Article
Ecuador: Inter-American Court ruling marks key victory for Indigenous Peoples
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ruling in Sarayaku v. Ecuador…ends a decade-long legal battle by the Sarayaku Indigenous People…after a foreign oil company was allowed to encroach on their traditional lands in the early 2000s without consultation with the Sarayaku...The IACHR found that the Ecuadorian state violated the community’s right to be consulted, as well as their community property rights and their cultural identity…[and]also found Ecuador responsible for putting the life and physical integrity of the Sarayaku at grave risk, after the oil company placed more than 1,400 kg of high-grade explosives on the Indigenous People’s territory...