Global Response is currently involved in two campaigns in Ecuador, where indigenous Shuar, Achuar and Kichwa Sarayacu communities are struggling to protect their territories against multinational oil companies.
The Ecuadorian environmental organization Accion Ecologica supports these and many other campaigns for environmental protection and environmental justice in Ecuador. In May, their office was burglarized, and now they have received death threats.
Please join Global Response and Amnesty International in demanding that appropriate government officials investigate and prosecute these crimes against Accion Ecologica, and take steps to protect the rights and the safety of environmental activists in Ecuador.
To make a donation for support of this campaign, click here.
Thanks to Amnesty International for issuing this action alert:
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
12 July 2005
Further Information on UA 147/05 (1 June 2005) Fear for safety/Death threat
ECUADOR
A death threat was sent to Accion Ecologica on 5 July, in a text message to one of the mobile phones used by the organization. All the people who work for the organization are believed to be in danger.
The message arrived early in the morning, and said simply: mueres hoy (Today you die). The same day, Accion Ecologica reported the incident to the Minister of the Interior and the Acting Attorney General.
This threat is amongst a number of apparent attempts to intimidate members of Accion Ecologica. On 22 May, three computer hard disks were reportedly stolen from their offices. In addition, the filing cabinets were searched but the burglars ignored valuable equipment. Amnesty International is not aware that an investigation has been initiated into the burglary.
Accion Ecologica has been an outspoken critic of the Ecuadorian authorities' policy of allowing international oil companies to drill in the Amazon region, and of the fumigation of coca plantations near the Colombian border, because of the impact this might have on the lives and culture of indigenous groups and the environment. This appears to have led to the recent death threat, as well as the 22 May burglary, in which the organization's offices were ransacked by people who ignored valuables but took computer disks containing information on indigenous communities campaigning against oil-drilling.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing concern at the death threat sent to Accion Ecologica on 5 July, and asking the authorities to order a prompt and effective investigation, with the results made public and those responsible brought to justice;
- asking whether an investigation into the 22 May burglary of the Accion Ecologica offices has yet begun, and, if so, what progress it has made;
- urging the government to adhere to its obligations regarding the protection of human rights defenders, as laid out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and the Organization of American States resolution on human rights defenders of June 2004.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of the Interior:
Dr. Mauricio Gandara Gallegos
Ministro de Gobierno, Policia,
Justicia, Cultos y Municipalidades
Ministerio de Gobierno y Policia
Benalcazar y Espejo
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: 011 593 2 258 1030 (If someone answers,
please ask: "Tono de fax, por favor")
Salutation: Dear Minister/Senor Ministro
Acting Attorney General:
Dra. Cecilia Armas Tobar
Ministra Fiscal Subrogante
Fiscalia General del Estado
Av. Eloy Alfaro Nº32-240 y Republica
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: 011 593 2 255 8561 (If someone answers,
please ask: "Tono de fax, por favor")
Salutation: Dear Acting Attorney General/Sra. Ministra
Fiscal Subrogante
COPIES TO:
Non Governamental Organization:
Accion Ecologica
Alejandro de Valdez N 24-33 y La Gasca
Quito, Ecuador
Email: verde@accionecologica.org
Ambassador Raul Gangotena Rivadeneira
Embassy of Ecuador
2535 -15th St. NW
Washington DC 20009
Fax: 1 202 265 6385
Email: embassy@ecuador.org
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado
office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time,
weekdays only, if sending appeals after 23 August 2005.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/campaigns/individuals-at-risk/urgent-action-network
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
