(Washington, DC) – A prosecutor in the Ecuadorian coastal city of Manta was shot and killed on June 14, 2026, the most recent in a series of killings of judicial officials in Ecuador, Human Rights Watch said today. Gloria Alexandra Bravo Cedeño is the third prosecutor to be killed in Manta since 2022. Ecuadorian authorities should ensure a prompt, credible, and impartial investigation into the death of the prosecutor and take urgent measures to protect judicial officials.
An armed assailant reportedly shot Bravo dead as she was walking to her car. Her sister was also killed in the attack. Bravo worked on cases involving homicides, kidnappings, and organized crime in Manabí province, one of Ecuador’s most violent. She had also investigated a massive fire that destroyed several vessels in Manta, as well as recent drone attacks against three fishing vessels off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. Police reportedly said the attack on Bravo appeared to deliberately target her. The Attorney General’s Office said the prosecutor’s killing was “in retaliation for the institution’s frontal and permanent fight against organized crime.”
“The killing of prosector Bravo is a tragedy, but sadly not an isolated one in Ecuador,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “President Daniel Noboa’s government should stop treating the justice system as an afterthought and give its officials the protection and resources they urgently need.”
Bravo had worked in Manta for several years, handling cases involving homicides, kidnappings, and organized crime. She was recently transferred to Montecristi.
She recently investigated the drone strikes between January and March on the three fishing vessels Fiorella, Negra Francisca Duarte II, and Don Maca. Human Rights Watch is investigating who was responsible for these strikes, and in May a Human Rights Watch researcher spoke with Bravo about her investigation.
“Being a prosecutor is very difficult in this context of organized crime,” Bravo said then. “The danger is always present.”
The other prosecutors killed in Manta since 2022 are Luz Marina Delgado and Marcelo Vásconez. Another two officials from the prosecutor’s office were killed in May. The Observatory of Rights and Justice, an Ecuadorian human rights organization that monitors conditions for justice officials, has recorded 26 killings of judges, prosecutors, and other justice personnel across Ecuador since 2020. On May 12, Judge Lady Pachar was shot dead in Machala by two men on a motorcycle while traveling without her bodyguards. She had received threats.
Judges and prosecutors in Ecuador often lack the most basic tools and security measures needed to investigate organized crime groups. Some provinces do not have sufficient personnel to remove bodies from crime scenes or conduct ballistics analysis, even in major cities such as Guayaquil. Many prosecutors and judges, including those at risk, do not have access to armored vehicles or basic protective equipment.
Ecuador has become the country with the highest homicide rate in South America, with a rate of 51 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025. During recent years, civil society organizations, authorities, and media outlets have documented killings of public officials, journalists, and politicians. The coastal province of Manabí, where Manta is located, has been become one of the three most violent provinces in Ecuador, with over 1,271 homicides in 2025, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory on Organized Crime.
The Ecuadorian government has an obligation to protect the lives and safety of all people within its territory, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities also have an obligation to conduct a prompt, independent, and thorough investigation into the killing of Bravo and bring those responsible, including those who ordered the attack, to justice.
The government should put in place a comprehensive risk assessment system and provide effective protection to justice officials facing credible threats. It should also fill the more than 1,000 vacancies of judges and prosecutors across the country and provide justice officials with the technical, forensic, and logistical resources needed to investigate organized crime effectively.
“Ecuador is unlikely to end its spiral of violence if it does not take urgent steps to protect the very officials investigating criminal groups,” Goebertus said.
