Ecuador has captured international attention with the recent declaration of an “internal armed conflict” by the new government, responding to the tumultuous political situation and elevated violence rates in the country. This declaration, following the framework of International Humanitarian Law, involves heightened domestic security measures, granting the government, through the armed forces and national police, special emergency powers to theoretically restore peace and social order. Nevertheless, it also entails significant risks for human rights and Indigenous territories.
Amazon Watch remains deeply concerned about this situation, particularly due to the risks Indigenous communities and Earth Defenders already face in Ecuador. While President Daniel Noboa’s “Phoenix Plan” initiative aims to combat organized crime groups and focuses on the coastal zone and Ecuador’s capital, it poses considerable risks for civil society, Indigenous organizations, and the Amazon. Our recent report, “Amazon Underworld,” highlighted the expansion of organized crime’s presence and political influence throughout the Amazon. This expansion has led to violence against communities, Indigenous organizations, environmental degradation, and deforestation – particularly evident in Ecuador with the rise of illegal mining.
The report underscores that while Indigenous communities and organizations often seek to resist crime in their territories, government responses in the region tend to favor repressive and militaristic approaches instead of reinforcing Indigenous peoples’ territorial rights and self-protection measures. Anti-crime initiatives can even be manipulated to stigmatize Indigenous organizations and gain control over their territories.
Given the Ecuadorian government’s ambiguous handling of International Humanitarian Law, we express serious concern for the safety of human rights defenders, Indigenous and campesino communities, and civil society actors. They face multiple threats from both military and police forces (criminalization, militarization, and persecution under the pretext of fighting organized crime) and criminals (contesting control of territories related to drug trafficking and illegal mining).
Simultaneously, a society paralyzed by fear may be inclined to accept authoritarian solutions that could further stigmatize environmental defenders, leading to cruel and inhuman treatment without due process or diligence in upholding human rights. Furthermore, the Ecuadorian government might exploit the need to finance and sustain regime actions in the internal conflict as an additional justification to promote the expansion of the oil and mining frontier. We are already seeing attempts to undermine the historic Yasuní referendum vote to keep one of the country’s largest crude reserves in the ground in the name of the crisis.
Background
To grasp the severity of Ecuador’s current situation, the homicide rate has quintupled between 2016 and 2022, experiencing an 82% surge in 2022 alone. By the end of 2023, the rate stood at 46 violent deaths per hundred thousand inhabitants, surpassing even Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico and making Ecuador the most violent country in Latin America.
While the internal security crisis has intensified in recent months, marked by a continuous and progressive deterioration in public security conditions, the roots of this problem are much deeper. Historically, Ecuador’s geostrategic position and interdependence with the Colombian armed conflict have influenced the export of drug trafficking routes and commercialization to the country. In recent years, worsening living conditions due to poverty, unemployment, and inequality, coupled with a weakened public institutional framework and a justice and prison system lacking a comprehensive policy and budget to combat drug trafficking, have transformed Ecuador into an international platform for organized crime operations.
The “Phoenix Plan”
In this context, President Noboa’s new government launched the “Phoenix Plan,” an anti-organized crime initiative devised by the outgoing President Guillermo Lasso. The plan aims to restore the country’s internal security by strengthening its intelligence apparatus and gaining control over prisons where approximately 22 international organized crime gangs currently operate freely.
In response to the initial actions of the Phoenix Plan, on January 7 organized violent groups reacted with simultaneous riots in the country’s major prisons, resulting in the abduction of 178 prison guards and administrative personnel. The widespread takeover of detention centers by inmates facilitated the escape of leaders from the most powerful criminal gangs, including Los Choneros, Tigerones, and Los Lobos.
Concurrently, under the directives of these criminal gangs, a wave of violence unfolded across all provinces of the country. This violence manifested in the form of murders and kidnappings of law enforcement officers, looting of commercial premises, car bomb explosions in 23 out of 24 provinces, destruction of public infrastructure, and occupation of public universities and shopping malls, among other incidents.
In response to this violent backlash, Noboa declared his first State of Exception on January 8 and called for a popular referendum address multiple issues, including creating conditions to combat organized crime. However, due to the escalating violence, on January 9 Ecuador was officially declared to be in an “internal armed conflict against transnational criminal terrorist organizations,” marking an unprecedented situation for the country.
Risks of an internal armed conflict
In response to Noboa’s new policies, along with various social and human rights organizations, we declared our concern about the situation in the country: “This declaration of internal armed conflict under the International Humanitarian Law raises various doubts about its reasonableness and insufficient motivation. Furthermore, there is concern about the lack of guarantees for the rights of the civilian population that is not involved, does not participate, nor benefits from the actions of these criminal groups that, as we have already pointed out, have permeated various neighborhoods and territories beyond the institutional framework. Without these guarantees, anyone can become a victim of the excesses of conflicting actors – both state and non-state.”
Similarly, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), has asserted that the country’s crisis is a result of a series of neoliberal state reforms that have weakened institutions and diminished the government’s response capacity. They urge the president and the National Assembly to take measures within the current legal framework and refrain from approving laws or policies that adversely affect the population.
Despite increased reports of excessive force, U.S. security cooperation is underway
In the past ten days, the Ecuadorian population has witnessed numerous operations aimed at dismantling criminal gangs and strategies to expand prison detention centers. Several instances of potential excessive use of force by the police and military have been documented, raising questions about the implementation of due process and human rights. Meanwhile, Noboa has proposed additional questions for the popular referendum which include constitutional reforms and the rapid approval of economic measures to fund the “Phoenix Plan.” These measures include regressive fiscal policies, such as tax exemptions for the business sector and aggressive privatization of the energy sector.
In response to the internal security crisis and widespread violence, Ecuador has garnered support from at least 38 countries, however it has chosen to establish military cooperation mechanisms only with the United States and Argentina. A new security cooperation agreement with the armed forces of the U.S. is currently under review by the Constitutional Court.
Amazon Watch will continue to engage with the human rights community in Ecuador and offer direct support to our Indigenous allies while pressuring international organizations and the U.S. government to help ensure the protection and respect for human rights and Indigenous rights in Ecuador.
