FIPSE FICSH FINAE
Pueblos Indigenas de Ecuador
c/o Centro de Derechos Economicos y Sociales
P.O. Box 17-07-8808
Quito Ecuador
Tel: 593 7 700 931
Fax: 593 22 563 517
Bobby Shackouls
CEO Burlington Resources, Inc
5051 Westheimer
Houston, Texas
May 14, 2003
Dear Mr. Shackouls:
The purpose of this communication is to clarify the official position of the legally recognized indigenous federations that represent the Shuar and Achuar people in the areas of Block 23 and 24 in Ecuador. The undersigned represent the Interprovincial Federation of Shuar Centers (FICSH), the Independent Federation of Shuar Peoples (FIPSE) and the Interprovincial Federation of the Achuar Nation (FINAE), headquartered in the provinces of Morona Santiago and Pastaza, in the Amazon region of Ecuador.
Our position is as follows:
We reject the presence of Burlington in our territories and we call for the company’s immediate withdrawal.
We call on you to comply with the Constitutional Injunction of the Provincial Court of Morona Santiago, which forbids direct contact by your company with individuals and communities without the authorization of FIPSE. This injunction was ratified by the highest court in Ecuador, the Constitutional Tribunal.
We call for immediate compliance with the recommendations of the Civic Commission on Control of Corruption, which include declaring the Block 24 concession to be terminated due to evidence of acts of corruption committed by the government and by your company.
We call for the cessation of all activities by Burlington and Compania General de Combustibles (CGC) of Argentina in Block 23. As with Block 24, these activities have been carried out in violation of legally recognized collective rights of the indigenous communities of the territory.
We call for active cooperation in carrying out the May 5, 2003 Order of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, which orders the Ecuadorian government to take precautionary measures to protect the territory of Sarayaku and the lives and well-being of its leaders.
We wish to remind you that the territories of Blocks 23 and 24 are in fact the ancestral homelands of the Shuar, Achuar, Zapara and Kichwa peoples. The approximately 400,000 hectares that make up the two concession areas contain well-conserved and ecologically diverse primary rainforest. We do not wish to see the contamination, deforestation and cultural destruction that the northern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon has suffered. We believe that our country can develop without destroying our environment and culture, and that there are sustainable alternatives to oil exploitation for our development. We will do everything in our power to see that our rights and our territories are not sacrificed for the sake of paying off foreign debt through oil exports.
We have lived in these forests for millennia, and our culture is an important part of our country and our continent. Furthermore, international law guarantees our right to self-determination. In asserting that right, we hereby call on your company to desist from any further activities in our territories.
Sincerely,
Milton Callera Presidente FINAE
Bosco Najamde Presidente FIPSE
Pablo Tsere Presidente FICSH
