Offices of the Attorney General’s Office in Manta, Ecuador, January 29, 2024.
(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 investigat
