[Excerpt translation from Spanish to English provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Ecuador: Controversy over oil blocks in the Amazon and new lawsuit against the State" - 19 November 2019

...The Kichwa Indians of Sarayaku brought an action for non-compliance before the Constitutional Court.  They say that the State does not respond to the ruling by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, which orders the removal of explosives left on the ground by an oil company in 2003... They entered without prior consultation... Since 2018, the Ecuadorian State has lost several cases in the courts due to failures to carry out prior, free and informed consultation in Amazonian territories...  At the end of last year, the Cofán Indians of Sinangoe demonstrated that mining was advancing on their lands, in the province of Sucumbíos, and that they were never consulted.  This year, the Waorani Indians of Pastaza province demonstrated that they were not consulted about oil exploration and operation activities in Block 22, which would affect the environment and their territory.  And just two months ago, the Kichwa Indians of Santa Clara succeeded in having the Ecuadorian justice system stop the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Piatúa River; in the case, not only was the violation of the previous consultation demonstrated, but there was also evidence of a network of corruption within the judicial branch, which with bribes tried to invalidate the petitions of the Indians... [This refers to Andes Petroleum, part of China Naitonal Petroleum Co. and Sinopec].