Ecuadorian inmates' families report alleged deaths from tuberculosis, malnutrition

Families of inmates in Ecuador have denounced alleged deaths from tuberculosis and malnutrition within the country's prisons. They also claim a lack of medical care, suspended visits, and a general lack of transparency regarding the health status of those incarcerated, despite government assurances that no infectious epidemics are occurring.

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the Ecuadorian prisons are going through a "totally inhumane" situation

The Committee of Families for a Dignified Life, representing relatives of prisoners from various facilities, held a protest outside the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) in Quito. Ana Morales, the committee's director, described the prison conditions as "totally inhumane" and accused the state of "dehumanizing" the lives, integrity, and dignity of inmates.

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dehumanizing the life, integrity, and dignity of persons deprived of liberty

Morales specifically cited the Penitentiary of Litoral, one of Ecuador's largest and most violent prisons, where she claims seven deaths from tuberculosis have occurred recently. Estefanía Salinas, the organization's national vice president, expressed the families' anguish, describing it as a "parallel sentence" of constant worry about their loved ones' well-being.

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a parallel sentence: the permanent anguish of not knowing if they are alive, sick, injured, or victims of abuse

Beyond the Penitentiary of Litoral, alleged restrictions on in-person visits were reported at prisons in Esmeraldas, Machala, and the maximum-security "El Encuentro" facility. These restrictions prevent families from verifying the health of inmates. Morales shared instances where families learned of deaths months after they occurred, including one case where a woman discovered her relative had died in March, only finding out in October. Another case involved a Venezuelan man who learned his son had died in an Ecuadorian prison in August of the previous year, only discovering this the following Sunday.

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Deprivation of liberty cannot become a sentence to torture, illness, or death