Topic:
Country: Ecuador
Delegate Name: Sierra Turner
Prison radicalization: when people in jail develop ideologies and goals. Prison radicalization can be without violence, but recently many domestic acts of terrorism are found to be from formerly-jailed individuals who have become radicalized while in a prison. Many prisons are not able to fight off the threat of prison radicalization, leading to violent extremism while prisoners are in jail. Most people who leave the prison system do not have the support they need to transition into society once more, and this leads to violent encounters after being released.
The prison population of Ecuador has tripled in 13 years, and at least 390 people have been killed in Ecuador’s prisons. In February of 2022, President Lasso launched a public policy of social rehabilitation of prisoners. The new policy was developed with significant technical support from the UN Human Rights Office, and in consultation with a large cross-section of Ecuadorian society: government agencies, non-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, academics, and, the families of prisoners and prisoners themselves.This policy’s goal was to guarantee access to basic rights for prisoners: rights to health, food, water, education, and work. The President also ordered the release of around 5,000 prisoners as part to reduce prison overcrowding. Ecuador’s rehabilitation-based prison reforms were successful in reducing violence in prisons and in improving the human rights of criminal offenders.
Ecuador will be providing further resources to implement its public policy of social rehabilitation of prisoners. Ecuador would hope for this policy to persuade reform in other countries facing similar challenges such as the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Peru, and Paraguay. Ecuador would like to, furthermore, investigate all deaths and serious injuries in prisons to potentially figure new strategies to combat violent extremisms, as well as bring reparations to the victims and their families. Ecuador believes this reform will be able to decrease violent extremism in prison radicalization, and therefore decrease domestic acts of terrorism. Ecuador would like to stress the importance of national sovereignty in a solution.
