Sarayacu community leaders, who continue to oppose the entry of oil companies onto their land, are now threatened by an order to "locate and detain" them, apparently from the Presidential office of Ecuador. They claim they face trumped-up charges of taking hostages, theft, and the destruction of goods. This order means that at any time leaders can be detained and kept in jail until the end of lawsuits between Sarayacu and CGC Oil Company. The Sarayacu community sees this as another attempt by the joint CGC/ChevronTexaco/Burlington Resources operation to separate the community from their leadership and gain forceful entry into the Kichwa rainforest for their own profit. If leaders do end up in jail, there is major concern that serious human rights violations will be committed against them.
