ii. “Guarantee the members of this People their right to practice their traditional subsistence activities by
removing the explosives planted on their territory;
iii.
“Ensure that indigenous representatives play a meaningful and effective role in the decision-making
processes on development and other issues that affect them and their cultural survival”;
iv. “Adopt, with the indigenous peoples’ participation, the legislative or other measures necessary to give effect
to the right to prior, free and informed consultation, in good faith, in accordance with international human
rights standards,” and
v. “Take the measures necessary to prevent a recurrence of similar events in the future, in keeping with the
duty to prevent violations of human rights and to ensure the fundamental rights recognized in the American
Convention.”
287. In addition to the measures indicated by the Commission, the representatives asked the
Court to order the State to:
i. “Conduct immediately effective and prompt investigations and proceedings with regard to all the facts
denounced by members of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku, leading to the clarification of the facts, the
punishment of those responsible and adequate compensation for the victims”;
ii. Ensure the signature of a “document of brotherhood with the neighboring communities of the Kichwa People
of Sarayaku344“;
iii. “Cease immediate any type of oil exploration or exploitation in the territory of the Kichwa People of
Sarayaku that is being carried out without respecting the rights of this People”;345
iv. “Remove all types of explosives, machinery, structures, and non-biodegradable waste and reforest the areas
deforested by the oil company when clearing trails and camp sites for the seismic survey”;
v. “Respect for the decision of the Sarayaku People to declare their entire territory that it owns as ‘Sacred
Heritage Territory of Biodiversity and of the Ancestral Culture of the Kichwa Nationality”;346
vi. “Adopt, within a reasonable time, training modules on the rights of indigenous peoples for all police agents,
and judicial officials, and other State officials whose functions involve relations with members of indigenous
peoples”;
vii. “Comply fully with the provisional measures in force in favor of the members of the Sarayaku Indigenous
People,” and
viii. Ensure that the guarantee of the right to prior consultation “includes respect for the right to prior, free and
informed consent in accordance with current international standards.”
288. The State did not present specific arguments regarding these requests by the Commission
and the representatives.
B.1 Restitution
Removal of explosives and reforestation of the affected areas
344
In particular, in their pleadings and motions brief, the representatives asked the Court to order the State “to sign a
document which could be entitled ‘Formal Deed of Brotherhood’ between the Sarayaku and the two communities with which
there is still bitterness,” and in which the State “undertakes not to take any measures that could create divisions between the
[13] peoples of the Bobonaza river basin.” They added that, in the said document “the three communities would undertake to
coexist in peace and harmony, in a climate of respect and tolerance.” In addition, to this end, the State must initate a
consultation process with the consent of the three communities involved.
345
They asked the Court to require the State “to take the necessary measures to annul the contract with the CGC as
regards the territory of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku. As part of these measures, the State should provide clear and
detailed information to the Sarayaku regarding the current status of the contract, and ensure that the community participates
in the steps to be taken for its cancellation.” They added that the State should “inform and guarantee the community’s
participation, and obtain its consent for any other current State development project that could affect its interests.”
346
They added that this concept “does not correspond to an existing legal category in Ecuador, given that the Kichwa
People of Sarayaku consider it important that the declaration be based on a concept originating from their own worldview,”
and that “[t]he legal basis for this declaration is to be found in the right to self-determination of the Indigenous Peoples,
recognized in article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the Right to property
guaranteed in Article 21 of the American Convention, in articles 57.12 and 66.12 of the Constitution.”
79
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