Image of Abstract Human Rights Defenders. © ISHR image created with the help of DALL·E.
ISHR urges Ecuador’s top court to strike down law undermining civil society freedoms
ISHR has filed an amicus curiae brief before Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, arguing that the Organic Law on Social Transparency imposes sweeping registration requirements, financial oversight and reporting obligations, and other burdens that unduly restrict civil society organisations and undermine the right to freedom of association.
The International Service for Human Rights has recently filed an amicus curiae brief in support of an Action for Unconstitutionality before the Constitutional Court of Ecuador brought by Acción Ecológica and other civil society organisations against the Organic Law on Social Transparency (‘the Law’) enacted on 28 August 2025.
The Law establishes a legal framework governing nonprofit social organizations in Ecuador. In doing so, it introduces extensive state control mechanisms, including mandatory registration requirements, extensive financial oversight and disclosure requirements, and severe penalties for non-compliance, including dissolution. ISHR argues that these measures risk undermining the independence and functioning of civil society organisations and human rights defenders.
ISHR’s submission aims to assist the Constitutional Court in determining the Law’s compliance with Ecuador’s international human rights obligations, , in particular the right to freedom of association under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. ISHR’s analysis also draws on UN Special Rapporteurs’ reports and the civil society led ‘Declaration +25’ which builds on the UN Declaration.
ISHR’s analysis shows that the Law’s registration regime, restrictions on access to funding, and provisions allowing for dissolution as a consequence for non-compliance contravene international law and standards, particularly Article 22 of the ICCPR and Articles 5, 13, and 17 of the UN Declaration.
ISHR has urged the Court to ensure that Ecuador’s legal framework fully respects the right to freedom of association and complies with its international obligations. It has called for the immediate suspension of the Law’s implementation pending the Court’s decision on the merits. At this stage the Court has accepted the constitutional challenge, but the Law remains in force.
The challenge to the Law and ISHR’s intervention comes at a time of growing restrictions on civic space in Ecuador. The CIVICUS Monitor has classified Ecuador’s civic space as ‘obstructed’ since 2020. It has also put the country on its March 2026 watchlist, highlighting deeply concerning instances of killing, arbitrary detention and short-term enforced disappearances during Indigenous-led peaceful protests, killing and targeting of journalists, attacks against judges and court officials, stigmatisation and criminalisation of environmental defenders and Indigenous leaders, increased militarisation and declarations of emergency since 2024 etc. The implementation of the Law is already having wide-ranging negative consequences as well – reportedly, lawsuits for alleged unjustified private enrichment have been initiated against at least 60 social leaders and nonprofit representatives, and the bank accounts of at least 10 Indigenous defenders were frozen in September and October 2025.
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has also been under attack following its August 2025 decision to suspend the implementation of certain laws while assessing their constitutionality. The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers expressed concern over political pressure and intimidation, against the backdrop of statements by a government minister labelling the Court an ‘enemy of the citizenry’ and a march led by President Daniel Noboa which alleged corruption and sought to discredit judges.