Ecuador sees record rise in forced disappearances in 2026

Ecuador's interior ministry reported 3,909 disappearance cases between January and June 2026, a 2.8% increase over the same period in 2025 and the highest semi‑annual total since 2020. Of those, 3,067 people were located alive, 197 were found dead and 645 remain missing. The provinces with the most reports were Guayas (945), Pichincha (913) – most of which occurred in Quito – and Manabí (255). Women accounted for 55.5% of the complaints, while 90.4% of the identified deaths were male. Children and adolescents were heavily affected, with 2,143 minors reported missing, including 1,960 adolescents; 273 of them were still unlocated, a 137% rise from the previous year.

Human‑rights groups, including the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDH) and the Committee of Families for Truth and Justice, staged a protest demanding that the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense provide information required by a December 2025 Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) resolution. They allege the ministry has failed to supply operational details about the alleged forced disappearances, despite commitments made in June. The protest highlighted the broader context of an internal armed conflict declared in January 2024, under which the government has intensified military actions against criminal gangs.