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UNCLAS QUITO 001919 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADORIAN PRISONS IN CRISIS, PART II: CONDITIONS 
DETERIORATING 
 
¶1.  Summary:  An Ecuadorian prison system plagued by 
overpopulation and a lack of resources has led to riots, 
worker strikes, and a state of emergency.  A slow justice 
system characterized by long sentences, appeals that take up 
to four years, harsher drug laws, the elimination of 
shortened sentences based on good behavior, and "definitive 
detention," which mandates the detention of prisoners before 
trial, have all contributed to the current crisis.  End 
Summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  Ecuador has 35 detention centers.  In May 2006, the 
prison population included 12,677 males and 1,379 females. 
Nine prisons hold males, five hold females, and 21 are mixed. 
 The largest is the notorious Coastal Prison of Guayaquil 
with 3,106 males, 31% of Ecuador's prison population. 
Mestizo prisoners comprise 75% of the population, 12% are 
Afro-Ecuadorian, 9% are White, and 4% are indigenous 
according to 2004 data. A study headed by the prestigious 
Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) found that 
the prison population has doubled in the past 20 years, 
increasing an average of 8% per year. 
 
¶3.  Illegal drugs are the principal cause of detention in 
Ecuador, with 75% of Quito's prisoners, 77% of Guayaquil's, 
and 80% of Ecuador's 249 foreign prisoners held on drug 
charges. BBC reported in June 2005 that 90% of prisoners in 
Ecuador were held on charges of transporting, selling, or 
possession of drugs. 
 
Human Rights Violations 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  Prisoners need outside resources, generally obtained from 
family, to survive.  The $1.00 allocated for food to each 
prisoner is inadequate and food is often of poor quality. 
The FLACSO study found that $20 per week is needed for an 
adequate diet in prison.  A prison doctor in Garcia Moreno 
Prison claimed in a film produced by FLACSO that diets amount 
to no more than 480 calories per day.  Cells must be 
purchased, at a cost of up to $1,500 for a shared space in 
Garcia Moreno.  There have been increased limitations on 
visiting hours which prevents prisoners from obtaining food 
and supplies. 
 
¶5.  There are 42 doctors in the Ecuadorian prison system and 
22% of inmates in Quito and 37% of inmates in Guayaquil have 
no medical attention.  Wounds, respiratory disorders, and 
digestive problems are common and often unattended.  There is 
a lack of medicine and first aid supplies. 
 
Female Prisons 
-------------- 
 
¶6.  There is sexual harassment and assault of both inmates 
and visitors.  In Quito, 30% of prisoners report cases of 
sexual abuse by prison personnel; in Guayaquil 21% do.  Abuse 
by lawyers was reported by 22% in Quito and 25% in Guayaquil. 
 Female prisoners often have to exchange sex for food and 
medicine. 
 
¶7.  The FLACSO study found that 13% of women had become 
pregnant while in a Quito prison up to six times, and 19% had 
become pregnant in Guayaquil up to three times.  Pregnancies 
are the result of conjugal visits, relationships between 
female prisoners and male prisoners or guards, and sexual 
assault.  There is a rate of only 46-49 live births per every 
100 children born and many pregnancies end in abortion 
(illegal in Ecuador).  Children live with 16% of prisoners. 
Quito Women's Prison Director John Cueva reported in June 
2005 that "we have 75 cents daily for each prisoner, with or 
without children."  There were 392 children living in prison 
with a parent in 2004. 
 
Overcrowding 
------------ 
 
¶8.  Overcrowding, which coincides with stricter antinarcotics 
laws, has led to violence, disease, a struggle for resources, 
and the elimination of rehabilitation programs.  It is also a 
serious fire hazard.  Ecuador's 36 prisons are designed to 
hold 7,000 prisoners but held 14,056 in May 2006. 
Guayaquil's Coastal Prison, designed for 1,200, holds 4,000. 
Quito's Second Prison, designed for 300, holds between 835 
 
and 874.  San Roque prison has the capacity for 400 prisoners 
but held 2,500 before 350 inmates were transferred there 
after a fire in Quito's Second Prison. 
 
¶9.  There is no prisoner classification system or 
differentiation between high and low security prisoners.  The 
international standard of one prison worker for every ten 
prisoners would amount to 2,400 workers in Ecuador, but there 
are only 890.  Guards negotiate with prisoners to maintain 
control.  Luis Munoz, former Director of the National Social 
Rehabilitation Board (DNRS), estimates $74 million is needed 
to solve overcrowding and says, "no prison that has more than 
1,000 detainees is governable." 
 
Guard Deaths and Gang Violence Common 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  In the Tulcan Prison, three Colombian prisoners carrying 
two machine guns and two grenades killed two guards and 
wounded one during an escape attempt, which occurred during 
visiting hours.  A prison guard who worked at Guayaquil's 
Coastal Prison was killed on April 8 in what police believe 
was a revenge killing upon leaving the home of a prisoner's 
wife, with whom he had a "sentimental relationship." 
 
¶11.  A prison fight in Guayaquil's coastal prison left five 
dead and 21 injured on March 22. Police found two 38 caliber 
guns, 83 nine millimeter rounds of ammunition, six knives, 
three cellular phones, and 101 packets of cocaine.  The gun 
fight, which lasted 20 minutes, broke out at 10H30 during 
visiting hours and was reportedly started by members of the 
"Russians" prison gang.  On February 10, a pistol, five 
revolvers, a machine gun, grenades, alcohol, and drugs were 
confiscated in the same prison. 
 
