Over 280 Ecuadorian and International Organizations Speak Out Against the Criminalization and Violence against Environmental Defenders Resisting Canadian Mining

Daniel Noboa

President of Ecuador

Stephen Potter

Ambassador of Canada in Ecuador

Rui Feng

Chairman and CEO of Silvercorp Metals Inc.

Lon Shaver

President of Silvercorp

Fredy Salazar

President and CEO of Salazar Resources Ltd.

Jaymes Dircks

General Manager, Curimining S.A.

CC:

Wendy Drukier

Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs

 

SUBJECT: Concern regarding the criminalization and unjust sentencing of 29 human rights and environmental defenders related to the Canadian mining project Curipamba - El Domo in the Bolivar Province, Ecuador

 

Dear all,

We, the undersigned Ecuadorian, Canadian and international civil society organizations, express our deep concern over the systematic criminalization of human rights and nature defenders in Bolívar Province, Ecuador, based on their legitimate and peaceful opposition to the Curipamba-El Domo mining project, operated by Curimining S.A., a subsidiary of the Canadian companies Silvercorp Metals Inc. (75%) and Salazar Resources Ltd (25%).

CONTEXT

Since 2006, the communities of Las Naves County have demanded the respect of their right to participate in an active, integral, and effective manner in the decision-making process regarding the Curipamba-El Domo mining project. This project threatens their territories, their health, their livelihoods, and the water sources that originate on the “El Domo” mountain. These springs and streams make up some of the principal headwaters of the Guayas River Basin, which supplies almost 40% of the Ecuadorian population.

In 2023, the Ecuadorian government, in collusion with Curimining, carried out a supposed environmental consultation with many irregularities and in contradiction with the national and international legal frameworks that set standards for community consultations. These irregularities included unreasonably short public information time periods, biased information, excessive and intimidating police presence, and militarization of the territory, as well as criminalization of Indigenous, Montubio, and campesino community leaders. In the end, only a few more than 100 people were consulted, when more than 7,000 people are directly affected. Based on this illegitimate consultation, Daniel Noboa’s government granted the environmental license and other permits to Curimining to begin open-pit and subterranean mining in early 2024.

CRIMINALIZATION OF 29 HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATURE DEFENDERS

In the context of this controversial environmental licensing process for what will most likely be Ecuador's third large-scale open-pit mine, dozens of human rights and nature defenders have been criminalized and sentenced without solid evidence or adequate legal justification by a judicial system questioned for corruption, lack of independence from the current government, and alignment with mining companies' interests.

• Since 2021, more than 50 criminal investigation processes have been opened against defenders for alleged crimes such as illicit association, violation of private property, attack or resistance, injury, and kidnapping, all stemming from their participation in public meetings and peaceful protests against the Curipamba - El Domo mining project;
• 15 of these criminal processes are still open, in which 29 defenders from Bolívar and Los Ríos provinces have been accused by people linked to Curimining S.A., Silvercorp Metals Inc., and Salazar Resources Ltd.
• 13 defenders have received unjust convictions with sentences of up to 4 years in prison, without solid evidence of the alleged crimes.
• One elderly person was imprisoned for 70 days between October and December 2024.

These processes are taking place amid an unprecedented prison crisis in Ecuador that endangers the lives of defenders who are imprisoned.

It is particularly worrying that behind all these criminal charges against the defenders are the mining companies, together with their allies, including lawyers from a law firm based in the city of Quito and officials from the judicial system. According to testimonies of members of the National Police, even police reports have been prepared by the Attorney General's Office. This evidences a coordinated criminalization strategy that seeks to instill fear, hinder the legitimate defense of human rights, and delegitimize the defenders as valid interlocutors against the mining project.

In addition, some of the courts have tried to prevent the participation of national and international organizations as observers in the hearings, which calls into question the transparency of the judicial process.

POSITION OF THE STATES

The stance of the Ecuadorian State regarding mining projects contradicts its international commitments regarding socio-environmental rights. Although Ecuador has led the development of the Action Plan for environmental defenders within the framework of the Escazú Agreement, ratified in 2020, in practice, it both permits and promotes the criminalization of those who exercise this role.

