A/HRC/45/44/Add.1 Annex Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its mission to Ecuador I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government of Ecuador, the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent undertook a visit to Ecuador from 16 to 20 December 2019. 1 The members of the delegation were Ahmed Reid (Chairperson) and Ricardo Sunga III (member of the Working Group). This visit was conducted in follow-up to the Working Group’s official visit to Ecuador in 2009 and its subsequent report to the Human Rights Council in 2010 (A/HRC/13/59). 2. During the visit, the Working Group assessed the human rights situation of people of African descent living in Ecuador and gathered information on the forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance that they faced. The Working Group studied the official measures taken and mechanisms in place to prevent racial discrimination and protect victims of racism, as well as responses to multiple forms of discrimination. The visit focused on both good practices and challenges faced in realizing their human rights. 3. As part of its fact-finding mission, the Working Group visited Quito, San Lorenzo and Esmeraldas. It met representatives of the national Government (including from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, the Secretariat for Human Rights, the Technical Secretariat for Planning (“Planifica Ecuador”), the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, the Ministry of Labour, the National Statistics and Census Institute, the National Police and the Police Complaints Authority), the National Assembly, the Assembly’s Committee on Collective Rights, the parliamentary group on people of African descent, the National Council for the Equality of Peoples and Nationalities, local authorities in Esmeraldas Province (including the Mayor of Esmeraldas and all the mayors of the cantons in the province), the Attorney General, judges of the Constitutional Court, the Council of the Judiciary, the Ombudsman’s Office and the United Nations country team. It also visited the juvenile detention centre in Esmeraldas. 4. In all the places that the Working Group visited, it also met members of communities of African descent, as well as human rights activists, lawyers, academics and representatives of non-governmental organizations. 5. The Working Group wishes to thank the Government for its invitation and for its cooperation during the visit, and the Resident Coordinator Office and the United Nations country team for their support. The Working Group would also like to express its appreciation to the members of Afro-Ecuadorian civil society who assisted in organizing meetings, and all the people who shared their views on the human rights situation of people of African descent in the country. II. Background: historical overview and population 6. The history of Ecuador and people of African descent started with the trade in enslaved Africans, which has left a lasting legacy of systemic racism that is very difficult to 1 2 The visit was postponed from October to December 2019 owing to the state of emergency that was declared on 3 October 2019 in response to protests against the adoption of austerity measures. The President revoked the austerity measures on 14 October 2019.