Five UN human rights experts have condemned Ecuador for suppressing civil society following a Government order to close a non-governmental organiSation (NGO) that supports environmental and indigenous rights.
The experts urged the Ecuadorian authorities to guarantee that all members of all groups, particularly those that defend human rights, are fully able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
The experts, in a statement from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said the guarantee for the exercise of the rights of all groups should include their right to criticise government policies and practices.
“The Government of Ecuador seems to be systematically dissolving organisations when they become too vocal or challenge government orthodoxy.
“This strategy to asphyxiate civil society has been implemented via two decrees – 16 and 739 – which give the authorities powers to unilaterally dissolve any kind of organisation.
“The direct consequences,” they said, “are the progressive silencing of any group that challenges or offers alternative ideas to those of the government and thereby reducing visibility of the situation of vulnerable and marginalised people.”
Among the five Special Rapporteurs are Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association and David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
The others include Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and John Knox, Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, health, and sustainable environment.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, is the fifth expert.
The experts also renewed an offer to assist the Ecuadorian Government in reforming the current restrictive legislation.
Acción Ecológica, an NGO, has been supporting the Shuar, an indigenous people trying to halt mining on a territory they claim as theirs.
On Dec. 18, the NGO called for a Peace and Truth Commission to investigate attacks on indigenous and environmental rights, according to the statement.
However, on Dec. 20, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment began a dissolution process, allowing the NGO only 24 hours to respond and 10 days to present evidence in its defence.
The organisation is only one of several who have recently been targeted by the government.
Others include Pachamama, Unión Nacional de Educadores, and Fundamedios, an organisation that Ecuador has been trying to close over the past three years.
“Dissolving groups is the most severe type of restriction on freedom of association,” the human rights experts announced.
The statement said the human rights experts had previously spoken out against the Ecuadorian Government for these actions.
“This latest action once again violates international human rights standards, including the legitimate exercise of freedom of association.
“It shows consistent disregard for repeated calls by the international community to end the policy.
“It is ironic that the same Government of Ecuador leading the positive international effort to make companies accountable through a binding treaty is itself reducing the space to be held accountable by domestic groups.”
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and they work on a voluntary basis.
They are not UN staff, do not receive a salary for their work, are independent from any government or organisation, and serve in their individual capacity. (NAN)