Commentary. Rights in the era of extraction policies

Abstract

ABSTRACT  This commentary by the president of a key Ecuadorian human rights organisation tells the story of civil society efforts to make Chevron-Texaco accountable for environmental destruction from its operations in that country. The author's three principal claims – that extractive industries are morally bankrupt and environmentally unsustainable; they violate human rights; and they violate the rights of nature enshrined in Ecuador's constitution – are sharpened by a critique of the rising “criminalization” of social protest. Broadening the discussion, he proposes sumak kawsay as an antidote not only to mining, but to a development model that privileges consumption over a life that balances human and environmental interests.

Résumé  Dans ce commentaire, le président d'une organisation équatorienne évoque les efforts de la société civile pour rendre la compagnie Texaco/Chevron responsable de la destruction environnementale causée par ses activités d'extraction dans ce pays. L'auteur constate que les industries d'extraction sont moralement corrompues; ne sont soutenable d'un point de vue environnemental; violent les droits humains; et violent les droits de la nature enchâssés dans la constitution équatorienne. Ses arguments sont renforcés par une critique de la criminalisation de la contestation sociale. Finalement, l'auteur approfondit la discussion en proposant le sumak kawsay comme une solution non seulement à l'extraction minière, mais aussi au modèle du développement qui place la consommation avant les intérêts humains et environnementaux.

Keywords:

• mining
• human rights
• environment and development
• Ecuador

Notes

From the INREDH website: http://www.inredh.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=27.

One of the dialogues in Battleship includes the line: “This will be like when Columbus conquered America, only now we are the natives.”

The argument of “general benefit” at the expense of “private rights” is the best argument governments have for ensuring their projects are supported in big cities. This way they avoid a debate about the need to respect all social groups, even if they are minorities. This argument also enables them to hide the environmental cost of extraction projects – which eventually will be harmful to all social groups.

President Rafael Correa used the term “cuatro pelagatos” (loosely understood as “four vagrants” or “a few ragamuffins”) to downplay the extent of the indigenous movement opposed to the extraction activities (see YouTube video available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBEiRgpbUWA). The last indigenous march, which started on 8 March 2012 in the Amazonian province of Zamora Chinchope and culminated in Quito on 22 March, covered 700 kilometers and mobilised 15,000 indigenous people, according to government claims. Indigenous leaders calculated the figure to be closer to 40,000. Whatever the correct figure, this march showed that the opposition to extraction activities, mainly found in indigenous territories, is much stronger than the government believes.

In the 1960s the province of Loja, in the country's southern mountains, experienced the worst drought in its history. The local people decided to emigrate, and, supported by government programs, arrived at the northern Amazon, where they founded Nueva Loja in 1957.

Testimony included in the sentence in the first instance, issued by Judge Nicolás Zambrano, on 14 February 2011; see http://chevrontoxico.com/assets/docs/2011-02-14-Aguinda-v-ChevronTexaco-judgement-English.pdf, p. 149.

Complete testimonies can be found on the official website of the Amazon Defense Coalition (http://www.texacotoxico.org) and on the key documents page of the ChevronToxico campaign organisation's website (http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2011/0406-key-documents-and-court-filings-from-aguinda-legal-team).

The existence of the wells was confirmed using aerial photographs and inspections carried out by the Institute of Military Geography, as specified in the sentence in the first instance, issued by Judge Nicolás Zambrano, on 14 February 2011; See http://chevrontoxico.com/assets/docs/2011-02-14-Aguinda-v-ChevronTexaco-judgement-English.pdf, p. 125.

See http://chevrontoxico.com/assets/docs/2011-02-14-Aguinda-v-ChevronTexaco-judgement-English.pdf

Inhabitant of the province of Orellana and one of the 30,000 plaintiffs challenging Chevron-Texaco. See: http://www.inredh.org/archivos/boletines/resumen_caso_chevron_texaco_contaminacion_amazonia.pdf

The National Register of Tumors is a department of the Society of the Fight Against Cancer (Sociedad de Lucha Contra el Cáncer, SOLCA) in Ecuador. It was created through the Ministerial Agreement N.6345, of 20 July 1984. See: http://www.solcaquio.org.ec/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=8&Itemid=45.

See Bloomberg News, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aymV5i.4yp.

The current Minister of Non-Renewable Resources, Wilson Pastor, was the general manager of PETROAMAZONAS, which operated the consortium CEPE-TEXACO in 1990–1992. He was also the financial director of Texaco in 1988–1990.

See http://chevrontoxico.com/assets/docs/2011-02-14-Aguinda-v-ChevronTexaco-judgement-English.pdf

Author's translation; original quote available in Spanish at http://www.inredh.org/archivos/boletines/resumen_caso_chevron_texaco_contaminacion_amazonia.pdf

During the last five years, Chevron-Texaco has paid more than $30,000,000 to lobbyists. See http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000015

Author's translation; original quote available in Spanish at http://www.inredh.org/archivos/boletines/resumen_caso_chevron_texaco_contaminacion_amazonia.pdf.

See http://marchaporlavida.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/mandato_minero.pdf

Mining Mandate, Article 3. After the Mining Mandate, the Constituent Assembly also reinforced the prohibition of extraction activities through article 407 of the Constitution, which states: “Extraction of non-renewable resources is prohibited in protected areas and in zones which have been declared intangible, including forestry. Said resources could, as an exception, be extracted at the request of the President of the Republic with a prior declaration of national interest on the part of the National Assembly, who, if they deemed it appropriate, could call a referendum” (Republic of Ecuador 2008).

See Saavedra (2011b). Additional sources on biodiversity of the region can be found in Chicaiza (2010).

Editors' note: These claims about the new mining concessions are the subject of much debate. President Correa has stated that this mining will be done using “sustainable” methods, in direct contrast to Chevron's past practices. ECSA makes similar claims, which are in turn echoed by contemporary advocates of “clean mining”. Ecuador has also passed new environmental and mining laws aimed at addressing these concerns, and critics point out that copper mining and oil production have different sets of environmental impacts. Saavedra does not address these points, focusing instead on the weakness of regulatory practices and the potential threat posed by poor oversight of companies he views as rapacious. In this, he situates himself within a Latin American intellectual tradition in which the formal environmental proclamations of the state are viewed with deep suspicion by stakeholders who simply do not believe that in practice the state will act as anything but a proxy for powerful (often hidden) interests. He likewise aligns himself with those, like Kirsch (2010) , who argue that there is no such thing as “sustainable mining”. Saavedra's strategy in turn is to nourish forms of “social mobilisation” within regional and global networks that can act as counterweights to this power.

The document issued on 25 June 1009 is called the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. See UN General Assembly (1993).

Editors' note: Warnaars (2012) in fact argues that CSR has exacerbated conflicts in the region discussed in this paper.

Testimonial in the video “Redes de Dignidad” (Networks of Dignity); see INREDH (2010).

Examples of these offers can be found at http://www.inredh.org/archivos/libros/malos_negocios.pdf.

For the text of the 2008 Constitution, see http://www.asambleanacional.gov.ec/documentos/constitucion_de_bolsillo.pdf. English version: http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/english08.html

See http://www.dpe.gob.ec/index.php?option=com_jdownloads&Itemid=82&view=viewcategory&catid=14.

See http://www.inredh.org/archivos/pdf/libro_criminalizacion_defensoresddhh.pdf.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 2, Number 1: “Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realisation of the rights recognised in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures” (UN HCRC 1976).

Editors' note: This Quechua word has been important in efforts to reconstitute the liberal state in both Ecuador and Bolivia in recent years. See, for example, Dávalos (2008) and Acosta and Martínez (2009) .