Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2005 - Ecuador
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Date:
22 March 2006
Harassment of several human rights defenders167
At the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005, human rights defenders in Ecuador became increasingly subjected to acts of harassment, physical aggression or death threats. These acts mainly targeted the opponents of the unconstitutional reform of the judicial power then pursued by the authorities.
On 16 December 2004, Mr. Blasco Peñaherrera Solah, a union leader, was the victim of an assassination attempt. On 17 December 2004, Mrs. María Paula Romo, a member of the youth group "Ruptura de los 25", was threatened with death.
In addition, Mr. Diego Guzmán Espinoza, a civil rights activist, founding member of the Ecuador Media Observatory (Observatorio de Medios de Ecuador) and director of the programming of the radio Buscolíos.com, was also the victim of acts of harassment and death threats. On 1 March 2005, armed men burst into his office and on 2 March he received a threatening phone call.
Mr. Orlando Pérez Torres, a journalist for the HOY daily newspaper, as well as managers of Radio Bolívar (Quito), also received death threats.
In February 2005, Mr. Fidel Narváez, an engineer and technical secretary of the Inter-American Human Rights, Democracy and Development Platform (Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo – PIDHDD) in Ecuador and director of the Permanent Human Rights Assembly (Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos – APDH), was harassed after he denounced these attacks.
The Public Prosecutor opened an investigation in order to clarify those acts of harassment, denounced by Messrs. Blasco Peñaherrera Sola, Diego Guzmán and the managers of Radio Bolívar.
Harassment of the Jesuit Foundation Mariana de Jesús and its director168
The Jesuit Foundation Mariana de Jesús, which aims at developing social programmes, and especially its director, Mr. Francisco Peña, were subjected to violent acts of harassment.
On 14 February 2005, police officers, in the company of representatives of the Social Affairs Ministry, burst into the Foundation's offices in Quito. They presented a decision of "disbandment and liquidation" from the Ministry, dated 10 February 2005, based upon several complaints and the Foundation's presumed illegal activities. Mr. Francisco Peña and his staff were ordered to leave the premises immediately, and the Foundation's bank accounts were frozen. In 2003, an audit conducted by the same Ministry had concluded that the Foundation was legal.
On 2 March 2005, members of the organisation received a phone call, demanding Mr. Peña's resignation and warning that a bomb had been placed on the premises. The claim turned out to be untrue.
By the end of 2005, no enquiry had been opened into these events.
Break-in at the offices of the Ecological Action organisation169
On 22 May 2005, the offices of the organisation Ecological Action (Acción Ecológica) in Quito were broken into. During the incident, the intruders took three hard disks and ransacked files and archives.
The damage to Ecological Action's offices happened at a time when the organisation was starting to play an important role in the political changes implemented by Ecuador's new Minister of Foreign Affairs, opposing fumigations on the Ecuador-Colombia border within the framework of "Plan Colombia". Ecological Action's reports dealing with damage caused to the region communities made this organisation particularly vulnerable to acts of harassment carried out by members of the government of former President Mr. Lucio Gutiérrez, whose administration had supported the "Plan Colombia".
On 5 July 2005, Ecological Action's staff was threatened with death in a message sent to one of the organisation's mobile phones. On the same day, the organisation denounced the incident to the Minister of the Interior and to the Public Prosecutor.
Furthermore, in September 2005, unidentified persons presented themselves at the home of the president of Ecological Action, Mrs. Gloria Chicaiza, and threw stones inside her house, breaking windowpanes.
By the end of 2005, no enquiry had been opened into these events.
Assassination of Mr. Andrés Arroyo Segura170
On 20 June 2005, Mr. Andrés Arroyo Segura, a community leader and member of the National Popular Ecologists for the Protection of Nature, Life and Dignity Network (Red Nacional de Ecologistas Populares, en Defensa de la Naturaleza, Vida y Dignidad – REDIVINA), was assassinated. His body was found in the "Baba river" (Los Ríos province), in a place known as "Patricia Pilar" in the Seiba community, where there were plans to construct a dam. Mr. Arroyo had opposed the construction of this dam, claiming that it would have had a negative impact on the environment and human life. He had taken part in various meetings at a national level about the protection of the environment.
