Social organizations and human rights defenders warned that the bill represents a threat to the rule of law because it would encourage the excessive use of force and leave the true core of the illicit economy intact. On the contrary, it protects the impunity of state actors implicated in human rights violations and corruption.

One of the measures proposed as part of the law is that private companies that make donations to law enforcement receive a tax benefit, that is, they are exempt from paying part of their income tax.

The organizations assert that, under the guise of the internal armed conflict, the law would allow warrantless searches, express criminal proceedings, mandatory pretrial detention, and legal benefits for police and military personnel involved in crimes. They also denounced the law’s concentration of power in the hands of the president and the so-called Security Bloc, which would be empowered to declare zones of exception, expel foreigners, and implement economic measures without parliamentary or judicial oversight.

The organizations demanded that the National Assembly reject the bill as unconstitutional and warned that they will take legal action if it is approved.

Noboa took office this Saturday for a second term with the promise of “saving” the country, recognized by the authorities themselves as the most violent in the region. ” “This is a direct confrontation with organized criminal structures,” the president said in a speech after his inauguration, and guaranteed that there will be no truce against crime.

Despite similar promises made during the 2023 campaign, Noboa failed to reduce the murder rate during his first 18-month term in office. Between January and April 2025, Ecuador recorded 3,084 homicides, which could lead to the year ending as the most violent in the country’s history.

jrr/…