More than 265 murders have occurred in Ecuadorian prisons during 2021. More than 180 cases are from the Litoral Penitentiary.
Since September 28, when the worst massacre in the Ecuadorian prison system was recorded, with 120 inmates murdered in the Litoral Penitentiary, the incidents have not stopped. In recent days shots and grenade detonations have been heard. A video of how inmates torture others for apparently not paying money to gang leaders went viral.
In fact, between Sunday and Monday, there were two dead and one injured. So far in 2021 there have been 265 violent deaths in prisons. In the Penitentiary there are more than 180 cases due to the fight between gangs that dispute the territories, inside and outside the prison, for drug trafficking.
In an attempt to stop this prison crisis that has crossed borders, the board of directors of the National Social Rehabilitation System approved on Wednesday the creation of an Emergency Intervention Commission in prisons.
Bernarda Ordóñez, Secretary of Human Rights, moved the creation of this commission, which was later approved by the board of directors. In his speech, he said that it should be made up of the security axis and the social axis. Various public entities and civil society will participate in this.
The dependencies that will be part of this commission are:
- Ombudsman’s Office.
- Board members of the Technical Agency of the National Social Rehabilitation System.
- National Assembly.
- Ecuadorian church.
- Judicial function.
- Academia.
- Media.
- Governments of the country.
The Ombudsman’s Office will lead this commission. Security experts such as the general in passive service Víctor Araus considered that among those entities that will work should be the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion.
Araus, who spent 35 years in the National Police, pointed out that it is important to treat the mental and occupational health of prisoners, because in Ecuador there would be no real rehabilitation.
“No inmate goes out to look for a decent job and to serve society or to recover his family. They go out to recover the lost territory, they are angry, resentful for the mistreatment they have received there, because if you don’t have the money to give you privileged treatment, you will live years of hell in jail, “said Araus.
The former commander of the Zone 8 Police mentioned that in Ecuador there is no real prison formation. In other countries, those who run a prison have master’s degrees in that subject, they are doing postgraduate degrees, they are people specialized in rehabilitation.
One of the problems with prisons is that the state seems not to be in control. In the interior, the leaders of gangs are in command, who have distributed pavilions and have contacts with narco-criminal groups. Recently the diary Millennium, from Mexico, indicated that of the 40,000 prisoners who are in prisons in Ecuador, 25,000 are part of gangs that work for the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.
The creation of this commission took place hours after it was confirmed that Álex Salazar Villamar, leader of the Los Tiguerones gang, with a presence in the Penitentiary, had benefited from pre-release.
Bolívar Garzón, director of the SNAI, indicated at the meeting that the judge’s order was complied with. On the same day that Salazar was released, shots and detonations were reported in various pavilions of the prison.
The Minister of Government, Alexandra Vela, asked that the decisions of the judicial system take into account the level of danger represented by the presence on the streets of an inmate. “It is very difficult for the Police to determine the criminal acts, take, arrest the people who are involved in these processes and take them to jail,” he added.
Monsignor Luis Cabrera, archbishop of Guayaquil, said that if they are invited to be part of that mediation table so that the desired peace between the PPL and other state entities arrives, they will always be predisposed to contribute.
He recalled that the commission was a topic that was suggested, but that no steps have been taken to form part of that instance.
“We have a program called prison ministry, there we have several courses, training in principles and values, also psychological and spiritual accompaniment to people deprived of liberty,” he said.
Other people who work in prisons with spiritual support and social help indicate that for a rehabilitation more attention is needed in those centers. (I)
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
