In an unnerving revelation, an exclusive report by El País discloses that Ecuadorian officials have been deceitfully accumulating genetic data from prisoners in an attempt to combat prevalent gang-related crimes plaguing the nation.
The report alleges that officials deceive prisoners into releasing their genetic information by informing them that the data is primarily for their bodily identification in case of a prison massacre. Officials are purportedly packaging the procedure as an unexceptional prison norm to dissuade inmates from seeking counsel from their legal advisors and advocates. Three governmental sources mentioned in the report allege the collected information is intended to potentially implicate prisoners in previously committed or future crimes.
Incidences such as these strike at the heart of legal and ethical questions around privacy. Ecuador’s Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data, adopted in 2021, and modelled from the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, safeguards personal data. The law initiated a national data protection authority, introduced regulations for cross-border data transfers, and permitted requests for access, amendment, or deletion of personal data. The Constitution of Ecuador, specifically Article 66, protects these rights as well.
Article 92 of the Constitution further ensures that every individual has access to personal data banks and genetic data about themselves, and the right to be informed of its use, purpose, origin, and time of permanence. Failure to adhere to these laws should culminate in the disposal of the controversial data.
Interestingly, the Permanent Committee on Human Rights (CDH) expressed its opinions on the report’s findings, stating that the right to health would be violated by such maneuvers. The CDH underscored the need for absolute secrecy in managing sensitive data and mandated the presence of legal representation while the prisoners provide consent for data collection. The Committee also averred that the Ministry of Public Health should be the exclusive party given access to such data.
The CDH has historically been critical regarding the treatment of Ecuadorian inmates, especially since the onset of military interventions to curb gang-related activities in prisons. In January, the CDH published a report regarding its monitoring of the prison crisis, detailing a disturbing pattern of “systematic torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” inflicted upon inmates and their families that the CDH registered. This investigation further revealed malignant practices such as the gradual denial of food, confinement in cells with pepper spray, whipping, and beatings.