The UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture (SPT) called on Ecuador to immediately manage its current prison crisis and protect detainees’ human rights. The SPT reported that as a result of recent violence and decades long state abandonment, prisons lack essential services and resources.

The SPT visited nine places of deprivation of liberty in three cities from September 25 until October 1. Violence in the prison system over the past few years has resulted in hundreds of deaths. During the SPT’s visit, a prison fight broke out in Latacunga, killing at least 15 inmates. Maria Luisa Romero led the subcommittee’s investigation. Romero said that the SPT is “gravely concerned about the dire situation in various detention centers and prisons in Ecuador.” The SPT will share their report and recommendations with Ecuador, but the report will remain confidential until Ecuador decides to publish it.

The SPT first visited Ecuador in 2014 after the nation introduced the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2010. The SPT focuses on a “proactive approach to preventing torture and ill treatment” and aims to improve the treatments in an effort to preserve human rights.