¶12.  On January 12, two prisoners were wounded in Guayaquil's 
Coastal Prison during a gang fight over drug selling 
territory.  No guards were hurt. 
 
¶13.  In Guayaquil's Coastal Prison, guards relinquished 
control to gangs who operate within and outside the prison. 
Gang wars claimed the lives of 27 prisoners and guards in 
2005 and wounded 50, including 7 policemen and 3 guards.  In 
2006, 7 died and 23 were wounded.  There are three major 
gangs in the prison.  The largest gang controls 1,400 
prisoners, the smallest 460.  Gangs sell marijuana and 
cocaine.  In Garcia Moreno, guards do not enter the prison 
unless undercover. 
 
¶14.  Prison gangs receive money from outside members and are 
responsible for increased crime rates in Guayaquil. 
Newspapers report that the March death of a Guayaquil prison 
director, Eddy Enriquez, was ordered by the Coyote gang from 
prison and executed out outside.  Investigators believe he 
was killed because of his imposition of stricter controls of 
drugs and arms.  When families file police reports of deaths 
resulting from gang violence, they are not often pursued by 
police. 
 
Many Held without Sentencing 
---------------------------- 
 
¶15.  The FLACSO study found that 64% of prisoners are held 
without trial and of those 10% have no legal assistance.  In 
May, only 4,719 of Ecuador's 14,056 prisoners had been 
convicted of a crime.  In 2004, there were only 32 public 
defenders in the country.  At a rate of 70%, Ecuador has the 
third highest rate in Latin America (after Honduras and 
Uruguay) of prisoners that have not been sentenced. 
 
USG Pilot Initiative Shows Positive Results 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  U.S. government funding has helped to speed up 
sentencing in Ecuador.  A USAID pilot initiative in Cuenca's 
lower courts and Prosecutor's Office implemented a new 
Criminal Procedure's Code (CPC).  The oral accusatory system 
involved preliminary hearings that cut unnecessary detentions 
by 40% and reduced the average wait for rulings on pre-trial 
procedures from 36 to 20 hours.  USAID helped the Prosecutor 
General establish a specialized unit that dealt with 36% of 
cases in Quito during the initial presentation of claims and 
reduced backlog. 
 
Prison Fire Left Two Dead 
------------------------- 
 
¶17.  On March 22, a fire in Quito's Second Prison left two 
inmates dead and twenty wounded.  The fire, which destroyed 
80% of the building, is believed to have been caused by 
cables short circuiting.  Of the prison's 867 prisoners, all 
but 392 were evacuated to seven facilities outside the 
capitol, 475 of which were transferred to the coast. 
Prisoners transferred to Bahia reportedly did not have 
drainage systems. 
 
¶18.  A firefighter squad representative who inspected the 
Second Prison eight months ago said that he had warned of a 
fire hazard since a lack of anti-fire systems and fire 
hydrants combined with overcrowding and poor infrastructure 
made the prison susceptible to such disasters.  Prison 
Quito's First Prison has existed for 100 years without 
renovation.  Ecuadorian prisons lack evacuation strategies, 
alarms, and sprinkler systems. 
 
Rehabilitation Limited 
---------------------- 
 
¶19.  Throughout Ecuador there are 130 prison social workers 
and no psychiatrists.  Rehabilitation exists through limited 
employment opportunities, though 80% of the country's 
prisoners are unemployed.  In Tena's prison, prisoners weave 
hammocks and nets sold in local markets, slaughter cattle, 
cure leather, and study in small classrooms.  Twenty NGOs 
work in the coastal prison with 30% of the 4,300 male and 400 
female prisoners. Coastal programs include "spiritual 
support," carpentry workshops, and bakeries.  Employment 
includes shoe-making, weaving, leather work, agriculture, 
electric work, and small business ventures.  Guayas prison 
implemented a "Blue Concept" project which involves 32 
prisoners who construct labs within prison to raise Tilapia 
fish, shrimp, algae, guinea pigs, turtles, and iguanas which 
are sold or consumed.  Participants must complete a six month 
biology and aquaculture course.  Restaurants, bakeries, and 
Laundromats are owned by and service prisoners. 
 
Americans in Ecuadorian Prisons 
------------------------------- 
 
¶20.  In Ecuador, there are 56 Americans in prison, ten 
females and 46 males.  There are 20 in Quito, 34 in 
Guayaquil, and one in Ibarra and Tulcan.  All but 5 prisoners 
are being held on drug charges with sentences that range from 
four to 20 years.  Nine are not yet sentenced. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶21.  USAID's pilot initiative in Cuenca shows that change can 
happen, but replicating those results nationwide would be a 
major challenge.  More political and legal reforms are 
needed, such as further revision of the Penal Code to ensure 
due process and a more efficient and transparent justice 
system, alternative punishments, emphasis on a preventative 
role within the police system, and improved financing and 
budgets for prisons.  Building more prisons will help, but 
truly solving the crisis will also demand improvement in the 
physical conditions of detention centers, presence of 
qualified medical personnel, adequate food and rehabilitation 
resources, and firm action on reports of human rights abuses. 
BROWN