CASE SARAYAKU VS
ECUADOR
Author: María Sol Tello
According to the worldview of the Sarayaku people, the territory is linked to a set
of meanings: the jungle is alive and the elements of nature have spirits, which
are connected among themselves and their presence act places.
This demonstrates that the indigenous
people love their territory and nobody can destroy anything because their place
is sacred, for this reason that would be protected by the State. In Ecuador
this does not happened because those territories have large reserves of oil, so
a lot of places of their territory were destroyed.
The Inter-American Human Rights Commission
alleged that the State violated the rights recognized in article 21 of the American Convention, in connection with articles 1.1, 13 and
23 of the same. The Sarayaku people noted that Ecuadorian legislation contains
a series of rules of legal and constitutional rank on rights of indigenous
peoples, by which the State was forced to adopt special measures to guarantee
them the full enjoyment of their human rights, without restrictions, as well as
include measures that promote the full realization of their economic, social
and cultural rights respecting their social and cultural identity, their
customs, traditions and institutions.
The State had the obligation to hold
prior, free and informed consultations so that they would have the possibility
of participating in this process. Is the above that one of the fundamental
guarantees to ensure the participation of the indigenous peoples and
communities in decisions relating to measures that affect their rights, and in
particular their right to communal property, is precisely the recognition of
their right to consultation, which is recognized in Convention No. 169 of the ILO.
In my opinion, I think the State must
respect and protect the ancestral territories, besides that they form part of
the country must take into account that these territories have one variety in
both flora and fauna; the exploitation of oil in these areas without the
respective care would cause irreparable environmental damage that affects the
country and the world.
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