protesting the government’s oil policy, were attacked and assaulted by salaried employees of the CGC company. On this occasion, the indigenous community members were beaten with sticks, struck with rocks and machetes, and their belongings were destroyed with machetes. As a result, many Sarayaku residents suffered serious injuries7 and four people8, including a boy, were detained by the attackers and freed the following day. 28. The petitioners add that on March 1, 2004, Marlon Santi, President of Sarayaku, was attacked and physically assaulted, punched, and kicked as he was preparing to travel to Washington, D.C. for a working meeting convened by the Commission. On April 23, 2004, José Serrano Salgado, attorney and legal representative of the Sarayaku community, was attacked and assaulted by three armed, hooded men who threatened him with a pistol to his head and warned him to desist from his activities on behalf of the Sarayaku indigenous community. 29. According to the petitioners, a policy of harassment and threats that has existed since 1996 against the Sarayaku community and those helping to defend their rights intensified after November 2002, because of the community’s position concerning oil exploration and exploitation within the ancestral territory of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku. They say that the incursions into Sarayaku territory have caused serious harm to the life of the community. The detonations of explosives have destroyed significant areas of woodlands, water sources, caves, subterranean rivers, and sacred sites, and have caused animals to migrate to more remote areas. Explosives planted in traditional hunting areas have endangered the life of the inhabitants, and made it impossible to search for food; they have altered life cycles and deprived families of food sources. They also state that the indigenous people of Sarayaku have been harmed in their right to use and enjoy their land, and in the special relationship they have with the land. Specifically, their subsistence as a people has been jeopardized as they are prevented from obtaining basic food, traditional medicine, and healthcare, and from transmitting their cultural heritage to future generations. 30. The petitioners add that the traditional political structures of the Sarayaku community have been harmed directly through threats, persecution, and the physical, psychological and moral torture of its members and especially its leaders, for expressing their opposition to the State’s oil policy. 31. With regard to the exhaustion of domestic remedies, the petitioners report that on November 28, 2002, the OPIP filed a constitutional amparo suit before the First Instance Judge of Civil Matters of Pastaza against the CGC9 in which they requested a suspension of hydrocarbonaceous activity in Block 23, basing their request on Ecuadorian constitutional law. The petitioners state that the amparo suit was based on the entry of oil company workers into Sarayaku territory to commence oil exploration activities without previously consulting with the authorities of the affected indigenous people. As a precautionary measure, on November 29, 2002, the judge ordered a suspension of “any current or imminent action that affects or threatens the rights contained in the complaint.” The precautionary measure is still in effect today and the amparo suit is still pending. 32. The petitioners state that the constitutional amparo suit filed in the domestic jurisdiction is the adequate and effective remedy in terms of the requirements of Article 46 of the American Convention. 33. With respect to the Ecuadorian State’s affirmation that the administrative disputes remedy, rather than the constitutional remedy of amparo, was the appropriate remedy to resolve the 7 According to information sent on December 5, 2003by representatives of the beneficiaries, the following individuals received medical attention in the Voz de Shell Hospital and Puyo Hospital: Franco Viteri; Heriberto Gualinga; Isidro Gualinga; Edgar Gualinga; Leopoldo Santi; Diosnisio Machoa; Victoria Santi; David Malaver; Soraya Cisneros; Cesar Santi; Hilda Santi; Jorge Santi; Cleotilde Gualinga; Emerson Shiguango; Flores Milo Cisneros; Marco Gualinga; Henry Gualinga; Angélica Santi; José Luis Gualinga; Aura Cuvi; Marco Santi; Laureano Gualinga; Rudy Ortiz; Héctor Santi. 8 The people who were detained were Luver Malaver, a minor, Hilda Santi (former vice president of Sarayaku), Edgar Gualinga (political lieutenant of Sarayaku), and Heriberto Gualinga. 9 The suit also named the Daymi Services company, a CGC subcontractor. 6