Statement at the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Adoption of UPR Outcomes on Ecuador
Delivered by Nicola Paccamiccio
Thank you, Mr President.
Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo and CIVICUS welcome the government of Ecuador's engagement with the UPR process and its efforts to improve the legal framework for civil society organisations and to reform restrictive legislation used to stifle journalism.
Since its last review, Ecuador has fully implemented 2 of the 25 recommendations relating to civic space and taken steps to implement 13 recommendations. We welcome that Ecuador accepted 18 of the 20 recommendations it received on civic space during this cycle.
However, the CIVICUS Monitor rates space for civil society as ‘obstructed,’ indicating that it is constantly undermined by authorities and non-state actors.
We remain concerned by the lack of institutional mechanisms to promote an enabling environment for human rights defenders, journalists and activists. While Ecuador committed to establishing protection mechanisms to ensure their safety, efforts in this regard have stalled while judicial harassment, criminalisation and violence continue to take place with impunity.
Over the past five years, protest rights have been repeatedly violated. In 2022, Indigenous-led protests were once again met with repression, leaving over 300 people injured and 9 dead in less than a month. We are concerned about the recurrence of excessive use of force by Ecuador’s security forces. Rather than recognising human rights abuses in the context of protests, authorities have often stigmatised those taking to the streets.
Mr President, we call on the Government of Ecuador to take concrete steps to address these concerns, including by:
- Immediately and impartially investigating all instances of excessive force in the context of protests;
- Reviewing and updating existing human rights training for police and security forces and;
- Implementing comprehensive policies and mechanisms to protect civil society organisations, human rights defenders and journalists.
We thank you.
Civic space in Ecuador is rated as "Obstructed" by the CIVICUS Monitor.