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Mercredi, Janvier 15, 2025

In a landmark decision last month, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court rejected efforts by two banker brothers to reclaim seized commercial property in a case that could have led to the eviction of dozens of campesino families. The ruling marks a significant step in safeguarding the rights of the communities.

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The case, rooted in the contested restitution of lands seized during a prior economic crisis, posed a critical threat to the livelihoods and homes of 96 peasant families who have benefited from agrarian reform initiatives under Ecuador’s Land Project. These families have called on the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to promptly adjudicate the lands to their designated organizations, ensuring stability and security for their communities.

Further details of the case and reactions of the families are available from FIAN Ecuador  here and here.

Court Decision Highlights

The Constitutional Court identified multiple flaws in a lower court’s earlier ruling, which had granted restitution to the banker brothers, citing a United Nations Human Rights Committee decision. While the Committee had determined that the brothers’ procedural rights were violated in the seizure of their assets, Ecuador’s highest court clarified that this decision did not mandate the restitution of land, particularly at the expense of vulnerable families.

Families from Durán canton, part of “Unión Tierra y Vida,” gathered outside Ecuador’s Constitutional Court in Quito on December 17.

ESCR-Net, in addition to FIAN International – FIAN Ecuador, Dejusticia, the Human Rights Center of the University of Minnesota, and the Ecuador Public Defender’s Office and other organizations, submitted amicus curiae briefs to emphasize the broader human rights implications. These briefs underscored the State’s obligations under international law, including the prevention of forced evictions and the protection of rights to housing, food, and security of tenure.

As highlighted in ESCR-Net’s submission:

“Land reform efforts to fulfill the State’s human rights obligations to ensure substantive equality through programs and policies aimed at redressing historical structural discrimination, exclusion, and marginalization are legitimate and required objectives under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).”

The Constitutional Court’s full decision is available in Spanish here.