Meanwhile, Canada has an international obligation to prevent human rights violations by companies headquartered in its territory that operate abroad. However, all this is happening at the same time that Canada and Ecuador are concluding the negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement that includes an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, without having conducted a prior assessment of its impacts on human and nature's rights, despite multiple requests from civil society. This treaty has been widely rejected by Ecuadorian communities affected by Canadian mining and by Canadian organizations for the lack of adequate prior consultation, the opacity of the process, and its potential to exacerbate violence in Indigenous and campesino territories.

We, the organizations of organized civil society and representatives of social movements that sign this open letter, demand that:

To the Ecuadorian authorities:

• Immediately archive the criminal investigations and judicial proceedings against human rights and nature defenders related to the El Domo-Curipamba project. Defending rights is not a crime.
• Ensure that all criminalized human rights and nature defenders can exercise their right to a fair, transparent, and impartial trial, and annul any sentences resulting from judicial processes plagued by irregularities, illegalities, and lack of transparency.
• Respect the rights to free expression, association, peaceful protest, and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of affected communities.
• Demilitarize Las Naves and cease the presence of armed forces in the territory.
• Do not approve or ratify the Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement, especially if it includes the international arbitration mechanism. Consequently, repeal Executive Decree 501, which contradicts the decision made by the Ecuadorian people in the referendum held on April 21, 2024, which is binding. This FTA is not in the interest of the people, their territories, or nature.

To the Canadian authorities:

• Implement “Voices at Risk: Canada's Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders,” and publicly support defenders and their legitimate work in defense of human rights, their territories, and water sources. This can take several forms, including meeting with representatives of affected communities, observing court hearings where criminalized defenders are implicated, and publicly expressing concern to Ecuadorian authorities about the multiple cases of harassment, criminalization, and convictions of defenders.
• Do not approve or ratify the Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement, especially if it includes the international arbitration mechanism. This treaty threatens the rights of Indigenous peoples and campesino communities, their territories, and nature.

To the companies Curimining S.A., Silvercorp Metals Inc., and Salazar Resources Ltd:

• Immediately cease criminalization and harassment of defenders and communities affected by the Curipamba - El Domo project.
• Suspend your activities and evaluate the environmental impacts, especially on water sources, in accordance with Ecuadorian policy and international standards.
• Stop any pressure to favor the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ecuador and measures such as the militarization of the areas of influence of mining projects and Executive Decree 501, which violate rights and open the door to arbitration claims against the Ecuadorian State.

 

SIGNATORIES,

ARGENTINA

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Premio Nobel de la Paz

Bienaventurados los Pobres

Confederación Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Trabajadores Estatales (CLATE)

Diálogo 2000-Jubileo Sur Argentina

Vecinos autoconvocados por el Agua. Ssn Carlos

AUSTRALIA

Rainforest Action Group

BALKAN

Earth Thrive

BELGIUM

CATAPA

BOLIVIA

Terra Justa

Voces de la Tierra 

BRAZIL

Articulação de Mulheres Brasileiras - AMB

centro de formação saberes Ka'apor

Centro de formação saberes Ka'apor 

Conselho de gestão Kaapor 

Rede de Mulheres Ambientalistas da América Latina 

CANADA

Americas Policy Group (APG) (Network that brings together 21 international development and humanitarian NGOs, human rights organizations, labour unions, faith-based and solidarity groups, and research institutions.)

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)

Canadian Foreign Policy Institute 

Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) (Network that unites 42 human rights, environmental, labour, faith and solidarity groups)

Common Frontiers

Community Counts Foundation

Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL)

Friends of the Earth Canada

Le Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Territoires d'Extractivisme (GRITE)

Le Lagopéde

Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN)

Mining Justice Alliance

Mining Watch Canada

Pax Christi Toronto

People's Health Movement-Canada

Revue Caminando

Victoria Central America Support Committee

CHILE

América Latina y el Caribe Mejor Sin TLC

Corporación de Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo, CODEPU

Fundación Libera contra la Trata de Personas y la Esclavitud en Todas sus Formas

Plataforma Chilena de la Sociedad Civil sobre Derechos Humanos y Empresas

Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadoras Eventuales y Transitorias de la Agroexportación y del Mar

Red de mujeres latinoamericanas defensoras del territorio

Yaguel Lavkenche 

COLOMBIA

Asociación TandaChiridu Ingakuna, Y ASOMI

Asojuntas 

Comision Voz Profetica, Hnas de la Misericordia de las Americas

Comité para la Defensa del Agua y el Páramo de Santurbán

Grupo de investigacion y Editorial Kavilando 

Grupo de Investigación GIDPAD Universidad de San Buenaventura Medellin.

