On Tuesday 28th September a gang-related riot broke out in an Ecuadorian prison. Prisoners pulled firearms on each other and set off explosives in what has been called the worst gang-related violence in Ecuador’s history. It wasn’t until Wednesday 29th that officials claimed they had the prison under control again, however neighbours of the Guayas prison complex claim to have heard explosions and gunshots early Thursday morning . Ecuadorian authorities said a major operation took place on Thursday 30th to regain control using 900 officers and army soldiers at which point a death toll of 24 prisoners was reported, later rising to over 100 as police worked their way through the prison.
The attack broke out when prisoners from one wing of the prison crawled through a hole and gained access to another wing of the prison which held their rival gang members. Local media reported that the killings may have been ordered from outside the prison highlighting a power struggle between Mexican cartels currently under way in Ecuador.
If this violence had occurred outside of a prison it would not be forgotten, it would be headline news and would be classed as a tragedy. But this event did occur inside a prison, and it was not headline news.
One of the purposes of a prison is to rehabilitate people so that they can re-enter society when their sentence is finished. Events like these call into question whether some prison environments actually achieve their rehabilitative purpose.
To read the BBC article follow this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-58733202