Members submit amicus brief to the Inter-American Court regarding implementation of Sarayaku v. Ecuador
On 16 February 2017, the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF); the Center for Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia); and Earth Rights International (ERI) - all members of ESCR-Net - submitted an amicus curiae to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) as a mechanism to advance implementation of the decision issued on 27 June 2012 in the Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador. The three organizations pointed to the fact that Ecuador has not complied with the majority of the measures for reparation pronounced in favor of the Sarayaku people. Additionally, they highlighted several in direct contravention of the IACHR decision, including human rights violations deriving from Executive Decree No. 1247 of 2012, and the approval - without consultation - of three new oil exploration licenses, affecting more than 91% of the Sarayaku territory.
The amicus brief also emphasizes that Executive Decree No. 1247 - enacted by the government to regulate the right to free, prior and informed consent in the country - was passed without consulting with the Sarayaku or any other indigenous peoples and communities in the country. In essence, the adoption of Executive Decree No. 1247 occurred in a regional context characterized by the tension between the regulation of rights of prior consultation and the unabated granting of licenses for extractive megaprojects and natural resource exploration in indigenous territories.
For this reason, the amicus recommends that the IACHR declare the fundamental incompatibility of Executive Decree No. 1247 and the decision issued on 27 June 2012.
Read the amicus curiae in Spanish here.
Photo credit: Cejil.