GENOCIDE  WATCH

Ecuador’s escalating security crisis has disproportionately affected women, journalists, civilians in gang-controlled communities, and Indigenous peoples, particularly the uncontacted Tagaeri and Taromenane. Criminal organizations such as Los Choneros, Los Lobos, and Los Tiguerones have driven much of the violence through killings, extortion, kidnapping, displacement, and territorial control. At the same time, expanded military powers under President Daniel Noboa’s mano dura approach have raised concerns over potential state abuses and the erosion of democratic safeguards. Additionally, state and private extractive interests have threatened Indigenous territories through oil extraction, mining, and other development activities, with the Tagaeri and Taromenane facing particularly serious risks to their territorial and cultural survival.