Government of Ecuador confirms 4 deaths in eleven days of protests and calls them “collateral damage”

The number of deaths during the protests of Ecuador it rose this Thursday to four, after the latest reports from human rights organizations and the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, who described the deaths as “collateral damage.”

“There are four people who have lost their lives in the context of the demonstrations,” confirmed Cheek during a visit to the Police Hospital to visit a dozen officers injured during the clashes that took place this Thursday in the center of Quito.

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We are sorry for all the collateral damage.. The National Police is an institution that protects rights, it does not attack, (but) it has to defend the freedoms of the rest as well”, he added.

Interior Wallet Holder He disclaimed any responsibility of the Police in the death of these four people.

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In the first case, which occurred on Monday, Cheek recalled that it was a young man who fell down a ravine about 100 meters high in the northeastern part of Quitowhen, according to human rights groups, a police contingent fired tear gas to prevent a group of indigenous people from entering the capital.

A death was also recorded on Tuesday in the southern Andean province of Azuay during a demonstration dissolved by the Police that, according to the minister, the first tests carried out point to “a natural death from hypothermia and cirrhosis.”

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However, the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations reported that The victim, aged about 38, was found with “signs of violence on her ribs” and surrounded by tear gas canisters used against protesters.

DENY USE OF LETHAL AMMUNITION

Also on Tuesday a young man died in the city of Puyocapital of the Amazonian province of Pastaza, where a mob managed to set fire to and loot a bank office and a police station.

In these circumstances, the indigenous movement, the main convener of the mobilizations, denounced that the victim a tear gas canister was shot at him “point blank” in the head, while the version of the Police and the Minister of the Interior himself is that he was handling explosives.

“In that case there is a broken chain of custody. Zero protection of the crime scene, and then many mechanisms will appear that will have to be proven judicially”, he pointed Cheek.

The most recent case is a 39-year-old man, who He died this Thursday during the clashes that took place in the El Arbolito park, in the center of Quito, after apparently receiving impacts from rubber bullets and a cluster of pellets.

Nevertheless, Carrillo insisted that the Ecuadorian Police does not use pellets to contain the demonstrations and, on the contrary, accused the demonstrators of firing this type of ammunition against the policemen, since he affirmed that several agents have similar injuries.

The protests started in Ecuador on Monday, June 13 to demand that fuel prices be reduced and frozen, that the prices of basic products be controlled, that debts to peasant families be forgiven, that public companies not be privatized and that mining activity not proliferate and oil company in the Amazon, among other demands.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.