International

Ecuadorian Ombudsman’s Office reports violent deaths of prisoners in prisons under military control

The Ombudsman’s Office of Ecuador issued a statement where it reported cases of violent deaths of prisoners in prisons under military control “with signs of alleged torture,” as well as warnings of deaths of prisoners due to malnutrition.

This report was issued by the Ombudsman’s Office after a judge ordered this institution to investigate the allegations of human rights violations filed by non-governmental organizations during the militarization of prisons ordered by the Government of President Daniel Noboa in the framework of the “internal armed conflict” that he declared against organized crime.

According to its report, the Ombudsman’s Office counted 24 deaths of prisoners in various prisons in the country between February 9 and March 7, 2024, “by natural deaths and in other cases by violent deaths, with indications of alleged torture. Likewise, there are alerts of the death of PPL (persons deprived of liberty) with signs of malnutrition.”

That record corresponds to the first of the three months that the state of emergency that Noboa decreed at the national level against criminal gangs lasted, and whose declaration of “internal armed conflict” remains in force, with which the Government has come to name these groups as terrorists and non-state belligerent actors.

“From the information collected by family members, people deprived of liberty, the media and civil society, the increase in deaths in the CPL (centers of deprivation of liberty) was identified, they are in the custody of the Armed Forces,” said the Ombudsman’s Office.

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The institution that ensures the fulfillment of fundamental rights in Ecuador pointed out that it is constantly monitoring the prisons of the provinces of Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo, Carchi, Imbabura, Pichincha (whose capital is Quito), Cotopaxi, Sucumbíos and Napo, in which the food service was suspended since May 1.

Likewise, it echoed the journalistic reports that warn that the suspension of the food service will be extended to the province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, where the largest prison complex in the country is located, which with about 12,000 inmates, approximately a third of the country’s prison population.

“The authorities were aware of the possible risk of incidents in the centers due to food problems,” said the Ombudsman’s Office.

The SOS Cárceles Ecuador platform denounced the alleged death of an inmate from the Latacunga prison, in the province of Cotopaxi, for alleged malnutrition, information that so far has not been confirmed nor denied by the National Service of Integral Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), the State’s prison agency.

The Government has attributed the suspension of the food service to an alleged link of the supplier company to organized crime, while the company has pointed out in the media that it registers a significant State debt.

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In some prisons, the relatives of the prisoners have organized themselves to collect donations and provide food to their imprisoned relatives.

Ecuador’s prisons are one of the epicenters of Ecuador’s violence crisis, as many of them are under the control of criminal gangs, so Noboa went on to militarize them when he decreed a state of emergency at the national level at the beginning of the year.

Between 2020 and 2023, more than 500 prisoners were murdered within them, most of them in a series of bloody prison massacres due to disputes between rival gangs.

These gangs, mainly dedicated to drug trafficking, are credited with the swell of violence that plagues Ecuador and that has led it to be among the first countries in Latin America with the most homicides, with a rate of 47 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime (OECO).

So far Noboa has closed ranks around state forces in the face of allegations of human rights violations during what the head of state has called a “war” on organized crime.

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On Monday, the Deputy Minister of Government, Esteban Torres, rejected the letter sent by the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) to Noboa in which he expressed to him that his evaluations of that first state of emergency determined that the declaration of “internal armed conflict” is not sufficiently motivated and that that measure contributed to serious human rights violations.

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.