Ecuador criticized for freezing indigenous and environmental groups bank accounts

In an apparent effort to silence protests against the Ecuadorian government, the government’s financial agency froze indigenous and environmental groups’ bank accounts using secret intelligence information, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, commented that the measures in question constitute a misuse of anti-money laundering mechanisms, which “should be used to fight crime and not environmental groups.”

The Ecuadorian financial crimes agency ( Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico, UAFE ) cited secret intelligence reports to justify the freezing of the funds. Among the groups affected was the Indigenous organization Alianza Ceibo, made up of Waorani, Siekopai, A’i Cofán, and Siona Indigenous peoples, which has defende