The permanent Judiciary Council then announced it would review the performance of National Court justices. The changes have fostered a climate of open debate, but structural changes are still needed. The Communication Secretariat in the Office of the Presidency issued a statement noting it valued freedom of expression and would “not tolerate any stances against it.”. Significant human rights issues included reports of torture and abuse by police officers and prison guards; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; the existence of criminal libel laws; violence against women; and the use of child labor. As of September the government had issued visas to approximately 120,000 Venezuelans. The law identifies work that is “likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of a child,” which includes work in mines, garbage dumps, slaughterhouses, livestock, fishing, textiles, logging, and domestic service, as well as in any work environment requiring exposure to toxic or dangerous substances, dust, dangerous machinery, or loud noises. Several peaceful demonstrations took place during the state of exception, including a peaceful protest by approximately 17,000 demonstrators that police facilitated in Quito on October 9 and a march for peace and democracy in Guayaquil that drew an estimated 30,000 persons on the same day. But the amended law includes problematic provisions such as one treating “communications” as a “public service” and one giving anyone who can show that media published inaccurate or damaging content about them an unrestricted right to a published correction and an opportunity to respond. Ecuador has been receiving a huge influx of Venezuelan exiles, many passing through to other countries. President Moreno continues to rebuild relations with the Inter-American human rights system. Human rights and human development share a common vision and a common purpose—to secure, for every human being, freedom, well-being and dignity. Many individuals did not report cases of rape and sexual assault because of fear of retribution from the perpetrator or social stigma. The accused may also present evidence and call witnesses, invoke the right against self-incrimination, and confront and cross-examine witnesses. Section 2. Although the vast majority of public-sector workers also maintained membership in labor-sector associations, the law does not allow such associations to bargain collectively or strike. This constitutional requirement differs from the international standard calling for indigenous peoples’ free, prior, and informed consent to all measures affecting them, including projects affecting their ancestral lands. Violence and Harassment: On June 28, supporters of then president Jose Tuarez of the Citizen Participation and Social Control Council (CPCCS) pushed and screamed at journalists from several media outlets while he participated in a press conference in Guayaquil. Ecuador is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World , Freedom House's annual study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide. The families of the five persons killed during 30-S (two police officers, two military members, and a university student) continued to demand the government provide them full access to information and conduct a transparent follow-up investigation, as recommended in the report. UNHCR and local NGOs reported that refugee women and children were susceptible to violence and trafficking in persons for the purposes of sex trafficking and forced labor. Previous appeals. The government, led by the Ombudsman’s Office, was generally responsive to concerns raised by the LGBTI community. Local human rights organizations reported torture continued to occur in prisons, especially at Eighth Rehabilitation Regional Prison Center (Guayas Province) and Turi Prison (Azuay Province). The justices objected, but the review continued at time of writing. read more. A 2016 agreement between UNHCR and the Civil Registry allows UNHCR to provide financial aid to refugees who cannot afford to pay the identification card fee and travel expenses to the three cities where the cards are issued. Those without financial means to pay for an attorney have the right to request a court-appointed attorney from the Public Defenders’ Office. Officials acknowledged detecting acts of corruption outside rehabilitation centers and at checkpoints to enter prison centers, as guards in some cases intentionally did not observe established inspection protocols. The law requires a minimum of 30 workers for the creation of an association, work committee, or labor union, and it does not allow foreign citizens to serve as trade union officers. In 2017, Ecuador signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The report suggested an accelerated review of all cases tried before the Constitutional Court, immediate reforms to the penal code, and formation of a National Assembly commission to further investigate particular cases mentioned in the report. Overcrowding, poor conditions, and violence inside prisons are longstanding problems. FIDH federates 192 Human Rights NGOs. In a rapidly changing world, shifting geopolitical landscapes, climate change, environmental degradation and the digital transition, pose unquestionable challenges to human rights and democracy. President Moreno promoted social initiatives to raise awareness about disability rights. Ecuador faces chronic human rights challenges, including weak institutions, poor prison conditions, laws that give authorities broad powers to limit judicial independence, violence against women, far-reaching restrictions on women’s and girls’ access to reproductive health care, and disregard for indigenous rights. Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorians, Colombian refugees, and Venezuelan migrants (see section 7.d.) Country Reports on Human Rights Practices The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, also known as the Human Rights Reports, cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … Nonetheless, the reforms limit the allocation of radio frequencies to the public sector to no more than 10 percent of the spectrum. In May, the permanent CCP, elected by popular vote, announced that it would review the performance and appointment of the new Constitutional Court justices. The law limits the standard work period to 40 hours a week, eight hours a day, with two consecutive days of rest per week. Reforms to the 2013 communications law on spectrum allocations addressed past concerns about excessive spectrum being potentially allocated to state media. In most industries the law requires a 10-day “cooling-off” period from the time a strike is declared before it can take effect. The constitution declares the state to be plurinational and affirms the principle of nondiscrimination by recognizing the rights of indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian, and Montubio (an independent ethnic group of persons with a mixture of Afro-Ecuadorian, indigenous, and Spanish ancestry) communities. Haiti, 1995 - Report on the Situation of Human Rights … Protecting human rights comes in many forms. On July 3, President Moreno appointed Cecilia Chacon as head of the new Human Rights Secretariat, which is part of the executive branch and reports to the presidency. Successful habeas corpus hearings reduced abuses of the law significantly. President Moreno requested the resignation of ARCSA executive director Juan Carlos Galarza the same day, citing the criminal lawsuit against La Posta. El Telegrafo also reported the government spent nearly $200 million in 2018-19 on assistance programs aimed at persons with disabilities, including social services, home and health care programs, and employment and education incentives. Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Office of the U.S. The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including all forms of labor exploitation; child labor; illegal adoption; servile marriage; and the sale of tissues, fluids, and genetic materials of living persons. Non-Government Organization Reports. A 2015 ministerial accord lists 27 economic activities that qualify as dangerous and unhealthy. Local civil society organizations reported that children conducted domestic work, including paid household work. Indigenous and LGBTI individuals also experienced employment discrimination. Civil courts and the Administrative Conflicts Tribunal, generally considered independent and impartial, handle lawsuits seeking damages for, or immediate ending of, human rights violations. According to local experts, reporting rapes and other forms of violence continued to be a traumatic process, particularly for female minors. He further accused outlets of “media lynching” (see “Libel/Slander Laws” subsection below) over published stories that Tuarez altered his credentials to bolster his candidacy for the CPCCS presidency. v. Guatemala. The law includes spousal rape under crimes against sexual and reproductive integrity. Public rallies require prior government permits, which authorities usually granted. Migration officers are civilians and report to the Ministry of Government. On August 26, the government implemented a new humanitarian visa requirement for Venezuelans to enter Ecuador. 21 Sep 2017 - Consideration of the Outcome of Ecuador A/HRC/36/4, A/HRC/36/4/Add.1 Agenda Item:6 - Universal periodic review - 22nd Plenary Meeting 36th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council. An unknown perpetrator painted a swastika in a Quito school parking lot in June; no arrests were made. Following escalating violence and attacks against police and military personnel and government and press buildings, the President declared a curfew in the Quito metropolitan area on October 12, which was lifted the following day. 02 December 2020. Officials verified that inmates did not have safe and permanent access to healthy food. 3 July 2020 Some prison visits were suspended as part of the state of emergency in the penitentiary system. Annexes ExCom members and parties to conventions Acronyms Credits. From January 2014 through August 2019, the government recorded 343 femicides, with 141 convictions; 32 were committed in 2019. You can also find highlights of our progress to address our salient issues in our 2020 Human Rights Report. On March 7, the National Technical Secretariat for Equality and Development told local press the average monthly income of an employed man was 20 percent more than a woman working under the same conditions. All the declarations must be filed online with the comptroller general, whose website provides general information on the declarations and contains a section where the public can conduct a search of officials to see if officials complied with the disclosure requirements of income and assets. See the Department of State’s Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/for-providers/legal-reports-and-data/reported-cases.html. The law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities. Published: 16 Oct 2020. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Press, b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Section 3. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor, c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment, d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation, https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/for-providers/legal-reports-and-data/reported-cases.html, https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/. Police and military share responsibility for border enforcement. On May 16, President Moreno declared a state of emergency for the nationwide penitentiary system to address the escalation of prison violence. Thailand. In 2017 a court acquitted both officers, but the Provincial Court of Pichincha revoked the acquittal order in January 2018 and ordered them to stand trial for charges including torture. The government reported that no lethal force by police or armed forces was used to respond to the protesters. There were no reports the government invoked this law to restrict freedom of expression during the year. A 2018 law provides reparation to victims of gender-based violence, while advocating for the re-education of aggressors. More generally, an international organization reported many Venezuelans did not apply for asylum because they were unfamiliar with the process or did not know how long they would stay in the country. The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet, and there were no credible reports the government censored online content or monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority. February 19, 2021 Petition: Sanctions Kill Campaign: Tell the New U.S. Administration – End Economic Sanctions in the Face of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic Click here to download the full report. The law directs the electoral authorities to provide access to voting and to facilitate voting for persons with disabilities. Ecuador’s criminal code defines femicide as the exercise of power relations resulting in the death of a woman for “being a woman.”