Canadian Mining Companies Promote Violence In Ecuador

ECUADOR

Canadian Mining Companies Promote Violence in Ecuador

7th December 2006

We, the signatories of this statement, human rights, environmental and local organizations, as well as other social collectives, denounce, before the country and the international community, the fact that Canadian companies Corrientes Resources (which operates in Ecuador under the name of Ecuacorrientes) and Ascendant Copper Corporation (with American and Canadian capital) are committing a series of abuses against the human rights of the indigenous and campesino communities of Morona Santiago, Zamora Chinchipe and Imbabura.

In the area of the Intag (Imbabura), armed attacks took place during the first weeks of November and December of the present year. These acts were promoted by the mining company Ascendant Copper and were made against the communities and local governments that defend their territory.

Ascendant violated the right to prior consultation that is established under the Political Constitution of the Republic, as it appears that it has decided to take the area of Junin, Cerro Pelado and other neighbuoring areas by force. The communities have been attacked by armed security groups and paramilitaries who have used a variety of arms, including firearms and teargas, against the population.

We are extremely concerned that these paramilitary groups include members of the army who are in "passive service," as has been denounced by the communities. Some individuals, who were recruited in the Intag, reported having received military training.

In addition, the indigenous Shuar and Saraguros federations, as well as the populations of Gualaquiza, El Pangui, Yantzantz, Yunganza and Bomboiza, in the provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago, have experienced escalating violence and repression on the part of members of the Ecuadorian army, who, without explanation, have begun to defend the company Corrientes Resources.

An as yet undetermined number of campesinos and indigenous people, including various women, have been the victims of repression involving teargas, the use of firearms, physical aggression and illegal interference with their liberty. The deputy for Zamora Chinchipe, Salvador Quishpe, who supports the population, was detained by the military, gagged, physically attacked and transferred to a military reserve when he was kept for various hours. The final tally of victims is not yet known.

Opposition to this mining project by thousands of persons from the two Amazonian provinces received an encouraging response from the government on November 12. The Minister of Labour, José Serrano, acting as a representative of the President of the Republic, signed an "agreement for commitment" in the city of Macas that requires the immediate suspension of the mining company's activities in the province of Morona Santiago. Despite the agreement, Corrientes Resources has not halted its operations.

We also denounce the permanent harassment, death threats, physical and psychological aggression, and the persecution that is taking place against community leaders, environmental defenders and community members. These mining transnationals irresponsibly utilize the national justice system to pressure community members and to initiate lawsuits involving invented wrongs, whose purpose is to discourage and frighten.

We demand that government authorities, principally the Ministers of Government and Defence, act immediately to defend both these populations and national sovereignty. We ask that the Ministry of Defence refrain from authorizing any military intervention in these conflicts.

We condemn the actions of the mining companies named above and the inertia of the authorities who have permitted that transnationals act outside the law. This includes permitting repressive action on the part of members of the armed forces (in "passive service") and private groups created by the companies for this purpose.

We emphasize that the Political Constitution of the Republic establishes that "the fundamental mission of the Armed Forces is to conserve national sovereignty and to defend the integrity and independence of the state."

We demand that all human rights violations be investigated and sanctioned, whether they were committed by agents of the state or by representatives of the transnational companies that act with the backing of the state.

We will remain vigilant and together we will undertake appropriate action through national and international means in order to ensure that there is no impunity associated with the events that we have denounced. We communicate our support for the communities that are defending the patrimony of the state and public resources with courage and dignity.

Ecuadorian Human Rights Commission (CEDHU - Comisión Ecuatoriana de Derechos Humanos)
Centre for Economic and Social Rights (CEDES - Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales)
Centre for the Study of State and Society (Argentina)
Christian Youth Association (ACJ - Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes)
Ecuadorian Confederation of Indigenous Nations (CONAIE - Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador)
ALTERCOM Press Agency (ALTERCOM - Agencia de Prensa de Ecuador)
Permanent Human Rights Assembly (APDH - Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos)
Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ - Servicio Paz y Justicia)
Network of Women Transforming the Economy (REMTE - Red de Mujeres Transformando la Economía)
Regional Human Rights Advisory Foundation (INREDH - Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos)
Support and Solidarity Centre (CAS - Centro de Apoyo y Solidaridad)
Confederation of Coastal Indigenous Nations (CONAICE - Confederación de las Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Costa)
Foundation for Indian Peoples (Fundación Pueblo Indio)
Popular Ecologist Network (Red Ecologista Popular)
Ecological Action (Acción Ecologia)
Pájaros Contra Escopetas, REMTE, Coalición No Bases