The Regional Human Rights Advisory Foundation (Inredh) of Ecuador on Thursday presented its report on human rights violations under Executive Decree 111, in which it recorded 45 cases of violations perpetrated by public officials. The NGO’s 28-page report documents and analyses complaints made by citizens from January 8 to April 8 of this year, which were collected through various social media platforms.
Varying complaints were made in connection to extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, inhuman and degrading treatment in prisons, illegal and arbitrary detention(s), and violations against the territory of Indigenous communities. Among other matters, the report also explores the definition of a non-international armed conflict, whether the situation in Ecuador amounted to such a conflict at the time, the attributions of the armed forces, the actions of the public forces, and their subsequent impact on human rights.
Executive Decree 111 was signed by Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on January 9, 2024, following the announcement of Executive Decree 110 a day prior, which declared a state of emergency in the country. In particular, Article 3 of Decree 111 allows for the “mobilization and intervention of the armed forces and the national police in the national territory against transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations, and belligerent non-state actors.” Additionally, Article 4 identified 22 groups falling under the provided definitions and ordered the armed forces to carry out military operations to “neutralize” these groups.
In concluding the report, Inredh—which has been active for over 30 years—raises several serious concerns. Not only does it state that the situation in Ecuador does not meet the intensity threshold but that the groups identified under Article 4 also do not meet the “required threshold of organization” to successfully determine that the country is in a non-international armed conflict. Furthermore, according to the human rights group, the declarations were used as a pretext to violate more human rights and served as a justification for disproportionate force and administrative negligence.
