The A’I Cofan in the Amazon, who have won a legal battle against unconsulted mining and large-scale concessions, denounce non-compliance by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment in the reparation process ordered by the Constitutional Court.
SINANGOE COMMUNITY, Ecuador.— The A´i Cofán community of Sinangoe has demanded that the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition respect the principle of interculturality in the act of public apologies that the Ecuadorian authorities were supposed to make to the community after a sentence by the Constitutional Court of that country last January. According to what the communities have expressed, the process proposed by the Ministry has not complied with the principle of interculturality.
“From the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe, we demand that the Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition (MAATE) comply with the sentence of the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court, which orders the offering of public apologies as a reparation measure, and that this act be carried out respectfully and in accordance with the principle of interculturality,” states the statement by the A’I Cofan, which was disseminated by the allied NGO Amazon Frontlines.
For years, the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe has been engaged in a legal battle to protect their territory from unconsulted mining exploitation. Sinangoe, in the northeastern province of Sucumbíos, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, is surrounded by the Aguarico and Due rivers, and is within what the State has designated as the Cayambe-Coca National Park.
In 2018, the Provincial Court of Sucumbíos acknowledged that the Ecuadorian State had violated the community’s rights by granting mining concessions without their consent and ordered the reversal of 20 already awarded concessions, the suspension and filing of another 32 in process, as well as the implementation of environmental restoration measures in areas affected by unconsulted mining activities. However, the execution of these decisions has been marked by non-compliance by the authorities.
On January 16, the Constitutional Court confirmed what the provincial court had ruled regarding the State’s lack of action and ordered, among other measures, that the MAATE offer public apologies to the community as a form of reparation. This act was supposed to be carried out with respect for interculturality and in coordination with the affected community. However, the community has denounced that the MAATE has acted unilaterally, not respecting their organizational structure or traditional practices.
Faced with this non-compliance, the Constitutional Court has ordered the MAATE to publicly apologize to the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe as a reparation measure. However, the process proposed by the Ministry has not complied with the principle of interculturality.
Last March 15, just two days before the set date, the Zonal Director 9 of the MAATE informed the community, through a phone call, that the act would take place on March 17. The decision, made without prior consultation, has caused discontent in Sinangoe, where they believe that imposing the date and the lack of prior dialogue violate the principle of interculturality. Additionally, they point out that the Ministry has delegated the responsibility for the act to a lower-ranking official, when the sentence stipulates that it should be Minister María Cristina Recalde herself who takes on the responsibility for the symbolic reparation.
From Sinangoe, community authorities have reiterated that the act of apologies must be treated with the seriousness it deserves. It is not just an administrative formality, they argue, but a gesture that must reflect the recognition of the harm caused and the will not to repeat it. To achieve this, they insist on the need for the MAATE to establish a process of dialogue with the community to define when and under what conditions the act will take place. Likewise, they demand that it be truly public and ensure the participation of both community authorities and State representatives with decision-making power.
“From our community, we reaffirm that this act cannot be treated superficially or improvised. The public apologies must respect the community’s political dynamics, involve the presence of ancestral and political authorities, the indigenous guard, and other community actors from the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe,” they stated in the release.
In Sinangoe, the memory of the fight against mining remains alive. The public apologies, far from being a bureaucratic procedure, represent an opportunity for the Ecuadorian State to take a real step towards reconciliation with indigenous peoples and respect for their collective rights, as expressed by the communities.
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