Ecuadoran government seeks to control civil-society organizations.
| Autor | Saavedra, Luis Angel |
As if managing to take political control of all state institutions were not enough (NotiSur, Feb. 15, 2013, and July 19, 2013), the Ecuadoran government is now attempting to control all organizations created at the initiative of civil society. To do so, it has implemented a series of legal, political, and financial controls requiring each organization to submit periodic reports that allow the government to know its activities and, if it considers them detrimental to the government, to close it down on the grounds that it has violated a regulation.
On June 4, President Rafael Correa signed an executive order (Decreto Ejecutivo 16), creating the Sistema Unificado de Informacion de Organizaciones Sociales (SUIOS), under the direction of the Secretaria Nacional de Gestion de la Politica, which, in turn, is under the Ministerio Coordinador de la Politica.
The decree aims to regulate the activities of social organizations, which it divides into two categories: "corporations," defined as associations that promote the common good of their members--clubs, committees, professional organizations, federations, national unions, or any other organization that has at least five members; and "foundations," or any organization that promotes the common good of society.
The decree also covers other social organizations, national or foreign, that are governed by their own laws, such as communes, water boards, popular- and solidarity-economy cooperatives, and committees. It covers organizations aimed at "social management and control," that is, groups established or regulated by state institutions, such as supervision and observation groups, and special working or monitoring committees. Thus, no organization remains outside the control of the Ministerio Coordinador de la Politica.
Permanent vigilance
The vigilance begins with registering all organizations in the SUIOS computer system, including entering their public documentation and information dealing with their legal status, such as its members, the statement of projects financed with foreign funds, strategic and work plans, etc. All organizations--at whatever level--must complete this new registration in SUIOS, even if they already have legal personality.
"If a school parents committee is formed, it must fulfill all the requirements of registering with SUIOS, just like a national federation of any union," said Harold Burbano, legal advisor for grassroots indigenous and campesino organizations.
Under the new...
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