Mindo, Ecuador – Members of the German State Parliament of the North Rhine Westfalia arrived in Mindo today to visit the controversial OCP pipeline route. The visit comes just two days after Ecuadorian environmentalists and their international supporters were freed from a Quito jail after their eviction last week from the proposed OCP pipeline route in the Mindo Cloud Forest.
The German delegation, comprised of representatives of the Green and Social Democrat parties of the NRW state, is a result of intense international pressure on the state government who holds a 43% share in WestLB, the lead financier of the pipeline project’s $900 million loan. WestLB is facing strong criticisms in Germany for violating its own lending policies by financing a project that fails to comply with World Bank’s environmental standards.
The release of five Ecuadorian environmentalists and five international supporters came after the Mayor of the capital city approved a Habeas Corpus petition filed by the environmental group Acción Ecológica. The activists-local residents, students, and international observers and allies – were evicted and arrested on March 25 from a ridgeline high in the Mindo cloudforest where they had been maintaining a forest occupation to prohibit the construction of the OCP pipeline through the rare and pristine ecosystem. All charges facing the activists were dropped.
According to the Vice Mayor of Quito, the activists, who were charged with trespass, damage to construction equipment, and blocking pipeline construction, were “unfairly detained.” The Vice Mayor also determined that the rights of the foreigners were violated when charges against them were not explained in their native languages as mandated by the Ecuadorian Constitution. Additional arrests warrants are reportedly in the works for other forest activists, however, details are not yet available.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday at a Congressional hearing in Quito, Acción Ecológica and community members throughout the 300+ pipeline route testified in calling for revocation of OCP’s environmental license. During the hearing, chants of “No to OCP, yes to life,” echoed through the Congress while pipeline critics testified on the considerable deficiencies in the environmental impact assessment and management plans.
Groups also called on the National Congress to open a legal inquiry into the Ministry of Government’s role in abuses by police forces against the local and international activists arrested in Mindo.
“The construction of the OCP is an attack on the environment and the rights of communities. The environmental protection measures are grossly inadequate,” said Natalia Arias, president of Acción Ecológica.
The German parliamentarians, who were present at the hearing, were urged to use their influence as shareholders in WestlB to cancel the project finance loan. “The money will only be used to pay for repression and destruction of the environment,” said Miguel Lopez, community leader from Lago Agrio.
