Ecuador's attorney general's office is investigating eight extrajudicial killings reported to have taken place during the country's most recent state of emergency, after rights groups warned authorities were not taking steps to prevent abuses.
The killings are the most serious rights abuses reported by detained people, local advocacy groups and victims' families that allegedly took place during the January to April state of emergency.
President Daniel Noboa declared the emergency amid spiraling violence in the Andean country, which officials blame on drug trafficking gangs.
Under the measure Noboa deployed thousands of troops on streets and in prisons, with security forces making more than 18,000 arrests.
The attorney general's office said it is also looking into dozens of accusations of torture and other alleged abuses.
Neither the government nor the armed forces responded to requests for comment on alleged abuses.
The crackdown in Ecuador mirrors strategies deployed elsewhere, particularly in El Salvador, where heavy-handed tactics under President Nayib Bukele have led to an "alarming regression" in human rights, according to Amnesty International. Bukele has denied abuses.
In a letter to Noboa's government on Wednesday, the director of advocacy group Human Rights Watch Americas, Juanita Goebertus, said Ecuadorean authorities "appear to have taken little or no measure to prevent human rights violations or to ensure that those responsible are held accountable."
Noboa has defended security forces' behavior and previously shied away from comparisons to Bukele.
"I won't have any non-patriot tell us we're violating anyone's rights, when we're protecting those of the vast majority," Noboa said in February.
TWEET YOUR COMMENT