Overview of Human Rights in Ecuador

Ecuador is a constitutional republic. Recent years have seen both improvements as well as some abuses as regards Ecuador's human rights record.

Corruption of both the judicial and legislative branches of the government continue to hamper the objectives of good governance. The government continues to attack critics while the judicial system arbitrarily denies due process.

The police force uses torture, abuse, and killing of suspects and prisoners. Arbitrary arrest and forced confessions are used as well. Police courts also still claim jurisdiction over human rights cases even though they are supposed to fall under the auspice of civil courts. Those who complained about these irregularities faced death threats from the police.

Societal discrimination against indigenous people, Afro-Ecuadorians, and homosexuals continue to be pressing issues. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concern that the rights and protections of certain communities within Ecuador were not being respected.

On the positive side, former President Gutiérrez declared the overcrowding in prisons to be in a ‘state of emergency’ and promised more funding to the penal system to improve and expand facilities. There has been some improvement since then.

As well, since 2003, there have been no reported politically motivated disappearances or detainees. Freedoms of assembly and association, religion and movement were better respected in recent years as well.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

83rd out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.