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The head of the Ecuadorian Prisons Administration announced that Ecuador will pardon up to 2,000 prisoners as the South American country seeks to reduce overcrowding in detention centers following fatal riots this week.
Bolivar Garzon, director of the SNAI Prison Administration, said on Friday that the government will give priority to the release of elderly and female prisoners, as well as disabled and terminally ill prisoners.
At least 118 prisoners were killed and 79 others were injured riot In Penitenciaria del Litoral in the southern city of Guayaquil on Tuesday, this was the deadliest prison violence in Ecuador’s history.
Garzon said that the country’s prisons currently hold approximately 39,000 prisoners.
He also said that Tuesday’s riots were triggered by “organized criminal groups fighting for control.”
In recent months, there have been several violent incidents in Ecuador’s prisons. Officials have stated that groups working with transnational criminal groups are competing for drug trafficking routes.
After the riots, the families of Ecuadorian prisoners seek information about their loved ones [Santiago Arcos/Reuters]Seventy-nine prisoners died In February, riots broke out in the three prisons at the same time, and in July, 27 prisoners killed In the coastal facility. In September, a prison was attacked by drones, but no casualties were reported.
The Minister of the Interior of Ecuador, Alexandra Bella, told reporters on Friday that Ecuador has sent 3,600 police and military reinforcements to prisons across the country to maintain order.
She added that the forensic department has confirmed the identities of 41 victims in the violence on Tuesday and handed over the bodies of 21 of them to their families.
Relatives of dozens of prisoners gathered outside the Guayaquil morgue to seek information about their loved ones. The authorities stated that at least six victims were beheaded.
Officer Henry Coral asked the family to help expedite the identification of the body by telling the authorities of any tattoos, scars or other distinctive features of prisoners believed to have been killed. Some bodies were dismembered or burned, making identification more difficult.
Eduardo Montes, 60, is waiting for news from his 25-year-old brother Vicente Montes, who will be released within a month.
“They sent us a picture where you can see the head of a victim, we believe it is my brother, but we don’t know if he is really dead or alive,” Montes said . “I hope he is still alive and hope they release him.”
On Wednesday, Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso announced State of emergency In the prison system, this gives the government powers, including the deployment of police and soldiers in detention centers.
Dozens of police and military vehicles and ambulances entered the Binhai Prison compound on Thursday, while helicopters flew over the area.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency in the prison system this week [Santiago Arcos/Reuters]Lasso said: “It is regrettable that the prison is becoming a territory where criminal gangs are fighting for power,” Lasso said, adding that he will take “absolutely determined” actions to regain control of the Binhai Prison and prevent the spread of violence. Other facilities.
The pictures circulating on social media show that there are dozens of bodies in the prison halls 9 and 10, and the scenes look like battlefields. Officials said the fighting was conducted with guns, knives and bombs.
Ledy Zuniga, the former chairman of the National Rehabilitation Council of Ecuador, said: “In the history of the country, there has not been an incident similar to or close to this.”
Zuniga, who served as the country’s attorney general in 2016, said she regretted not taking steps to prevent another massacre following the deadly prison riot in February.
Lasso said that care points have been set up for relatives of prisoners, where they can get food and psychological support.
He added that plans to address the prison situation in the country will be accelerated, starting with investing in the infrastructure and technology of Litoral prison.
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