Republic of Ecuador
Head of state and government: Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado

Human rights defenders and government critics continued to be attacked and discredited. The right of Indigenous Peoples to consultation and to free, prior and informed consent was not fulfilled.

Background

Mass protests in opposition to government policies remained common. In July, Indigenous groups marched to the capital Quito to protest against the approval of a new law regulating water resources, which they claimed did not address all of their concerns.

In November 2013, the National Court upheld a ruling against US oil company Chevron for environmental damage. The court ruled that Chevron was liable to pay over US$9.5 billion to the Amazon Indigenous communities affected. In March, following a lawsuit filed by Chevron in the USA, a federal court blocked US courts from being used to collect the amount granted for rainforest damage, stating that the Ecuadorean court judgment was obtained by corrupt means. In October, victims of Chevron's environmental damage sued the company's directors before the International Criminal Court.

Sixty people, including six police officers accused of attempting to kill the President, were convicted of involvement in police protests over pay cuts in 2010, which were regarded by the government as an attempted coup. Another 36 were acquitted.

Human rights defenders

Human rights defenders continued to be attacked and discredited.

The Indigenous and environmental rights organization Fundación Pachamama remained closed, having been shut down by the authorities in December 2013 using an executive decree granting the authorities wide powers to monitor and dissolve NGOs. Days before the closure, members of Fundación Pachamama had participated in a demonstration outside the Ministry of Energy.

Indigenous Peoples' rights

In October the government apologized to the Kichwa People of Sarayaku, accepting that the state had put their lives and livelihoods at risk when in 2002 and 2003 it allowed an oil company to conduct exploration work in their territory. The Kichwa People of Sarayaku had won a legal battle before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2012. However, at the end of 2014 Ecuador had not yet finalized the removal of 1.4 tons of explosives left in the Indigenous community's territory and had not regulated the right to consultation and free, prior and informed consent for all Indigenous Peoples as ordered by the Inter-American Court in 2012.

Government plans to exploit oil resources in Yasuni National Park, home to the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous communities, continued to provoke public protests. In May, the Confederacion Kichwa del Ecuador (Ecuarunari), one of the country's main Indigenous organizations, presented a legal action before the Constitutional Court arguing that the government was not complying with precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2006 in favour of the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous communities. At the end of 2014 the Constitutional Court had not ruled on the legal action.

Repression of dissent

The authorities continued to clamp down on anti-government protests, in what appeared to be attempts to deter opposition.

In September over 100 protesters were detained for up to 15 days for taking part in anti-government demonstrations, amid reports of clashes between protesters and the police. Dozens of detainees complained of ill-treatment during arrest and while in police custody. Medical reports stated that scores of those detained had bruising and other injuries caused by blunt instruments. At the end of the year no investigation into these allegations had begun and the President publicly rejected the allegations.

Freedom of expression

In January, El Universo newspaper and caricaturist Javier Bonilla (known as Bonil) were fined and forced to retract the content of a caricature, under a 2013 Communications Law. The caricature portrayed police officers abruptly raiding the house of journalist Fernando Villavicencio, an outspoken critic of the government. Fernando Villavicencio was one of three men convicted in 2013 for slander against the President and given prison sentences of between 18 months and six years, later reduced to between six and 12 months. At the end of 2014 Villavicencio and one of the other men remained at large.

Impunity

In December 2013, the National Assembly passed a law guaranteeing the right to reparation to relatives and victims of human rights violations between 1983 and 2008 documented by the Truth Commission established in 2007.

In January 2014, former Police Chief Edgar Vaca was arrested in the USA pending his extradition. Edgar Vaca was one of 10 former police and military officers accused of torture and enforced disappearances during Febres Cordero's presidency (1984 to 1988). This was the first case of members of the security forces being tried for crimes against humanity.

Sexual and reproductive rights

The New Penal Code enacted in January maintained the criminalization of abortion in case of rape unless the victim has a mental disability. Attempts to decriminalize abortion for all rape victims met with strong opposition from the President, who threatened to resign if such a proposal was even discussed in the National Assembly. The proposal was withdrawn and three Congress members of the ruling party were sanctioned.

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