The people of Sarayaku are proud defenders of the rainforest and profoundly recognize that what we do to our planet, we do to ourselves.

In 2002, the Ecuadorian government granted an international oil company with access to Sarayaku territory without the process of informing or consulting the 1,200 people who live there. It wasn’t until helicopters with oil workers, engineers, armed soldiers and private security guards landed that the people of Sarayaku learned that their land had been opened up to oil exploration without their consent. The oil company brought in more than 3,000lbs of dynamite and began their destructive search for oil.

The people of Sarayaku organized themselves in order to make it clear to the government and the company that they were in strong opposition to oil activities in their territory due to the enormous negative impact it would have on the their land, community, wildlife, and future generations. After years of struggle, the company gave up and extracted themselves from Sarayaku territory. The community realized that if this abuse of their rights was not recognized, that it had the potential to repeat itself in the future.

After unsuccessful attempts to seek justice within the Ecuadorian justice system, a group of 17 men, women, children, elders and community leaders from Sarayaku travelled to Costa Rica to testify at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) about violations of both the foreign oil company and the Ecuadorian state. This trip was crucial to their future.

International headlines were made in 2012, when the IACHR ruled in their favour, finding the State of Ecuador responsible for violating the rights of the community. The Court ordered the Ecuadorian government pay for damages, for authorities to remove explosives still buried on the Sarayaku land, and to consult with the community prior to future development projects.

The community of Sarayaku has come to symbolize indigenous resistance against the extractive industries throughout the Amazon. This verdict was a major step forward in the protection of indigenous peoples rights —particularly the right to free, prior, and informed consent in development decisions that affect their territory. It also set a precedent for cases around the world in which indigenous peoples struggle to defend their territories and human rights, that they should consult with indigenous peoples, in line with international standards, before making decisions that will impact their lives.

International organizations including Pachamama Alliance, Amazon Watch, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and Amnesty International aligned with the people of Sarayaku to support them in their pursuit of justice and to support them with the legal challenges they faced in defense of the rights they were guaranteed in the Constitution. To learn more about these partnerships and how you can support their valuable work, visit their websites.

Info cited from pachamama.org and amazonwatch.org.
Photos by Selvas Producciones de Sarayaku.