Call for Ecuadorian political prisoner Gabriela Gallardo

FOR THE LIFE AND HEALTH OF Gabriela Gallardo (a revolutionary political prisoner in Ecuador)

Here is an urgent call from Red Aid Nuestra América for the political prisoner Gabriela Gallardo in Ecuador:

“We at Socorro Rojo Nuestra América wish to express our deep concern regarding the health situation and the serious human rights violations faced by the Ecuadorian political prisoner Gabriela Gallardo, who is currently detained in Ecuador’s prison system.

Gabriela Gallardo has been in detention since May 2022. During her trial, it was established that she suffers from a life-threatening illness: a brain tumour (pituitary microadenoma), a medical condition requiring constant monitoring, specialised treatment and appropriate healthcare conditions. In August of that same year, a constitutional judge granted her a writ of habeas corpus, expressly recognising that her continued detention in a prison posed a direct risk to her physical integrity and her life.

However, on 17 October 2024, this alternative measure was revoked without any change in her state of health or any negative reports regarding her conduct. From that point onwards, Gallardo was once again subjected to transfers between various prisons, passing through the Cotopaxi Detention Centre, then the Tungurahua Detention Centre, and finally being transferred on 24 February to the Guayas No. 2 Detention Centre in the city of Guayaquil.

This latest transfer is particularly alarming. This prison has been the scene of serious structural crises characterised by overcrowding, outbreaks of tuberculosis, food shortages and repeated episodes of prison violence. Under these conditions, the continued detention of a person with a serious neurological condition and without access to specialist medical care constitutes a real and imminent risk to her life.

Since her return to the prison system, Gabriela Gallardo has not received the medical care her condition requires. On the contrary, her health has deteriorated significantly: she has lost teeth due to a lack of dental care, had to undergo emergency surgery for a hernia that was not treated in a timely manner within the prison, and has suffered repeated interruptions in the medication necessary for the treatment of her brain tumour.

These circumstances constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, which is prohibited under international human rights law.

According to the United Nations, States have a reinforced obligation to protect the health and lives of persons deprived of their liberty. The Nelson Mandela Rules stipulate that detainees must have access to health services equivalent to those available in the community and receive specialised medical treatment when their condition requires it.

Furthermore, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has repeatedly stated that the State is the guarantor of the life and personal integrity of persons in its custody. The lack of adequate medical care in contexts of deprivation of liberty constitutes a direct violation of the right to personal integrity enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights.

Added to this situation is the undue prolongation of the judicial process. Gabriela Gallardo remains in detention without a final sentence, whilst her appeal hearing has been postponed for almost two years, which breaches the principle of reasonable time and the right to the presumption of innocence recognised in international law.

The impact of this judicial persecution extends beyond the detainee herself and directly affects her family. Gabriela is the mother of a teenager who has been left in a situation of extreme vulnerability following the detention of both parents. The child witnessed the violent police operation during which they were arrested and has since faced serious emotional and social consequences. Furthermore, the family has had to cope with the death of the father in 2023 and the mother in 2025 without Gabriela being able to say goodbye to them due to her detention.

Repeated prison transfers have also affected the child’s right to maintain contact with his parents and have severely hindered the possibility of family support, creating a situation that directly impacts his rights as a child and his emotional stability.

At Socorro Rojo Nuestra América, we warn that Gabriela Gallardo’s current situation constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards. Keeping a person with a life-threatening illness in detention without guaranteeing specialised medical care and in high-risk prison conditions constitutes a form of institutional violence incompatible with the Ecuadorian State’s international obligations.

In view of the above:

WE DEMAND

1- The immediate reinstatement of house arrest for Gabriela Gallardo, in order to ensure the continuity of her specialised medical treatment.

2- Immediate access to comprehensive and specialised medical care appropriate to her health condition.

3- Respect for due process and a reasonable timeframe in the handling of her legal case.

4- The urgent intervention of the Ecuadorian Ombudsman’s Office and the mechanisms for the prevention of torture to guarantee her physical integrity and her life.

We hold the Ecuadorian State responsible for any further deterioration in her health or for any harm that Gabriela Gallardo may suffer as a result of these conditions of detention.

The situation is urgent.

Every day that Gabriela remains in these conditions is a day in which her health deteriorates and her life is in danger.

For the life, health and freedom of Gabriela Gallardo!

Stop political persecution and criminalisation!

#socorrorojo

Nuestra America

13-3-2026″