Overview

• A British man accused of a fatal shooting in Playas del Cuyabeno was arrested by police but later forcibly removed by a mob.
• The mob dragged the man to the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and set him on fire, resulting in his death from severe burns.
• Police at the station did not intervene, citing safety concerns and the delayed arrival of reinforcements due to the remote location.
• The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is engaging with Ecuadorian authorities to confirm the victim's nationality and seek accountability.
• Ecuadorian law allows indigenous communities certain jurisdictional powers, but lynching is prosecutable as homicide under national law.