QUITO - Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today that the statements of President Rafael Correa that the NGO is funded by the Sinaloa cartel are "irrational nonsense" and shows his "intolerance" of criticism.

MIAMI - Thursday, March 8th, a number of Ecuadorian human rights and democracy organizations plan to hold public demonstrations against what they describe as transgressions against democracy, free speech and the rule of law by the government of Rafael Correa. 

Correa has prompted international opprobrium in recent months for his multiple lawsuits against journalists that have written critically of him and his administration, including one in which his personal lawyer allegedly wrote the decision for a lawsuit in which Correa was the plaintiff. The result was a sentence of three years in jail and $40 million in fines for one editorial that was critical of his handling of a police strike. Correa later issued a pardon after stinging editorials from worldwide newspapers that included the New York Time, the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as a number of major international newspapers. 

Organizers of the protest in Miami say that the event will take place outside the Consulate of Ecuador, located at 117 NW 42nd Avenue from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm. The group released a resolution which states the following:

ECUADOR - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has ordered the Government of Ecuador to suspend the sentences against the four journalists of El Universo (pending full review), who were sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay compensation of $40 million to Correa for an editorial that he found offensive.  

The Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Santiago Canton, announced that the IACHR had requested injunctive relief in favor of the directors of El Universo, César, Carlos and Nicolas Perez, as well as the newspaper's former chief of opinion Emilio Palacio, who is seeking asylum from Correa's government in Miami.

Specifically, it ordered the Correa government to "immediately" stop any action upon of the judgment of the National Court of Justice (CNJ) that took place on February 15, 2012, which ratified the judgment of Judge Juan Paredes in July of 2011. 

Canton explained that given the facts presented by the four journalists before the Commission, it believed that the verdict could result in "irreparable harm" to the right of freedom of expression.