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News > Latin America

Ecuadorians Imprisoned for the 2019 Social Outbreak Get Amnesty

  • Lawmaker Virgilio Hernandez (L), Pichincha Prefect Paola Pabon (C), and activist Christian Gonzalez (R).

    Lawmaker Virgilio Hernandez (L), Pichincha Prefect Paola Pabon (C), and activist Christian Gonzalez (R). | Photo: Twitter/ @mabsegovia

Published 10 March 2022
Opinion

Upon hearing about the amnesty, however, President Guillermo Lasso said that the Parliament "committed an act of injustice".

In the early hours of Thursday, 99 out of 125 Ecuadorian lawmakers approved an amnesty for 268 citizens who were arrested and prosecuted as a result of the social outbreak against President Lenin Moreno (2017-2021) that took place in October 2019.

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Among the amnestied people are the Pichincha Prefect Paola Pabon, the parliamentarian Virgilio Hernandez, the social activist Christian Gonzalez, and the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), Leonidas Iza.

Additionally, 153 defenders of community territories, 12 people accused of administering indigenous justice, and 43 defenders of nature were amnestied.

The amnesty report was prepared by the Constitutional Guarantees Commission and approved with the votes of the lawmakers from the Union for Hope (UNES) and the Indigenous movement's party, Pachakutik. The amnesty was also supported by some lawmakers from the right-wing Social Christian Party (PSC), the Democratic Left Party (ID), and other “independent” legislators.

"With this act of justice, peace has been returned to our companions, the popular fighters, defenders of human rights, water and nature and all their families, after being prosecuted for exercising their right to resistance," Congress President Guadalupe Llori said, adding that the approval of the amnesties will allow a reconciliation between social groups in the country

The Parliamentary decision will be notified to the Attorney General and other authorities for its application. Upon hearing about the amnesty, however, President Guillermo Lasso said that the Ecuadorian parliament "committed an act of injustice".

This right-wing politician still defines those 268 social leaders as aggressors who "attacked" the inhabitants of Quito. "The legitimate right to protest cannot affect others," Lasso said.

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