Mobiliser les parlementaires en tant que défenseur.e.s des droits humains, de la démocratie et d’un monde durable.

Ecuador must guarantee truth, justice, and reparations to victims of human rights violations that occurred during the national strike on 13 June 2022


Ecuador is going through a critical moment that must be confronted as rigorously as possible. President Lasso’s government must address the needs of the protesters and ensure that the fundamental rights and freedoms of our country’s indigenous communities - and those of all citizens - are respected and guaranteed. To address the serious human rights violations, I have presented before the Plenary of the National Assembly of Ecuador a resolution that urges the Ombudsman’s Office to form a Special Commission to clarify the events that have occurred since the beginning of the national strike on June 13, 2022.

The right to protest is a fundamental human right enshrined in the Constitution of Ecuador and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, which entails the exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and the right to participate in public affairs. In this sense, Ecuador, as a democratic State, must guarantee all rights in order to ensure security and to process social demands, claims, and petitions properly and peacefully. The exercise of demonstrations tests the democratic condition of all States and their openness to tolerance, inclusion, plurality, and dissent.

PGA supports the resolution introduced by Dip. Cuesta - approved by the National Assembly on 5 July 2022 - and recalls the government’s imperative to find the truthand establish individual and State accountability for serious human rights violations. This process must be carried out in the spirit of promoting national reconciliation and must be based on truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition.

PGA urges the Executive to respect the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No.169) adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1989 and ratified by the Ecuadorian State in 1998. Finally, PGA highlights that the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - supported by Ecuador - similarly emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures, and traditions and to freely pursue their development in accordance with their own needs and aspirations. Although this declaration is not a binding instrument, it represents the international standard of legal norms and reflects the commitment of the UN and its member states.