Indigenous people in Ecuador demand enforcement of rulings against mining industry

On Tuesday, September 6, two indigenous communities from the Ecuadorian Amazon demanded that the Constitutional Court enforce rulings made in 2018 and 2019 to protect thousands of hectares of the tropical jungle from oil and mining projects.

Local courts in Ecuador ruled separately in favor of the A’i Cofan community of Sinangoe in Sucumbios province and 16 Waorani communities in Pastaza province.

They argued that they had not been consulted in advance about mining projects planned for their areas and even ordered restoration work in the affected areas.

Delegations from both communities have now filed a lawsuit with Ecuador’s Constitutional Court to force the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Environment to comply with the rulings.

“Several years have passed, but the judgment has not been enforced at all,” Wider Guaramag, president of the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe, complained to journalists.

“The violation of our rights continues.”

In 2018, a judge ruled in favor of the A’i Cofan community, ordering the withdrawal of some 20 mining concessions awarded to private companies along the Aguarico River and the archiving of 32 procedures that had not yet been awarded.

However, the municipality argues that the authorities have only suspended the mining concessions without reversing or archiving them, while environmental rehabilitation has not been carried out.

With information from Latina Press

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