Ecuador: Citizen Observatory Records 56 Political Violence Cases
Ecuadorian police cordon off a crime scene in Quito, 2025. X/ @PeriodismoP_Ec
February 26, 2025 Hour: 12:00 pm
The most affected provinces were Guayas, Manabi, and Pichincha.
On Tuesday, the Citizen Observatory of Political Violence (OCVP) presented a preliminary report on political violence during the first round of Ecuador’s general elections.
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Between January 1, 2024, and February 8, 2025, the OCVP analyzed incidents of attacks, threats, and discrimination related to political activities. During this period, 25 murders, 19 threats, 8 attacks, and 3 kidnappings were recorded. The most affected provinces were Guayas, Manabi, and Pichincha, while the most vulnerable groups were political leaders, public officials, and opinion leaders.
The OCVP report identified three types of political violence. The first one involves attacks on physical integrity and life, manifested through threats, murders, attacks, kidnappings, and assaults targeting candidates, elected officials, appointed authorities, journalists, and social leaders, as well as their relatives. These incidents appeared to be politically motivated or occurred in a political context.
The second type concerns gender-based political violence, as recognized in the Law for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women (Article 10) and the Democracy Code (Article 280).
Finally, the third one involves actions or expressions that violate the principles of equality and non-discrimination, as established in the Constitution’s Article 11, which states that no one may be discriminated against based on ethnicity, sex, gender identity, marital status, ideology, political affiliation, and migration status.
Regarding data on political violence during the first round, the OCVP recorded 56 cases of aggression against physical integrity and life, distributed as follows: 1 physical assault, 19 threats, 25 murders, 8 attacks, and 3 kidnappings. Based on gender distribution, 33% of the attacks targeted women, while 67% targeted men.
Regarding the types of leadership most affected, the distribution of violent acts was as follows: 33% political leaders, 27% public officials, 11% opinion leaders, 9% collateral victims, and 2% former public officials.
The highest number of attacks on physical integrity and life occurred in the following provinces: Guayas (29%), Manabí (25%), Pichincha (10%), El Oro (10%), and Santa Elena (8%).
Regarding the most affected political organizations, the OCVP found that 25% of violent actions targeted the leftist Citizen Revolution, 14% targeted the Avanza party, 11% targeted the Creo party, and 11% targeted the Patriotic Society party.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: FES
