Press release

The Ecuadorian State will recognize its responsibility and will apologize to the People of Sarayaku

 On Wednesday, October 1, 2014, four Ministers and the Attorney General of the State will arrive at the indigenous community of Sarayaku, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, to comply with the Public Act of Acknowledgment of Responsibility and apology to the Original Kichwa People of Sarayaku. , for the human rights violations committed against them during the Block 23 oil operation carried out by the CGC company during the past decade.

Said act was ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its judgment of June 27, 2012, in which it condemned the Ecuadorian State for the violation of the rights to communal property, to prior consultation, to cultural identity, to judicial protection and for having seriously endangered the life and integrity of the members of the Sarayaku People.

Felix Santi, Tayak Apu (President) of the People of Sarayaku stated that "this act constitutes for Sarayaku the ratification
that it was always right to oppose the entry of the oil industry into its territories” “Our people hope that the State's apology is sincere and that there is a real guarantee of non-repetition of the abuses we suffer in our territory”

For his part, Mario Melo, Sarayaku's lawyer, stated “this is a very important moment in the history of the indigenous movement of the Americas. That a State goes to an indigenous community to acknowledge its responsibilities and apologize for the damages committed shows that the effort made by the Sarayaku in sustaining its case for a decade in international justice has borne fruit.”

The following authorities are expected to attend the act: Minister of Justice, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Defense, Minister of Non-renewable Natural Resources and State Attorney General.

Quito, September 29, 2014

felix santi

TAYAK APU

PRESIDENT OF THE KICHWA ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF SARAYAKU

0987499981

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