Human Rights Watch says civilians were tortured and fishing boats attacked during joint US-Ecuador anti-drug operations

Summary

Human Rights Watch released a 94-page report on July 21 titled "A Dangerous Partnership" that documents serious human rights violations linked to joint US-Ecuador anti-drug operations from January to March 2026. Ecuadorian forces tortured and arbitrarily detained four farm workers near the Colombia-Ecuador border during what the United States described as a "partnered operation," and later burned a dairy farm. Near the Galapagos Islands, drones of unknown origin attacked two fishing vessels and injured crew, while a third vessel disappeared with most of its crew. HRW says each incident either implicates the security partnership directly or raises serious unanswered questions about responsibility. The organisation called on the US Congress to examine the cooperation urgently.

The split

Al Jazeera and La Tercera frame the report as evidence of a pattern in US-backed counternarcotics operations in Latin America, situating it within a broader critique of Washington's security reach in the region. HRW's primary documents speak for themselves on the specific incidents. No US or Ecuadorian government response appeared in available feed sources, and the report's characterisation of the drone attacks as "unknown origin" leaves a deliberate evidentiary gap that either government could exploit to deflect accountability.

By the numbers

• 94 pages, the length of the HRW report "A Dangerous Partnership"
• 4, farm workers tortured and arbitrarily detained in one documented incident
• 2, fishing boats attacked by drones near the Galapagos
• 1, fishing vessel that remains missing with most of its crew

Why it matters

The report is significant because it directly implicates the US as a partner in operations where human rights violations occurred, not merely as a distant funder. If the US Congress takes up HRW's call for scrutiny, it could impose conditions on security assistance to Ecuador or trigger Inspector General reviews of the programme. For Ecuador, the partnership is central to its anti-cartel strategy under President Noboa, and any US conditionality would create domestic political pressure.

What to watch

• Any US State Department or Pentagon response to the HRW report
• Ecuador's government official reaction and whether it opens any domestic inquiry
• Whether a US congressional committee schedules hearings on the security cooperation
• HRW's follow-up on the fate of the missing fishing vessel and crew