13 killed in Ecuador prison riots
July 19, 2022
An incident of deadly violence in an Ecuadorian prison killed thirteen prisoners on Monday, Ecuador's prison agency said.
"Unfortunately, central command reports 13 (inmates) dead and two injured," Ecuador's prison agency SNAI said on Twitter. The agency said that the country's police and armed forces were taking back control of the penitentiary.
The incident took place at the same Bellavista prison in the town of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, about 80 kilometers from Quito, where 44 inmates were killed in a bloody brawl in May.
About 220 prisoners had escaped after the riot in May, but most of them have been recaptured.
Prison riots common in the country
Prison riots are common in the Andean country, with President Guillermo Lasso attributing prison violence to fights between gangs over control of territory and drug trafficking routes.
In the past year alone, 316 prisoners have lost their lives to prison violence across the country.
Prisons in Ecuador are home to about 33,900 inmates and the jails are 12.5% beyond maximum capacity, according to official figures.
There is a shortage of guards, and rampant corruption has resulted in prisoners having access to firearms and explosives.
Lack of a comprehensive policy on prisons, poor living conditions for prisoners, as well as a lack of attention by the state, is responsible for prison violence, says the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
tg/jsi (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)