. The law limits the ability of media to provide election coverage during the official campaign period, with no coverage allowed whatsoever in the 48 hours before a national election. The law prohibits the dismissal of union members from the moment a union notifies the labor inspector of its general assembly until the formation of its first executive board, the first legal steps in forming a union. Among them were six minors who were sent to a juvenile detention center before being released on bail October 31. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/ecuador, Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD). According to media, local organizations reported complaints of Venezuelans receiving below the minimum wage, particularly in the informal sector. Public officials are not required to submit periodic reports, except in the case of legislators, who must also present a declaration at the midpoint of the period for which they were elected. The law also prohibits media from using information obtained from social media unless they can verify the author of the information. Employers did not always respect freedom of association and collective bargaining. Order of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of January 28, 2021. Media reported that 1,171 persons with disabilities attended undergraduate and graduate school in 2018, which was less than 1 percent of the total student population. UNHCR reported that 9,751 refugees had received identification cards as of August. When the new visa requirement for Venezuelans went into effect on August 26, UNHCR worked closely with Ecuadorian authorities to enable all asylum seekers to approach Ecuadorian immigration facilities at the Rumichaca International Bridge on the border with Colombia to request asylum officially. February reforms to the 2013 communications law repealed a prohibition of “media lynching,” described as the “coordinated and repetitive dissemination of information, directly or by third parties through media, intended to discredit a person or company or reduce its public credibility.”. Human rights and religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate at an unprecedented rate in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan during 2019-2020. UN Photo/Mahmoud Abd ELLatiff. Human rights organizations expressed concern about intimidation tactics used against these activists from unidentified sources, including death threats and physical assault. December 21, 2020. Human Rights and Human Development. Afro-Ecuadorians continued to demand more opportunities in the workforce and complained that employers often profiled them based on their job application photographs. Binding treaty: a brief overview. The Civil Registry also requires a refugee enrollment order from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, and sometimes refugees were required to return to the ministry if the information on their records contained errors. Human Development Report 2000. The government took steps to investigate and prosecute officials who committed human rights abuses, as it engaged in efforts to strengthen democratic governance, fight corruption, and promote respect for human rights. A gunfight among inmates of the Litoral Prison in Guayaquil, in May, resulted in six prisoners’ deaths. On April 29, the National Police reported the rescue of 11 female alleged sex trafficking victims. Spain’s National Court is investigating the private security firm retained by Ecuador for hiding microphones and cameras throughout the apartment, including the toilet where Assange tried to hold private conversations with his attorneys. In January, in response to a Venezuelan man’s murder of a young pregnant woman in the northern city of Ibarra, Ecuador announced new requirements for Venezuelans to enter. Ecuador human rights abuses can end with your support. On July 4, the Judicial Council officially notified all judges of the National Court of Justice they would be subject to an evaluation process, including an assessment of overall performance and quality of rulings. General Gabela was an outspoken critic of the then Correa administration’s plan to purchase Indian-made Dhruv helicopters in 2007 and 2008. Separately, Tuarez was removed from his position as CPCCS president by the National Assembly on August 15 for “breach of duties and lack of probity.”, Censorship or Content Restrictions: There were reports government officials tried to penalize those who published items critical of the government. There were numerous reports during the year of government corruption that occurred during the Correa presidency. Child Abuse: The law criminalizes child abuse and provides penalties of 30 days to 26 years in prison, depending on the severity of the abuse. Iran Human Rights Monitor Annual Report 2020 – Condition of Prisoners. The penalty for rape where death occurred is 22 to 26 years’ imprisonment. According to Ministry of Government figures, there were 1,330 detentions, 1,507 wounded (including 435 police personnel), 202 police detained against their will by protesters, and up to eight dead between October 3-13 in the context of the protests. the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework and set out our human rights journey over the last ten years and our ambitions and targets for the future. If an employer commits a second child labor violation, inspectors may close the business temporarily. Public transportation workers went on strike October 3-4 in response to the government’s elimination of fuel subsidies. On March 9, government officials launched a mobile application to accelerate the law enforcement response to complaints of gender-based violence, including rape. It sets the minimum working age for minors at 15 for all types of labor and the maximum hours a minor may work at six hours per day, five days per week. La Fuente resumed online operations the following day. Officials, particularly at the local level, sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Protesters in Quito held 27 journalists hostage on October 10, threatening them with violence if they did not provide live broadcasting of their demands; all of the journalists were released without physical harm. Education: The lack of schools in some areas specifically affected indigenous and refugee children, who must travel long distances to attend school. The survey found that child laborers were most likely in rural areas, particularly in the agricultural and ranching sectors. The constitution provides for freedom of expression, including for the press, but other laws restrict this right. The Ministries of Labor and of Economic and Social Inclusion, Rights Protection Boards, and the Minors’ Tribunals are responsible for enforcing child labor laws, although budgetary constraints affected each ministry’s ability to enforce laws.