41 year-old Monika Silva Veras (née Koniuszek) was an Ecuador-based Polish social and ecological activist, presiding over the La Integridad Foundation. She reported on alleged corruption by local authorities, including land deals in the province of Santa Elena. On June 8, she was found dead in her apartment - and the circumstances of her passing remain unclear.
Initially, a day after the Pole's death, Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg told the media that the suspected cause of her passing was suicide. However, according to organizations representing the woman's family, an autopsy disproved this hypothesis, indicating murder. Later, when asked about this statement, Reimberg explained that he had relied on a police report and the testimony of her partner.
"As (the family's) representatives, we have formally requested the prosecutor's office to collect testimony (from Minister Reimberg) regarding his aforementioned declarations"
- Ecuador's Standing Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDH) and an Ecuadorian women's rights organization CEPAM announced in a joint statement. The organizations also called for an investigation into "all possible avenues" in this case and to "establish the motive, circumstances, and responsibility" for Silva's death.
"The investigation should consider both the hypothesis of a murder in the context of domestic or intimate partner violence, and the possibility that it was a politically motivated murder related to Silva's activities as a human rights defender and anti-corruption activist"
- the statement posted on social media continued.
CDH and CEPAM requested that the prosecutor's office question individuals close to Silva and "take voluntary statements" from individuals named in her reports of alleged corruption scandals, as well as in reports of threats she had received.
Silva had highlighted a number of cases of alleged corruption and irregularities in land deals in the province of Santa Elena, which local media linked to figures from high-ranking political and business circles in the country, including current MP Otto Vera, Labor Minister Cynthia Gellibert, and former Speaker of Parliament Niels Olsen.
In April, Silva announced that she had submitted her findings regarding the so-called "Sunshine Scandal" to the US Embassy in Quito - also claiming that "entities linked to the drug trade" were involved. According to the late activist, these included employees of Noboa Trading, a company owned by the family of President Daniel Noboa.
The European Union Delegation to Ecuador and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for a swift and independent investigation into Silva's death. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Andrea Bolanos, referring to Silva's death, called on the country to end the persecution of activists and whistleblowers, and ensure their protection.
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Source: PAP