According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the country’s prison population stands at 31,321 people across the 36 custodial centers that exist nationwide.
Of that total, 3,245 prisoners are foreignersthe majority (2,900) men, according to the latest prison census compiled by INEC.
Ecuador’s prison system has been in deep crisis for about four years, due in part to overcrowding, budget deficits and frequent massacres between criminal gangs battling for control of the prisons.
In these massacres, which have been taking place since 2020, More than 450 prisoners were murdered as a result of the discord between criminal gangs in prisons, in a spiral of violence that has also spilled onto the streets.
In early January, Noboa, who had been in power since November 23, declared a state of emergency at the national level and the next day signed a decree admitting “an internal armed conflict” against organized crime gangs.
Noboa thus guaranteed the intervention of the Armed Forces in joint operations with the police to ‘neutralize’ the organized crime groups that had caused the chaos and those he identified as ‘terrorists’.
Source: El heraldo
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