His family subsequently lodged a complaint to the Public Prosecutor and the Los Rios area Prosecutor. The latter reportedly opened an investigation in order to identify those responsible for the murder.
Threats against Mrs. Lina María Espinoza Villegas171
On 20 August 2005, Mrs. Lina María Espinoza Villegas, a missionary from the Vicar Apostolic (Vicariato Apostólico) in El Coca, Orellana province, was stopped three times by military patrols, while returning from Dayuma where she had been informing the population of their rights, following the violent repression of a general strike led by employees of petrol companies on 5 August 2005. Twelve people had been arrested following the attack by armed forces against the local population.
On 22 August 2005, while in Quito observing negotiations between the government and the local authorities on the subject, Mrs. Espinoza Villegas informed the mayor of Orellana, Mrs. Ana Rivas, of the detention of these twelve persons. On this occasion, Mrs. Ana Rivas publicly demanded that the Ecuadorian Minister of the Interior, Mr. Mauricio Gandara, suspend negotiations until the necessary measures were taken to guarantee respect for the rights of the populations involved.
As a result, between 24 and 28 August 2005, Mrs. Espinoza Villegas received six calls on her mobile phone threatening her and her family.
On 26 August 2005, during an announcement on TeleAmazonas, Mr. Mauricio Gandara indirectly accused Mrs. Espinoza Villegas of being an infiltrated member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) within the strikers, as well as in the negotiations between local and national authorities. This allegation placed her in an insecure situation, as she could be insofar assimilated to a member of the Colombian guerrilla forces.
Mrs. Espinoza Villegas lodged a complaint with the Public Prosecutor, who opened an investigation.
Threats and harassment against the FEDAEPS headquarters172
On 13 September 2005, there was an attempted break-in at the headquarters of the Ecuadorian Foundation For Action, Study and Social Participation (Fundación Ecuatoriana de Acción, Estudios y Participación Social – FEDAEPS), in Quito, and the windowpanes were broken.
Threats and acts of harassment against several indigenous communities defenders173
In October 2005, Messrs. Ermel Chávez Parra, Pablo Fajardo Mendoza, Alejandro Ponce Villacís and Luis Yanza, lawyers working on complaints lodged by the Siona, Secoya, Cofán and Waorani indigenous communities against the oil company Texaco, now known as the Chevron Corporation, were subjected to acts of harassment and threats. These complaints were in particular related to this company's exploitation of their lands for oil extracting purposes for the last 26 years.
On 13 October 2005, an intelligence agent of the Special Forces Battalion "Ray 24", based in Lago Agrio, Sucumbíos province, presented himself at Mr. Ermel Chávez Parra's home and insistently asked members of his family questions about his situation and his professional activity.
Furthermore, other individuals were on several occasions taken by surprise whilst observing the Amazon Defence Front in Nueva Loja offices (Frente de Defensa de la Amazonía en Nueva Loja), an organisation that defends the natural resources and lifestyle of inhabitants of the Amazon region.
On 14 October 2005, the human rights office in Shushufindi, where Mr. Pablo Fajardo Mendoza works, received an anonymous phone call from someone stating that a "cleansing of undesirable political elements" was going to take place in the region, and that he knew who worked in that office.
On 28 October 2005, Mr. Ponce Villacís's office was broken into, and the computers and documents relating to the Texaco case were stolen.
Mr. Luis Yanza was reportedly closely watched and his telephone communications were placed under surveillance by the information services of the Battalion.
A request for precautionary measures of protection for these four lawyers was filed on 8 November 2005 with IACHR.
[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]
167. See Open Letter to the Ecuadorian authorities, 16 March 2005.
168. See Urgent Appeal ECU 001/0205/OBS 014 and Open Letter to the Ecuadorian authorities, 16 March 2005.
169. See Urgent Appeal ECU 002/0505/OBS 037.
170. See Urgent Appeal ECU 003/0605/OBS 046.
171. See Urgent Appeal ECU 004/0905/OBS 081.
172. See IGLHRC, Summary of 2005 cases concerning Latin America and the Caribbean, January 2006.
173. See Urgent Appeal ECU 005/1105/OBS 111.
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