Human rights defenders lacked appropriate protection mechanisms to safeguard their lives and physical safety. The authorities failed to ensure effective investigations into threats and attacks against human rights defenders, particularly those working to defend Indigenous Peoples’ rights, their...

States in the Americas must address the closure of civic space in the region, end repressive policies and respond to the social demands of the population of the region, said Amnesty International today in an open letter to heads of state attending the 53rd General Assembly of the Organization of...

Reacting to the signing of a communiqué by more than 30 countries in Costa Rica today calling for international law including prohibitions and regulations in relation to the development and use of autonomous weapons systems, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said: “The...

Ecuador joins countries such as Colombia and Peru in failing on two levels to protect Venezuelan refugees who survive gender-based violence, indicating an alarming regional trend that must be urgently reversed, Amnesty International said today upon publishing a new report. Unprotected in Ecuador:...

Features of Venezuelan human mobility: As of September 2022, approximately 7.1 million Venezuelans have left their country. Ecuador is the receiving country with the third highest number of Venezuelans in the world, after Colombia and Peru, with 502,214 Venezuelan refugees in the country. By the...

On 12 September this year, President Guillermo Lasso presented Ecuadorian citizens with a series of eight questions on public security, strengthening democracy and the environment in order to promote a citizens’ consultation in 2023 that could lead to constitutional reforms. This week, Ecuador’s...

President Lasso must address the structural causes of the demonstrations The repression by President Guillermo Lasso’s government of demonstrations called by Indigenous, trade union and social organisations as part of a national strike since 13 June 2022 is causing a human rights crisis with many...

Since December 2020, at least 390 people have been killed in Ecuador’s prisons. Following the massacre on 9 May at the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas prison, in which at least 44 prisoners were killed and 10 others injured, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:...

Legislation, policies and extractive projects without consent have affected Indigenous territories Authorities and companies in Ecuador threaten the Amazon through legislation, policies and extractive projects (mainly oil and mining) that have not obtained the free, prior and informed consent of...

In response to the news that the unjust six-month sentence of human rights defender and environmental lawyer Steven Donziger has been completed on 25 April 2022, Daniel Joloy, senior policy advisor at Amnesty International, said: “We are relieved that Steven Donziger will finally recover his...

COVID-19 has laid bare and exacerbated the systemic inequality, widespread repression and destructive policies that contributed to the Americas becoming the region worst affected by the pandemic, Amnesty International said today upon publishing its annual report. In the Americas, Amnesty...