Amazon Watch, a non-governmental organization dedicated to defending the Amazon rainforest and advancing the rights of indigenous peoples, deplores the arbitrary shut down of our ally organization Fundación Pachamama, a non-governmental organization dedicated to human rights and the rights of nature. We respectfully call on President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadorian authorities to respect human rights, reinstate Fundación Pachamama, and end the crackdown on democracy and open society.
Amazon Watch denounces the unilateral way in which Fundación Pachamama was shut down by the Ecuadorian government on December 4, 2013 without fact based inquiry or due process. Fundación Pachamama is a highly respected organization with a solid track record of improving the condition and the rights of indigenous peoples in Ecuador for nearly 17 years. We know this because we have worked in partnership with Fundación Pachamama for over 12 years.
The Ecuadorian Government’s action in shutting down Fundación Pachamama represents an egregious attack on democracy and civil dissent. We are concerned about the disturbing pattern of crackdown on democracyby the Government of Ecuador. In recent years, the Correa Administration has shut down and severely restricted the Ecuadorian media, sanctioned and censured its political opponents including elected officials, and now it is attacking civil society organizations and social movements who dare speak out against the government’s plans to hand over oil drilling rights to millions of acres of indigenous rainforest homelands and national parks. Other civil society organizations and their leaders face similar threats by the government.
Fundación Pachamama is working to defend indigenous peoples whose legal rights are being systematically violated by the government and without adequate consultations or consent, while their legally title lands are being leased to oil companies. In 2012, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) found the Ecuadorian Government guilty of violating indigenous rights for the same offense. The government continues to act in breach of the Court’s sentence.
Amazon Watch calls on the international community to condemn the Ecuadorian Government’s unlawful attempts to shut down peaceful protest and the legitimate work of human rights organizations and activists. We warn that the Correa Administration’s current insistence in leasing indigenous territories to oil companies without consideration of their legal rights to free prior and informed consent will only lead to the worsening of social conflict and more violations of human rights.
We stand in solidarity with Fundación Pachamama and our indigenous and NGO allies in Ecuador who risk persecution for daring to speak out for human rights and the environment.
