The Correa administration is moving to shut down Ecuador’s leading media freedom group, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should immediately end its attacks on the country’s independent human rights organizations.

On September 7, 2015, the Communications Ministry opened an administrative process to "dissolve" Fundamedios, an Ecuadorian group that monitors freedom of expression in the country. The government contends that Fundamedios engaged in political activities by publishing tweets with links to blogs or news articles criticizing the government. The arbitrary closure of the group would violate the government’s obligations to respect and protect the fundamental rights of free speech and freedom of association.

"The Correa administration wants to punish an organization for tweeting articles with news and opinions it doesn’t like," said Daniel Wilkinson, Americas managing director at Human Rights Watch. "This is an egregious abuse of power and a clear example of this government’s authoritarian practices."

The Communications Ministry’s resolution accuses Fundamedios of "disseminating messages, alerts, and essays with clear political implications" and includes an annex with 57 tweets, most with links to opinion or news articles critical of the government.

Adapted from Human Rights Watch