The Ecuadorian government must do more to protect the human rights of indigenous peoples (in this case the Kichwa people of Sarayaku) if it is to fully comply with an international court ruling, Amnesty International said.
Exactly one year ago The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ruled that Ecuador should apologize, consult with and compensate the Kichwa people of Sarayaku for an oil project that damaged their ancestral lands and put their lives at risk in Ecuador's Amazon region.
"Although there has been some progress in the implementation (of the measures ordered by the Court), the government of Ecuador has yet to apologize to the people of Sarayaku and adequately regulate the right to prior consultation. They must be given the right to free, prior and informed consent before projects on their territory go ahead," said Guadalupe Marengo, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
"The government must also expedite the safe removal of the 1.4 tons of high-grade explosives that the oil company left on their land, in accordance with the wishes of the community."
The IACHR ruling in July 2012 was hailed as a major step forward in protecting the human rights of indigenous peoples in the country and throughout the region.
"The ruling gave Ecuador the opportunity to set an example for the entire region on how to avoid new human rights violations like those experienced by the Sarayaku people," said Guadalupe Marengo.
"Ecuador must fully comply with the Court's ruling and introduce progressive legislation in line with international standards and the right to free, prior and informed consent."
The IACHR determined that the Kichwa people of Sarayaku had not been adequately consulted regarding an oil project carried out by the Argentine Compañía General de Combustibles in their territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He said the state had violated the community's right to property, cultural identity and put the community's survival at risk.
In 2012, the Government approved an executive decree providing a regulatory framework for prior consultation in areas affected by oil and gas projects. However, Amnesty International does not believe that such a framework is in line with international standards.
"This decree was not consulted and agreed upon with indigenous peoples, in accordance with international standards, and many of them have expressed serious doubts about the consultation process that has taken place to date," Marengo said.
In late November 2012, Ecuador began a public bidding process to open up large areas of the southeastern Amazon region for new oil blocks. Oil companies from around the world have been invited to submit bids for oil exploration and exploitation. The bidding process for contracts remains open.
The Sarayaku case
He Kichwa Indigenous People The Sarayaku people have a population of 1,200 people, their ancestral territories are located in a remote area of the Amazon region of eastern Ecuador.
In the 2000s, an oil company occupied part of the community's ancestral territory. The Ecuadorian state had granted the company permission to search for oil without first consulting its people.
For several months, company personnel, accompanied by Ecuadorian army personnel and private security guards, carried out detonations, cut down trees, dug more than 400 holes and buried more than 1.4 tons of high-grade explosives; in addition to polluting the environment with the noise of helicopters transporting people and explosives.
The people of Sarayaku responded by raising complaints at national and international levels and eventually succeeded in getting the company to abandon the project. But the authorities failed to apologize and provide reparations for the impact the exploration project had on community life, let alone make commitments to prevent similar abuses.
After exhausting all internal legal avenues for reparation and guarantee of non-repetition, Sarayaku decided to take its case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In July 2012, the judges ruled in favor of Sarayaku.
The Kichwa people of Sarayaku and Amnesty International co-produced the documentary Children of the Jaguar on the community's struggle to defend its rights. The film won the “Best Documentary” award at the 2012 National Geographic All Roads Film Festival.
The Sarayaku people and Amnesty International screened the film on July 25, in association with other national and international non-governmental organizations, to commemorate the first anniversary of the IACHR ruling.
Translation of note from Amnesty International
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