A wave of attacks carried out by criminal organisations last week in Ecuador – epitomised by gunmen storming a television station live on air – has brought international attention to a security crisis that has been building for years. Ecuador has become one of the most murderous countries in what is already the world’s most homicidal region. The murder rate in the South American country has risen from five per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017 to 46 per 100,000 in 2023.
States of emergency, which establish curfews and permit military action in prisons, have been frequent in Ecuador in recent years. Its president, Daniel Noboa, innovated last week with the unprecedented declaration of a state of “internal armed conflict”. By applying the laws of war to organised criminals as if they were terrorists or insurgents, the move may contravene international law, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Americas director, Juan Pappier, told the Washington Post. Commentators and critics have noted the lack of any clear exit strategy by the government.