Red Interuniversitaria por la paz REDIPAZ

ECUADOR 

Acción Ecológica 

Agencia de Noticias Tegantai

Alianza de organizaciones por los derechos humanos del Ecuador (represents 14 organizations)

APT Norte

Asamblea por el agua Cuenca

Asamblea de los Pueblos y Nacionalidades en Resistencia

Asociación Ecojunin 

Asociación de Gestores Culturales independientes

Asociación de Bananeros Orenses

Asociación de Montubios Autonomos Microempressrial." Lucha y Trabajo"

Asociación de Mujeres de Juntas Parroquiales Rurales de Ecuador (AMJUPRE)

Asociación de Producción Agropecuaria Agroecológica Yana Rumi Ecuador ASOYANARUMI

Asociación Latinoamericana de Medicina Social ALAMES núcleo Ecuador

Cabildo Popular por el Agua de Cuenca

CEDENMA

Celid Plural 

Centeo Agrícola Cantonal de Machala 

Centro Agrícola de El Guabo

Centro Cultural Pacha Callari

Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales (CDES)

Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos "Segundo Montes Mozo SJ" (CSMM)

Centro Kapak

Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promoción y Acción de la Mujer (CEPAM)

Centro Intercultural Comunitario Tránsito Amaguaña 

Chocó Andino Bosque Modelo

Club Ecológico Los Shyris 

Colectivo Cuenca Ciudad para Vivir

Colectivo cultural Minga Cultural

Colectiva de Antropólogas del Ecuador

Colectivo de Lucha y Defensa por el Agua y la Visa “Cerro El Mozo” 

Colectivo Entretejidas

Colectiva Luna Warmi

Colectiva feminista Disidentes Violetas 

Colectivo Napo Ama la vida 

Colectivo Teatral Art-os

COLECTIVO YARISHAYA ITYUMO

Coordinadora de Maestros Jubilados * Alfonso Yañez Montero " Unión Nacional de Educadores del Guayas y Unidad Popular 

Coordinadora de organizaciones sociales del Guayas 

Comisión de Vivencia Fe y Política (COVIFEP)

Comisión Ecuménica de Derechos Humanos CEDHU

Comité Ambiental San Luis de Pambil 

Comité de Defensa del Río Santa Rosa

Comunidad Amazónica de Acción Social Cordillera del Cóndor Mirador (CASCOMI)

COMUNÁLISIS 

Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE)

Consejo Asesor Unanchumamakuna- Escuela

Convergencia Cultural

Corporación Integral Solidaria Sumak Tarpuy

DECOIN Defensa y  conservación de Intag

Defensores del agua y la naturaleza 

Escuela de Formación de comunicadores comunitarios/rias Ñukanchik muskuykunamanta

FIAN Ecuador

Finca Agroecológica Macondo 

Foa Azuay

Frente Cantonal en Defensa del Agua y la naturaleza del perímetro urbano Las Naves

FRENTE CULTURAL ARENGA

Frente de Defensa de la Amazonía

Frente Nacional por la Salud de los Pueblos 

Frente de la Provincia de El Oro por el Agua y la Vida

Frente Nacional Antiminero

Frente Nacional por la Salud de los Pueblos del Ecuador 

Fundación Cerro Verde

Fundación Chambalabamba

Fundación Desafio

Fundación Econexión 

Fundación Kishwar 

Fundación Pachayachachik Casa de Memorias

Fundación Pro Defensa de la Naturaleza y sus Derechos

Fundación Pueblo Indio del Ecuador 

Fundación San Francisco de Pachijal 

Fundación Somos Ecuador 

Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN)

