In recent months, a troubling pattern has emerged in Ecuador, in fact a series of alerts received by ProtectDefenders.eu paint a concerning picture of systematic criminalisation, financial harassment, and judicial pressure against human rights and environmental defenders, particularly those working on water, land, and indigenous rights.
Defenders Sentenced for Protecting Water and Land
In February 2026, the Criminal Court in Quevedo sentenced environmental defenders Piedad Guaranda, María Ortega, and Wilfrido Escobar to four years in prison and the payment of fifteen basic salaries. Their crime: opposing the Curipamba–El Domo mining project in Las Naves, operated by Canadian companies Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Salazar Resources Ltd. The case is not isolated and currently, 32 defenders are facing criminal charges across the provinces of Bolívar and Los Ríos in connection with the same conflict, in what organisations have described as a deliberate use of the criminal justice system to wear down and silence community resistance.
The persecution is systematic. Wilfrido Escobar, for instance, was acquitted in one trial in December 2025, only to be convicted again in a separate case in February 2026. For Piedad Guaranda and María Ortega, organisations have stated that there is no credible evidence to support the charges brought against them.
Financial Harassment of a Nature Defender
In March 2026, lawyer and nature defender David Fajardo Torres had his bank account frozen for the second time by Ecuador’s Financial and Economic Analysis Unit (UAFE). David works on extractive industries and the defence of water sources in Cuenca, and is a spokesperson for the Cabildo Popular por el Agua de Cuenca, and this was not the first time as his accounts were first frozen in September 2025. The freezing of bank accounts of human rights defenders has become a recurring practice in Ecuador, often implemented without prior notification or due process, and increasingly used as a tool of intimidation against those defending nature and territorial rights.
These individual cases reflect a wider and rapidly deteriorating civic space. An international human rights observation visit to Ecuador in March 2026 documented growing criminalisation of defenders, the application of SLAPPs against civil society, violent repression of peaceful protests, and a weakening of judicial independence. Observers also raised alarm over the government’s push to expand extractive industries, including a new mining law adopted under emergency procedures, and the potential signing of a free trade agreement with Canada that would grant significant legal privileges to foreign mining investments. The situation in Ecuador is a stark reminder of the price paid by those who stand up for the rights of communities, water, and nature and of the urgent need for international solidarity and protection.
