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July 29, 2022

Soldiers stand guard outside the Penitenciaria del Litoral prison following a riot, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, November 15, 2021. © 2021 Reuters/Santiago Arcos How Massacres Unfold in Ecuador’s Prisons A string of gang-related mass killings in Ecuador’s prisons have taken the lives of more than 350 detainees since 2021. Overcrowding and lack of government control in prisons have enabled gang-members to commit these massacres. A new interactive report documents one of the deadliest recent massacres. Using a 3D model of one detention center, Human Rights Watch documented a prison massacre that took place in Guayaquil in November 2021, in which more than 60 detainees were killed. Anatomy of a Prison Massacre When the massacre in Ecuador’s “Littoral Penitentiary” took place from November 12-13, 2021, the prison housed approximately 7,000 detainees. Its maximum capacity was 5,246. HRW researchers reviewed dozens of videos and photographs and interviewed relatives of detainees to determine what happened and create a timeline of events. Researchers then built a 3D model of the prison and overlaid geolocated stills from videos and photographs taken in the prison’s shared spaces to reconstruct key events in the days prior, during, and after the massacre. Inside Ecuador’s Prisons Detention facilities in Ecuador are often controlled by criminal organizations that extort money from detainees and their families. They also often have weak government control and oversight. Many detainees are forced to work with organized crime groups to protect themselves or to access mattresses, bedding, and health supplies. Meanwhile, prisons in Ecuador are overcrowded, rooted partly in the country’s harsh drug policies and excessive use of pre-trial detention. Some prisons hold roughly twice as many detainees as their official capacity and have insufficient and poorly trained guards. Inmates of Ecuador’s Regional Guayaquil prison hold banners reading, "We just want peace”, October 2, 2021. © 2021 Reuters/Vicente Gaibor del Pino What's Next? As of mid-July, Ecuador’s authorities had not convicted anyone for their part in the November killings or in any other prison massacres occurring in 2021. Several victims’ relatives said that they spent days trying to find out whether their loved ones had survived. Some only learned that they had been killed because their names were included in a list posted on a light post outside the prison. Others found out when a government official shouted the victims’ names outside the morgue. The prosecutor investigating the November massacre told Human Rights Watch he was looking into who was responsible for the killings. But unless the government prioritizes addressing overcrowding and wresting control of detention facilities from organized crime, more bloodshed is likely. See the Investigation Here In Other News Torture, Disappearances in Ukraine’s Occupied South Russian forces have turned occupied areas of southern Ukraine into an abyss of fear and wild lawlessness. Read More Morocco’s Hidden Repression Moroccan authorities are using underhanded tactics to silence critical activists and journalists, aiming to preserve the image of a “moderate,” rights-respecting country while it grows ever-more repressive. Read More Rebels Target Civilians in DR Congo The M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 29 civilians since mid-June 2022, and there are heightened concerns that the abusive rebel force, largely inactive for a decade, is receiving Rwandan support for its operations. Read More Spotlight New York City celebrates the third annual Disability Pride Parade on July 9, 2017. © 2017 Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images Observing Disability Pride Month this July “ ‘Disability pride’ does not aim to dismiss the challenges and societal barriers people with disabilities encounter. Instead, it seeks to celebrate the intrinsic worth and meaningful contributions of people like my father,” writes HRW Disability Rights coordinator Adriana Masgras. Read More Take Action Illustration © Andrea Devia Nuño, Hero Studios #StudentsNotProducts We think our kids are safe in school online. But many of them are being surveilled, and parents have often been kept in the dark. Kids are priceless, not products. Commit to protecting them online today. Act Now

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