedly being held in solitary confinement, and internal security is allegedly being handled by military or police officers. The IACHR further notes that plans to build the new facility on indigenous land were originally rejected due to their social and environmental impact and to the lack of prior consultation.

The IACHR has said in the past that the main factors leading to prison violence are poor control of State detention facilities; the existence of self-governing systems where prison control is in the hands of inmates who are members of organized crime groups; insufficient staff; and staff corruption, which enables illegal object availability within penitentiary facilities.

In this context, disputes emerge among criminal gangs over control of detention facilities, mainly focused on the financial gains associated with illegal business within penitentiaries. The IACHR further warns that prison violence happens in a broader context of violence and lack of public safety due to the actions of organized crime in Ecuador, as the IACHR said in its 2024 Annual Report.

The IACHR therefore stresses that, in compliance with its Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, States have the inescapable obligation to take concrete action to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of individuals who are in State custody.

Ecuador must take urgent, effective action to prevent and control potential outbreaks of violence in prisons; prevent the actions of criminal organizations within penitentiaries; enforce effective control to keep illegal objects out of penitentiary facilities; prevent riots; restore security; and increase staff numbers. The State must also investigate ex officio—in a serious, swift, and impartial way, and with due diligence—all acts of violence and identify and punish the people responsible for them.

Finally, the IACHR stresses that it will continue to monitor the situation of individuals who are deprived of liberty in Ecuador. The IACHR remains willing to support the State in its efforts to overcome this serious penitentiary crisis and to help Ecuador to implement the recommendations made in the IACHR’s most recent thematic report on the issue.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 242/25

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