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| located: | Ecuador, Brazil |
|---|---|
| editor: | Magdalena Rojo |
An indigenous tribe called Waorani – from the Ecuadorian Amazon – is suing the Ecuadorian government for drilling oil in their territory without their consent. A three-day long trial in the city of Puyo last week brought together hundreds of indigenous people who marched for their land rights and against human rights violations of all tribes in the Amazon, and across Latin America.
Waorani filed a complaint together with the Ecuadorian Human Rights Ombudsman, claiming that the Ecuadorian government did not consult its plans for oil extraction with them back in 2012. According to Al Jazeera, the Waorani people only participated in a few presentations about how their communities would benefit from extraction projects economically, but the government did not mention anything about the inevitable negative environmental impacts. Consulting the consequences of extraction projects such as these with the communities that live on affected territories is the governments' responsibility, according to national and international laws. In this case, the Ecuadorian government did not seek the free, prior and informed consent of the Waorani people, and they proved it during the trial.
The decision of a panel of three judges will be stated on April 26, 2019. This case is picking up unusual attention from the national and international media as it can serve as an invaluable precedent for other indigenous groups across Ecuador, and the Amazon, to do the same.
“We believe this case is a historic opportunity for the Court to protect fundamental rights not only of the Waorani, but of all indigenous peoples and nations of the Amazon and across Ecuador”, said Lina Maria Espinosa, attorney for the Waorani plaintiffs with Amazon Frontlines.
With Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro’s recent statement that he wants to exploit the Amazon "in a reasonable way", the fight of indigenous people for the Amazon is also an up-to-date issue in Brazil. Since the past year, when the far-right leader was elected as President, the whole world has been following Bolsonaro's statements about his plans with indigenous people reserves in the biggest rainforest in the world. Local indigenous groups fear deforestation and violence. Yet, their fight is our fight, too.
About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, and one-third of all the rainforest area of the world lies in Brazil. The deforestation in the country is due to the conversions of forests to pastures for cattle, as well as farmland to grow soy (for the same cattle), and plantations or surface mining. While we all benefit from these activities by consuming meat exported from Brasil or using its minerals, we all will also suffer from the impacts the loss of the Amazon will have.
The Waorani people also launched a global digital campaign to warn potential oil investors that “Waorani territory is not for sale”, which included a petition to the international oil industry and the President of Ecuador. The publication contains powerful drone imagery, and a cutting-edge interactive map of over 180,000 hectares of oil-free Waorani territory. They have already collected over 73,000 signatures to the ongoing petition.
Photo: Twitter
