Thirteen inmates were killed in a prison in the Ecuadorian city of Santo Domingo on Monday, the SNAI prison agency reported. This is the latest incident in the series of deadly prison violence, according to news agency Reuters.
Conservative President Guillermo Lasso’s government attributes prison violence to gangs’ struggle for control of territory and drug trafficking routes. Police and armed forces were in the process of regaining control of the penitentiary, the prison office said on Twitter.
“Unfortunately, the center’s staff are reporting so far that thirteen inmates are dead and two have been injured,” the agency said, adding that the attorney general’s office will make a final count. In May, violence in the same prison resulted in 43 deaths.
According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Ecuadorian prison system has been neglected by the state. There is no coherent policy and the prisoners live in very poor conditions.
Riots in several prisons in Ecuador killed 316 inmates last year. Nearly 34,000 convicts live in prisons. This exceeds the maximum capacity by 12.5%.
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