Ecuador before the Inter-American Court for violating the rights of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku

Washington D.C., May 6, 2010

The State of Ecuador will be prosecuted before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for allowing an Argentinian oil company to explore and exploit an indigenous territory without previously consulting the community. On April 26, 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) brought a lawsuit against Ecuador before the Inter-American Court, based in Costa Rica, for the Kichwa people of Sarayaku.

This decision was taken after determining that the Ecuadorian State did not comply with the recommendations recently issued by the IACHR’s in-depth report on the case. In the report, the IACHR stated that the State had committed violations against indigenous people, such as violating their territory among others. Ecuador is now exposed to a possible conviction of the Inter-American Court.

According to Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of CEJIL, the case “is representative of the regional conflicts between the interests of the States to dispose of their natural resources and the protection of indigenous people’s rights.” Therefore, “we expect the Court to develop specific standards on indigenous people’s rights who face natural resource extraction projects which have a serious impact on the lives and survival of the communities” stated Krsticevic.

Both CEJIL and Ecuadorian lawyer Mario Melo, representatives of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, are confident that the litigation of the case before the Court will bring Ecuador to adopt measures to fully redress the Kichwa people of Sarayaku and to avoid the repetition of such events. Among them, Ecuador should adopt appropriate mechanisms to implement the right to prior consultation and obtain informed consent of the indigenous peoples in accordance with the applicable international law.

The facts of the case started in 1996 when Ecuador signed a contract with the Argentinian company, CGC, for the exploration and exploitation of oil in an area that touches the territory of the people of Sarayaku. The contract was made without consulting the indigenous community. In defense of their lands, the Sarayaku denied the company entrance to their territory. Despite this fact, workers of the oil company entered the Sarayaku territory accompanied by heavily armed military patrols.

The company’s activities involved land clearing, mobilization of land, vegetation and materials, the placement and detonation of explosives, the construction of heliports and camps, as well as threats and violence against members of the community. This has had a major impact on the life and development of the people of Sarayaku.

Consequently, the people of Sarayaku turned to the Inter-American tribunal arguing that by signing the contract and enabling and supporting the development of extractive activities of their territory, Ecuador had restricted the right of its people to collective ownership. In addition, they denounced violations to their right to life, right of integrity and to personal liberty, judicial guarantees and protection, among others protected by the American Convention on Human Rights.

Press Contact:
Mauricio Herrera Ulloa

Communications Director
Tel: (202) 319-3000
[email protected]
www.cejil.org

The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) is an advocacy of human rights in the Americas. CEJIL’s main objective is to ensure full implementation of international human rights standards in the Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS), through the effective use of the Inter-american human rights system and other international protection mechanisms. CEJIL is a nongovernmental nonprofit with consultative status at the OAS, the Organization of the United Nations (UN) and observer status with the African Commission on Human Rights.