On June 7, the National Assembly of Ecuador approved by an absolute majority the law on the legitimate use of force.
According to several analysts, the new law “does not change anything” or even “improves things” in terms of the progressive use of force and respect for human rights in relation to the current law.
Aside from the debate over the effectiveness of the new law, I believe its real purpose is not to change the norm, but to send a message.
For the police and the military, the message is that the law protects them if they commit excesses.
In fact, the law was proposed after repeated requests for authorization to make greater use of force, which they bloodily displayed in October 2019, especially in the city of Quito.
It is said that with the new law the rights of the police and military will finally be respected. Your hands will no longer be “tied” in the face of crime.
For citizens, the message is that insecurity will now be dealt with effectively.
The current Ecuadorian government is working with a communication strategy according to which the country’s current security problems are due to alleged links between “correismo” and drug trafficking mafias.
However, according to the Igarapé Institute’s Homicide Observatory, in the period 2008-2017, that is, during the government of Rafael Correa, the country recorded historic advances in terms of security, positioning itself as one of the safest destinations in Latin America. .
However, contrary to this trend, in the last six years the homicide rate has doubled, with almost 400 deaths in the country’s prisons.
As a result, the perversity of the violence experienced by the country has reached unimaginable levels, to the point that the population is now afraid to leave their homes.
In this context, in which violent robberies have increased, the administration of President Guillermo Lasso seeks to position the idea that there will now be “tough hands” against “delinquents”.
Some government analysts, against all evidence, argue that the current situation of insecurity is due to the policies implemented during the so-called Citizen Revolution government.
Based on this narrative, the law symbolizes a “turning of the page” so that Ecuador can finally recover from the supposed evils of “correismo” that triggered the escalation of insecurity experienced in the country.
In this context, the majority support for the law on the legitimate use of force by the legislative bloc of the União pela Esperança (Unes), formed by the Citizen Revolution, ends up looking like a “mea-culpa”.
After the law was passed, and in response to questions about its support for it, Unes spokespersons indicated that they do not want to “make excuses” to President Lasso for not effectively combating insecurity.
However, what happened is that they did not have the political capacity to effectively oppose the network that was created against “correismo”.
Will this law have any effect on insecurity rates? According to data from institutions such as ECLAC, no.
What could have an effect on violence would be to reduce the levels of poverty in which the population is immersed and the hopelessness of a large part of the Ecuadorian youth.
Currently, we have an education system dismantled, technical and technological education destroyed, young people entering universities with droppers and a hungry population.
These are the consequences of the neoliberal policies of the Moreno and Lasso governments, added to a complex global context marked by the coronavirus pandemic, the economic crisis and the war in Ukraine.
In addition, according to organizations such as the Forum of Latin American Security Professionals, countries that have applied tough policies have failed to reduce crime.
What will reduce the rates of insecurity and violence is to increase the public budget well invested in a social rehabilitation system.
Contrary to a social and human rights approach, which is imperative in situations such as those experienced by Ecuador, I fear that this law will strengthen the forces of “law and order” and increase human rights violations against people defined as “criminals”. or “narcos”, and even against all those who engage in social protests or oppose government policies.
Ecuador has already experienced hard times of rape and abuse by the police, with cases such as the disappearance of the Restrepo brothers during the government of León Febres Cordero.
Faced with the current levels of insecurity in the country, many believe that “human rights are for human rights”, an aberrant stance, but one that is increasingly perceived and that even generates joy among some citizens with each new massacre in prisons.
In this context, it should be noted that President Lasso recently signed a cooperation agreement with Israel on security matters and, within the framework of the Summit of the Americas, proposed to the US President the implementation of a “Plan Ecuador” in the style of the “Plan Colombia”, which for two decades contributed to the bloodshed in that country, under the pretext of the fight against drugs.
In Ecuador, human rights abuses are already being committed by the “forces of law and order”. What awaits us now with this unmistakable sign that the “state order” will intensify?
