IV. SOCIAL CLEANSING

41. In other cases, the killings appear to be part of an attempt by a group to gain control of an area by purportedly enforcing “law and order” and by punishing “undesirables”. I was provided copies of social cleansing notices from Sucumbíos in which groups stated that they had “made the irrevocable decision to attack violence with violence”, and threatened to murder sex workers and “drug dealers, thieves, carjackers, kidnappers, and young drug users”. They also stated that the group already had its “first cleansing list” and would begin killing soon. They asked the community to collaborate by distributing the leaflets widely.

42. To my knowledge, similar flyers were distributed in La Concordia, Manabí and Guayaquil. The pamphlets all warned of the elimination of “criminals” and those who “have relationships with such people.” In Guayas, LGBT activists had also received such notices.

Link to full text of the report: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A.HRC.17.28.Add.2_en.pdf