Gobierno Comunitario del Agua de la Provincia del Azuay

Guardia indigena yuturi warmi

Instituto de educación en DD. HH. Laura Glynn

Instituto de Estudios Ecologistas de Tercer Mundo (IEETM)

Instituto Interamericano de Paz y Reconciliación -INSPyRE- A.C

Jirafica

Junta Administradora agua potable Ninin Cochapamba 

Junta de Riego y Drenaje Suquiví Cumandá 

Junta de riego Daldal

Los 10 de Luluncoto 

Misioneras Dominicas del Rosario

Misioneras Lauritas 

Movimiento Indígena y Campesino de Cotopaxi (MICC)

Mujeres Luna Creciente 

Mujeres por el Cambio 

NAPO AMA LA VIDA

OBSERVATORIO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS Y LA NATURALEZA 

Observatorio de los Derechos humanos y los de la naturaleza de Pacayacu -Lago Agrio 

Organización campesina 12 dé mayo Aranza 1 

Organización comunitaria de mujeres en resistencia sinchi warmi Río Blanca 

Organización Parroquial Zhamuy 

Pasos y huellas 

Proyecto Socioambiental Dulcepamba

Quito Sin Mineria 

Rebelión o Extinción Ecuador 

Recinto la unión 

Red Comunitaria de Defensores y Defensoras de Derechos de Guayaquil

Red Eclesial Panamazónica - REPAM Aguarico 

Red de Iglesias y Minería -Capítulo de Ecuador

Red de Mujeres y Diversidades del Chocó Andino 

Red de Mujeres Rurales y Diversas del Ecuiador - TEJER

RED NACIONAL DE PASTORAL ECOLÓGICA - RENAPE 

Reserva Biodinámica Monasterio Invisible

Revista de análisis político y cultural Ñawpa

Revista Digital Noroccidente Relax y Aventura

Río de la Raya. Colectivo comunitario 

Saramanta Warmikuna

Somos Agua

Surkuna

Sendero Verde Fundación

Troja Manaba 

Ucors- Sayta 

UDAPT: Unión de afectados por las operaciones de Texaco

UNAPE 

UNE DEL GUAYAS 

UNION DE AFECTADOS POR TEXACO UDAPT

Unión de Artistas Populares del Ecuador UNAPE 

Unión Nacional de Educadores de Napo

Unión de Organizaciones Campesinas de Esmeraldas -UOCE

Unidad Popular de Pichincha 

Unión TIERRA y Vida 

Vivero tierra Verde 

XR Cuenca

XQuito Laboratorio Social

Yasunidos Guapondelig

Vicariato Apostólico de Zamora

Wachachik Partería Ecuador 

EL SALVADOR

Alianza por la madre tierra

ENGLAND

The Gaia Foundation

GERMANY

Rettet den Regenwald

MEXICO

Centro de Estudios Sociales y Culturales Antonio de Montesinos A.C 

Fundación Nuestros Hermanos Olvidados, A. C.

Grupo de Litigantes para la Protección y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (GL-PRODEDH)

INCIDE Social

Red Latinoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Sociales y Ambientales

NETHERLANDS

Transnational Institute

PANAMA

Centro de Incidencia Ambiental de Panamá (CIAM)

Colectivo Voces Ecológicas (COVEC)

Equipo de pastoral indígena-Arquidiócesis de Panamá

Red Nacional en Defensa del Agua Panamá 

Somos Abya Yala

PERU

Asociación Construyendo Caminos de Esperanza frente a la Injusticia el rechazo y el olvido CCEFIRO 

ChaskiWarmi Binacional Ecuador

Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente - DHUMA

Foro de la Sociedad Civil en Salud de la región Callao ForoSaludCallao

Programa Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Tierras y Agua

Red Agua Desarrollo y Democracia - REDAD

Red latinoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras del territorio 

REGIONAL AND GLOBAL

Front Line Defenders

Jubileo Sur/Américas

Protección Internacional Mesoamérica

SIRGE Coalition

Yes to Life, No to Mining global solidarity network

SPAIN

Salva la Selva

SWITZERLAND

Society for Threatened Peoples

UNITED STATES

Amazon Watch

Batani Foundation

Earthworks

Honor the Earth

Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program

Malach Consulting