The Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity is alerting the international community, in particular international bodies and defenders of rights and democracy, about the serious violation of human and collective rights that is evident now in Ecuador, after the declaration of a ‘state of exception’ by President Moreno, for a period of 60 days.

Such a declaration, clearly motivated by the government's decision to advance in the neoliberal redesign of the State and to remain in compliance with an unconstitutional agreement with the IMF, places the country in a situation with a dictatorial profile, by suspending rights of association, public gatherings and other fundamental rights, making possible the intervention of the armed forces and police outside their usual spheres of responsibilities, and allowing additional and unusual uses of the public budget and the strategic infrastructure of the State.

We are concerned about the scope of the violent repression that has been unleashed by the police and military. In a single day of peaceful demonstrations on October 3 over three hundred were people have been arrested and numerous wounded. Ecuador a state that is constitutionally recognized as a sovereign country of peace is now one that is militarized.

We also warn about the deployment of an intense media campaign aimed at criminalizing mobilizations, by associating demands with crimes while demonizing political leaders and people who defend sovereignty or expose ideas contrary to neoliberalism. The public statements of criminalization and hatred against the militancy of the Citizen’s Revolution movement violate the political rights of the country's main political force.

Thus, we call for an urgent return to democratic institutions in Ecuador, the immediate abrogation of the state of emergency and respect for the legitimate right of the people to express themselves, defend their rights and the sovereignty of the country.

We alert the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the violation of democracy and human rights now going on in Ecuador.

We call upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the Special Rapporteur for the Promotion of Freedom of Expression and Opinion, to deploy all the mechanisms that this relevant multilateral organization allows in condemning the repression.

We call upon all international bodies and defenders of rights and democracy to express urgently their support for the democratic validity in Ecuador and to condemn the violent repression that affects the people on a national scale and could give rise to a bloodbath for which the government of Lenin Moreno would be responsible.

October 4, 2019,

Network in Defense of Humanity