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Last month, indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorean Amazon gathered for a workshop to deepen their shared understanding and further education about the latest developments in indigenous rights globally. Staff from our sister organization, Fundación Pachamama, assisted with facilitation of the gathering.
Indigenous Leaders Share Knowledge of Their Rights
Workshop sessions focused on the right to prior, free, and informed consultation and consent. The subject is very timely and relevant, not only because of the prospect of the XIth oil round scheduled for this fall, but also because the long-awaited ruling for the Sarayaku case was released during the three-day program.
A group of renowned speakers actively engaged in the indigenous movement in Ecuador initiated the discussions based on Executive Decree 1247, which regulates the execution of prior consultation in the face of allocation of oil blocks and their concession.
Speakers included representatives from the United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Ecuadorean human rights organizations, lawyers from the Texaco case, and emblematic indigenous leaders.
A Manifesto on Indigenous Rights to Prior Consultation
During the gathering, the participating indigenous leaders created a manifesto outlining the most significant elements of their position regarding their prior consultation rights ( read the manifesto in Spanish).
Among the included points in the manifesto was a statement calling on the Ecuadorean government to demonstrate domestically, with indigenous nations in its own borders, the same commitment to human rights that was demonstrated in granting asylum to Julian Assange.
As indigenous nations throughout the Amazon and around the world stand up for their rights to be recognized and balanced with development objectives, workshops like this create important opportunities for regional dialogue.
