The Ecuadorian Center for Economic and Social Rights is pleased to share the report "Large-Scale Mining Intervention in Ecuador and Violation of Human Rights: Corriente Resources case", prepared by the Ecumenical Commission for Human Rights (CEDHU) of Ecuador with the support of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and with the collaboration of the Canadian organization Rights and Democracy.
The document summarizes the intervention of Corriente Resources Inc., a Canadian mining exploration company (now acquired by a Chinese consortium) that, through its subsidiaries, has been operating in the Amazonian provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe since 2000, and denounces the impacts and violations of rights in its projects, in particular:
– the lack of participation in environmental management by the community in general and the absence of a process of prior, free and informed consultation with indigenous peoples affected by the proposed mining projects;
– a land acquisition program that impacts the right not to be displaced and the right to housing;
– potential environmental impacts that jeopardize the right to water;
– a nationwide process of repression and criminalization against individuals and organizations that oppose large-scale mining.
With this report, CDES hopes to contribute to generating debates on the conditions of socio-environmental viability of the large-scale mining industry.
The report's conclusions and recommendations were presented by an international mission in mid-January to government authorities, the mining sector, the media and civil society actors.
The full report can be found here