ProtectDefenders.eu has been informed about the upcoming hearing of six environmental human rights defenders Ángel Luis Rochina Rochina, Luis Enrique Borja Andrade, Luis Arnulfo Caiza Caiza, Mauricio Freddy Díaz Sánchez, Ángel Oswaldo Lumbi Lara and Carlos Napoleón Yunapanta Tocta. The hearing is to appeal the guilty verdict handed down to them in May 2024, resulting from a criminalisation case they are facing as reprisal for their work protecting human rights and nature in Ecuador.
The defenders, along with their community members, most of whom are small farmers, have actively worked to protect their territories from the negative effects caused by mining, especially related to the Curipamba – El Domo mining project. The human rights defenders accuse the State, and specifically the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Eco-Transition (MAATE), of not sharing clear and accessible information with the communities about the scope of the projects, their social and environmental impacts, and the possible measures which could have been adopted in order to prevent the licences from being granted.
On 15 May 2024, the six human rights defenders were sentenced to three years imprisonment and a fine equating to 600 US dollars owed to the multinational company Curimining S.A. They have been found guilty of illicit association and of conspiring to damage the machinery and facilities of the Curipamba – El Domo project.
This criminalisation case is a clear example of how the justice system is being misused to harass and silence the work of human rights defenders in Ecuador, in particular those protecting land and environmental rights in the face of extractive projects in their territories. In case the sentence is confirmed, it could set a dangerous and negative precedent over the right to defend human rights in Ecuador.
ProtectDefenders.eu has also been informed about the arbitrary detention with excessive use of force and the subsequent release, of two members of the Regional Foundation for Human Rights Advisory Foundation (Inredh), Miguel Ángel Pérez and Jafet Guzmán. For more than 30 years, Inredh has accompanied victims of police violence in Ecuador, promoting the defence of human rights, nature and peoples, the right to peaceful protest and resistance.
The two defenders were arrested, subjected to heavy ill-treatment, and subsequently released, following their participation and reporting in a peaceful protest to denounce the mismanagement of the economic and social crisis by the Government of Daniel Noboa. It is believed that their arrests was a reprisal to their legitimate activity of peaceful monitoring of respect for human rights and the right to peaceful assembly.
Finally, we also received information on the worrying state of freedom of the press in the country. As reported by Consortium partner RSF in August 2024, there has been an escalating violence against journalists in the country. Threats, cyberattacks, and Article 396 of the penal code, which punishes anyone who «discredits» or «dishonors» another person, by any means, with 15 to 30 days of imprisonment, are among the weapons mostly used to silence journalists. Ecuador ranks 110/180 on RSF World Press Freedom Index in 2024.
