The main attacks on freedom of expression in Ecuador during 2016 were a result of the application of the controversial Organic Law of Communication, in force since 2013, according to the 2016 report from freedom of expression organization Fundamedios.
When Ecuadorians head to the polls on Feb. 19, 2017, they will have eight candidates to choose from as a replacement for current President Rafael Correa, who will leave that office after 10 years.
Update (Nov 26): On Nov. 21, Judge Edgar Flores of the National Court of Justice accepted the Habeas Corpus appeal filed by the lawyers of Ecuadorian journalist Fernando Villavicencio, making ineffective the arrest warrant issued against him on Nov. 14 by Judge Jorge Blum.
Ecuador’s Communication Law (LOC for its acronym in Spanish) was the subject of a recent conflict between the country’s government and special rapporteurs for freedom of expression of the United Nations (UN), David Kaye, and the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), Edison Lanza.
For journalist Iván Flores Poveda, the presidential elections that will take place in Ecuador in February 2017 represent “a democratic transition.” After 10 years in power, President Rafael Correa decided not to put his hat in the ring for the position. However, according to Flores, the president has become a kind of campaign manager for the ticket of Lenín Moreno and Jorge Glass, the former and current vice presidents under Correa.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) just announced its annual awards for Excellence in Journalism 2016, aimed to “encourage excellence in journalism and the defense of freedom of expression throughout the continent.”
For repeatedly questioning the purchase of medication by the Ecuadorian government, journalist Janet Hinostroza, and the broadcaster Teleamazonas in which she hosts an interview program, were sanctioned on Aug. 8 by the Superintendency of Information and Communication (Supercom) of Ecuador, according to Fundamedios, a freedom of expression organization.
The six Ecuadorian journalists who participated in the global investigation known as the Panama Papers have been the subject of a “campaign of genuine harassment,” as denounced by the nonprofit organization Fundamedios.
The conflict that the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has with the majority of media in his country is no secret. Since approving the Organic Law of Communication (LOC by its initials in Spanish) in 2013, different national and international organizations have denounced its restrictions on freedom of speech and press freedoms in the country.
Through Twitter accounts of officials or public institutions in Ecuador, 1,384 Tweets with speech disparaging, discrediting or stigmatizing the press in the country were published between June 2012 and November 2015.