Weekly Report - 26 November 2015 (WR-15-47)

President Rafael Correa has decreed a state of exception in 17 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces for two months as a preventative measure ahead of the eventual arrival of the El Niño weather phenomenon. This confers on Correa the right to suspend or limit freedom of movement, association and information and will include the whole of the period during which the national assembly will debate 15 constitutional amendments, including indefinite re-election. Protest movements have planned a march on 26 November in Quito (part of Pichincha, one of the provinces included in the state of exception) and a general strike to coincide with the assembly’s debate in December.