MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador's Conaie decries death of 4th protester during general strike

In addition to the dead, there have been over 90 arrests and as many people injured, while at least 4 protesters are unaccounted for

Ecuador's Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) has denounced a fourth protester who has died during demonstrations, while human rights groups insisted that repression coupled with abuse of force jeopardized the lives of people exercising their right to express themselves against the policies of President Guillermo Lasso's administration.

According to Conaie, the protester was the fourth fatal victim in 11 days of mobilizations. The 39-year-old Henry Ernesto Quezada Espinoza died from “penetrating trauma to the thorax and abdomen by pellets,” Conaie explained on Twitter.

“The murder of Henry Quezada Espinoza in the park El Arbolito in Quito due to penetrating trauma to the thorax and abdomen by pellets is confirmed,” the group said. It also pointed out the Ecuadorian police had launched multiple impact grenades against demonstrators “indiscriminately causing hundreds of wounded, many of them seriously.”

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations (Alianza de Organizaciones por los Derechos Humanos) also denounced the incident and called for an urgent investigation into the case in order to “stop the massacre.”

“Repressing protests with abuse of force puts at risk the life and integrity of people who exercise their right to protest during the national strike,” the alliance underlined. It also pointed out that until Wednesday this week there had been 49 cases of human rights violations, with 3 deaths, 92 injured, 94 detentions, and four people missing.

Conaie has thus called on the Ecuadorian government to create real conditions for dialogue, including an immediate halt to repression and a repeal of the state of emergency in addition to the promise not to issue any further freedom-restricting decrees. The movement also demanded that the humanitarian protection zones be respected and that “the entire agenda be placed on the table and that there be no 'unfeasible' points for the Government, but rather efforts to attend to the citizens' clamor.”