Ecuador announced a state of emergency in its prison system on Thursday after disturbances in two prisons left 22 people dead and 57 injured.
In Ecuador’s jails, President Guillermo Lasso issued an order “to mobilize all necessary human and economic resources to re-establish order.”
The military would be in command of the jail perimeter and entry, while police officers would be in charge of the interior, according to Lasso.
Indoor security was previously handled by people who had been trained as prison guards.
All activities “that potentially put the correctional population and administrative personnel at risk” were already halted by prison officials. Outside visits to some jails have been cancelled.
Eight police officers were among those injured in the disturbances at jails in Guayas, in southwestern Ecuador, and Cotopaxi, in the country’s centre. A previous count had put the death toll at 21.
According to government minister Alexandra Vela, fourteen detainees died at Cotopaxi, including one who died in hospital, and five police officers were injured.
In Guayas, eight inmates died and three police officers were injured.
According to Vela, a police officer was raped amid the commotion and unrest.
In February, the same two penitentiaries were at the centre of a wave of rioting. 79 inmates were killed in a single day in fights between rival gangs competing for power.
Inmates were decapitated and burned alive during those disturbances, exposing the might of prison gangs and shocking the South American nation.
