“We are very happy with what we have achieved by not giving up, we had to overcome many obstacles, persecution, etc.” indigenous Jose Gualinga, leader of the Sarayaku people told Real World Radio. “We will remain vigilant so that the ruling will be enforced. We are organizing some strategies and plans so that the ruling is actually implemented”.

The Sarayaku people live in the north of the Ecuadorian Amazon, in Pastaza province. In 1996 the state granted an oil license affecting 60% of the native people’s territory to Compañía General de Combustibles de Argentina. Over the last quarter of 2002 and the first quarter of 2003 (under Gustavo Noboa and Lucio Gutiérrez’ administrations) the company entered indigenous territory without authorization and against the people’s will. They buried over 1400 kilos of explosives 12 meters underground in Sarayaku land, affecting the indigenous people’s mobility and endangering their lives.

In early 2003 the Sarayaku people filed a lawsuit before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and requested their immediate intervention. Then the Commission asked for the Court’s involvement.

The court’s ruling, made public on July 25, established that the Ecuadorian state should have consulted the Sarayaku people about the oil project in indigenous territory. It also determined there was a violation of the native people’s communal property and cultural identity.

The Court also considered that the lives and integrity of the indigenous was endangered by the explosives buried in their territory and ordered the Ecuadorian state to remove the explosives. It also ordered the state to duly consult the Sarayaku people in case of pursuing any natural resource extraction project in their lands.

Gualinga claims that the Ecuadorian state has from 6 months to 3 years to withdraw the explosives. “This is a landmark ruling that sets a precedent so that transnational corporations that come here to bury their explosives in our territories know that when people are affected we bring them (the responsible) before justice, so this will not happen again”.

The Kichwa indigenous said the economic compensation, which was never the focus of the Sarayaku people’s claim “is their right” and it will be useful to develop people’s projects for social development, for example.

The legal adviser of the Ecuadorian presidency, Alexis Mera, announced that the Ecuadorian state will comply with the ICHR’s ruling. However, the Sarayaku people have not received any official notification. “We are waiting for the government’s answer”, said Gualinga.

Photo: http://www.franceinter.fr