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Articles - Ecuador

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Ecuador

Correa's pardon won't change alarming free expression situation, say IFEX members

Amid mounting international condemnation, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said he would pardon a former editor and three owners of "El Universo", who were fined US$40 million and sentenced to three years in prison in a libel case, report the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (Fundamedios). While IFEX members welcomed the gesture, some remained concerned for Ecuador's alarming free expression situation.

Ecuador

American human rights commission orders suspension of sentence against "El Universo"

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has asked Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to suspend the sentence in a criminal libel case against newspaper "El Universo" until a hearing between the two parties can be held next month, report the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International and news reports.

Ecuador

Correa's defamation win exposes country's "disturbing" free expression situation

Two Ecuadoran journalists have been ordered to pay President Rafael Correa US$2 million in moral damages - the latest in a string of incidents that point to a "disturbing" and "deteriorating" free expression situation in Ecuador under President Rafael Correa, says IFEX-ALC, an alliance of 16 IFEX members in Latin America and the Caribbean. The ruling does not look good for the daily "El Universo", whose appeal in a multimillion dollar defamation case is being heard today.

Ecuador

Propaganda campaign against independent media and rights organisation intensifies

As government officials were interrupting various news programmes attempting to discredit FUNDAMEDIOS, the IFEX member in Ecuador, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) was wrapping up a press freedom mission that concluded independent media workers in the country face a general "climate of hostility." Even more alarming are death threats sent to staff of the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (FUNDAMEDIOS) at the same time.

Ecuador

Correa's hypocrisy on display amid assault on media

Shortly after a provincial court in Guayas, Ecuador, upheld a bankrupting US$40 million fine and three-year jail sentences for three "El Universo" newspaper directors and one writer, President Rafael Correa insulted his critics during a public speech at Columbia University in New York, report the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (FUNDAMEDIOS), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Ecuador

President Correa's critics sent to prison for criminal defamation, fined millions

In a 20 July ruling, an Ecuadorean judge sentenced a journalist and three newspaper executives to prison for three years with a $40 million fine for publishing a column that questioned the appropriateness of an army raid to rescue President Rafael Correa from a demonstration of striking policemen. The criminal conviction of Correa's critics is a major blow to press freedom, violating Ecuador's international human rights obligations, say the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (Fundamedios), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and other IFEX members.

Ecuador

IFEX members urge President to withdraw US$80 million lawsuit against paper

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is asking for US$80 million in damages from the newspaper "El Universo" and three years in prison for its executives for printing a "slanderous" article, report IFEX interim member Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (FUNDAMEDIOS) and IFEX members. The members are urging Correa to withdraw the lawsuit.

Ecuador

Police mutiny leads to censorship, injured journalists

As hundreds of soldiers and police in Ecuador took over police barracks and set up road blocks across the country on 30 September to protest benefit cuts, the authorities ordered local radio and television stations to carry state news broadcasts, report the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study (FUNDAMEDIOS), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). At least 20 journalists were injured in the fray.

Ecuador

Journalist and husband were tortured, say autopsies

Autopsies conducted on the bodies of an Ecuadorian journalist and her husband show the couple was tortured before they were killed, reports FUNDAMEDIOS.

Ecuador

Journalist punished with three-year prison term for defamation; others censored

Government efforts to control the media environment in Ecuador are playing out in brutal ways. An Ecuadorian journalist was sentenced to three years in prison and fined US$10,000 on 26 March for targeting a government official in an opinion editorial, report the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other IFEX members. Meanwhile, ARTICLE 19 and Fundamedios have reported on freedom of expression restrictions in a draft bill on media regulation under consideration by Congress. Also, the editor of a state-run newspaper was fired for challenging the state's editorial meddling, reports the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS).

Ecuador

GOBIERNO SE INCAUTA ESTACIÓNES DE TV

Ecuador

LE GOUVERNEMENT SAISIT DES STATIONS DE TÉLÉVISION

Ecuador

GOVERNMENT SEIZES TV STATIONS

IFEX members are alarmed that the government's seizure of two television stations and the closure of a critical radio station in Ecuador last week may be a move to silence private broadcasters ahead of a constitutional referendum.

Ecuador

PRESIDENTE CORTA ACCESO A LOS MEDIOS; LEYES DE INJURIA PODRÍAN ENCARCELAR A PERIODISTAS

Ecuador

LE PRÉSIDENT BLOQUE L'ACCÈS AUX MÉDIAS; LES LOIS SUR LES INSULTES POURRAIENT FAIRE INCARCÉRER DES JOURNALISTES

Ecuador

PRESIDENT CUTS MEDIA ACCESS; INSULT LAWS COULD JAIL JOURNALISTS

After a series of missteps with Ecuadorean media, President Rafael Correa has announced he will no longer give news conferences, according to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF). Meanwhile he continues to invoke an insult law in suing a newspaper editor over a critical editorial.

Ecuador

DEUX JOURNALISTES ASSASSINÉS

Ecuador

DOS PERIODISTAS ASESINADOS

Ecuador

TWO JOURNALISTS MURDERED

Police in Ecuador are investigating the murders of two journalists killed in the space of a week, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF). At press time, it is unclear whether the journalists were killed because of their work.

Ecuador

UN PHOTOGRAPHE PERD LA VIE PENDANT QU'IL COUVRAIT DES MANIFESTATIONS DE PROTESTATION

Ecuador

FOTÓGRAFO MUERE MIENTRAS CUBRE MANIFESTACIONES

Ecuador

PHOTOGRAPHER DIES COVERING PROTESTS

Amid protests in Quito last week that led to the ousting of Ecuador's former President Lucio Gutiérrez, a photographer lost his life, reported the World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

Ecuador

Ofrecen seminarios de libre expresión para periodistas bolivianos y ecuatorianos

Ecuador

LE PRÉSIDENT RATIFIE LA LOI D'ACCÈS À L'INFORMATION

Ecuador

PRESIDENT SIGNS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW

Ecuador joined the growing ranks of Latin American countries with freedom of information (FOI) laws last week when President Lucio Gutierrez signed a new law on access to public information, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) reports.

Ecuador

UNE ÉQUIPE D'ENQUÊTEURS REMPORTE UN PRIX DE JOURNALISME

Ecuador

EQUIPO DE INVESTIGACIÓN GANA PREMIO DE PERIODISMO

Ecuador

INVESTIGATIVE TEAM WINS JOURNALISM PRIZE

The Institute for Press and Society (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS) and Transparency International have awarded a team of Ecuadorian investigative journalists the top prize for reporting on corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ecuador

POLICÍA INVESTIGARÁ ASESINATO DE PERIODISTA DE TV

Ecuador

LA POLICE ENQUÊTE SUR LE MEURTRE D'UN JOURNALISTE