ORDER OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
OF MARCH 31, 2014
PROVISIONAL MEASURES REGARDING ECUADOR
MATTER REGARDING TWO GIRLS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF TAROMENANE
IN VOLUNTARY ISOLATION1
HAVING SEEN:
1.
The brief of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the
Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) of January 19, 2014, and its
attachments, wherein it filed a request for provisional measures before the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court,” “the Court” or “the
Tribunal) pursuant to Articles 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights
(hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”) and 27 of the Court Rules of
Procedure (hereinafter “Rules of Procedure”), in order for the Court to require the Republic
of Ecuador (hereinafter “Ecuador” or “the State”) to “protect the life, personal integrity,
right to a family, and right to identity of two girls, approximately age 2 and 6, who belong
to the Taromenane indigenous peoples, in voluntary isolation in the Ecuadorian Amazon.”
Moreover, the Commission requested “the creation of an immediate means of determining
the special measures of protection that are necessary, culturally appropriate, and in the
best interest of both girls, given the circumstances each girl is currently living.” Lastly, it
expressed that “said means must take into consideration the opinion of the girls and
prioritize seeking a means of consultation with the Waorani villages, so as to provide
solutions that do not increase the harm that could be incurred to the detriment of both
girls.”
2.
The Commission informed the Court that since May 10, 2006, it ordered
precautionary measures in favor of the Tagaeri and Taromenane indigenous peoples, who
are in voluntary isolation in the Ecuadorian Amazon.” These precautionary measures were
ordered “based on information received about a massacre that occurred on April 26, 2006,
wherein members of the Taromenane indigenous peoples were murdered.” The main
purpose of the precautionary measures was the adoption of “effective measures to protect
the life and personal integrity of members of the Tagaeri and Taromenane people,
particularly, […] the measures necessary to protect the territory they inhabit, including the
actions required to prohibit the entry of third parties to the territory.” In the framework of
the monitoring of compliance with these precautionary measures, the Commission received
information regarding two Taromenane girls. The background provided by the Commission
in regard to the request for provisional measures, namely:
i) “[o]n April 9, 2013, the Commission received information about an alleged massacre
on March 30, 2013, wherein dozens of beneficiaries were murdered, that is, members of
the Taromenane indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, including girls and boys”;
ii) in this regard, the Commission noted that it had been informed that “in the
framework of the massacre, which supposedly took place on March 30, 2013, to the
1
Per the request of the Inter-American Commission, the proposed beneficiaries shall be referred to as
“older girl” and “younger girl.”