Mr. José Aguilar T., defender of the last remnants of Esmeralda's tropical forests, and his wife were found dead in violent conditions on Thursday, February 25, 2010.
The property where they lived in Hoja Blanca, Malimpia parish, in Esmeraldas, bordered the "El Pambilar" Protective Forest, which according to the Constitutional Court (2002), was illegally awarded to the logging company Tropical Forests SA, BOTROSA, property of the business group DURINI ROCK.
For more than 10 years, José Aguilar was a defender of the rights of nature in his locality and denounced the abuses of which many peasants were victims, for not wanting to sell their settlement rights to BOTROSA.
José Aguilar was tried for
BOTROSA (DURINI PEÑA) accused of organizing pseudo-cooperatives and invading private property. This legal action was filed through an amnesty by the National Constituent Assembly (June 2008), in favor of people and social leaders criminalized for defending their rights.The deaths coincide with Judge Victoria Chang-Huang's historic decision to return the El Pambilar protected forest to the State (Jan. 2010). For all these years, the property had been illegally in the hands of the company.
BOTROSA (DURINI PEÑA), however, the company refuses to abandon El Pambilar, (El Comercio, 12 Feb. 2010). and replicated in a testimony by Aguilar regarding this situation on La Luna radio, a few days before his murder.Currently, El Pambilar is an area of permanent confrontation, which is why the signatory organizations urgently call for compliance with the Constitutional Court's resolution, that is, for El Pambilar to be effectively returned to the State.
However, what is happening in Pambilar is not exceptional in relation to the situation of violence in Esmeraldas, which can be seen in daily media reports and which represents a scenario of vulnerability for social organizations and communities involved in socio-environmental conflicts.
We demand that the Undersecretary of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice urgently activate its surveillance authority in Esmeraldas and issue recommendations to the competent authorities that can help contain the risk factors for the inhabitants of the province.
Likewise, the Attorney General's Office should undertake an exhaustive investigation into the motives, perpetrators and circumstances of the death of leader José Aguilar and his wife, so that these crimes do not go unpunished and attacks against other community leaders and their families are prevented, as we have already seen unfortunately happen in the sister country of Colombia.
Finally, we invite the media to monitor and report on the situation of human rights violations in the province of Esmeraldas, the situation of nature defenders throughout the country, as well as the process of restitution of the Pambilar Property to the State.
OUT BOTROSA, YOU'RE DESTROYING
Sincerely,
Elsie Monge CEDHU Cecilia Chérrez ECOLOGICAL ACTION
Sandra Naula INREDH Nora Fernandez CDES
TODAY, AS BEFORE, THEY CAN KILL PEOPLE, BUT THEY CANNOT KILL IDEAS.
Thank you for helping us spread the word.
In the following issues we will provide you with more information on the entire history of damage that BOTROSA (Peña Durini) has been causing and continues to cause in the most remote areas of our country.
ES_ES 
EN