You are here: Home → CASES → URGENT ACTIONS → Ecuador: Communities affected by fumigation within the Plan Colombia submit claim for constitutional protection

Ecuador: Communities affected by fumigation within the Plan Colombia submit claim for constitutional protection

Beginning of Action: 27-07-2004 - End of Action: 29-09-2004

The human rights of about 25,000 persons in the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbios at the Colombian-Ecuadorian border are being violated by fumigations from the air carried out in the framework of the Plan Colombia in the Colombian department of Putumayo. These fumigations have destroyed the food resources of the communities, unleashing a food and health crisis in this province. The Ecuadorian Government has failed to protect the access to resources of these people through quick and objective actions.

Peasant and indigenous organisations have presented their claim for protection to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador which collects the petitions of the peasant and indigenous people leaving around the border who are suffering the impact of the fumigations carried out in the month  of July 2003.

Background

The fumigations in the Colombian provinces of Cauca, Nariño and Putumayo are carried out under the Plan Colombia in order to eradicate illegal coca cultivations in these zones. The aerial fumigation programme has started at the end of 2000 and since then more than 170,000 hectares have been fumigated.  In the past years progressive and indiscriminate fumigation has been carried out on illegal and legal plantations, thus affecting the poor population of this zone, inlcuding the population of the provinces of Sucumbios, Carchi and Esmeraldas, on the border of Colombia.

The fumigations used "Roundup Ultra", a mix which contains glifosato and whose concentration in Colombia is 18 to 26 times higher than the concentration permitted in the United States. The US company Monsanto who manufactures "Roundup" states that this herbicide impedes the synthesis of proteins and produces phytotoxicity in plants.

It has been estimated as early as 2001 that 100 % of the population of the border zone was intoxicated by  the fumigations with "Roundup Ultra" along a strip of 5 km, and  89% along a strip of 10 km. Despite the numerous complaints on the impact of the fumigations on the border area population's crops and health and that the Ecuadorian Government had presented a petition to establish a security zone of 10 km for the fumigations starting at the borderline,  the Government of Colombia has continued fumigating in this area, arguing that the glifosato is not hazardous, and has spread "Roundup" directly around the tributaries of the San Miguel River on the northern border with Colombia and even onto people from an altitude of about 15 to 100 meters. The latest  fumigations were carried out through the whole month of July 2003. 

The majority of the peasant and indigenous communities inhabitating the border with Colombia rely on the cultivation of agricultural products for their subsistence and are populations who are mostly extremely poor. The fumigations have destroyed their corn, yucca, rice, cocoa and banana crops and have polluted the rivers and  wells used as sources of drinking water. Furthermore, the populations have also shown abnormalities of the nervous system, problems with the digestive system and skin diseases. Amongst the most affected are the children of the communities who suffer from skin blotches, itching, headache, nausea, fever, and stomach pain.

At present,  FORCCOFES (Federation of Peasant Organisations of the Ecuadorian Border Strip of Sucumbios) and CONAIE (Confederation of the  Indigenous Nations of Ecuador) have presented a claim for Constitutional Protection which gathered together  the petitions of the peasant and indigenous populations living on the border and who are suffering under the effects of the fumigations which were carried out in the month of July 2003.  These petitions exhort the Ecuadorian Government to subscribe a memorandum of understanding with the Colombian State that  there be no more fumigations within 10 kilometres of the border and that Colombia should compensate and attend to the affected populations for damages caused to their health and food. Above all, it is demanded that children below the age of five years and pregnant women who are suffering malnutrition are being attended to and that access to safe water is being guaranteed for these populations.

The FIAN Mandate and Action

As one of the state parties of the ICESCR, Ecuador is obliged to offer immediate protection to the communities affected by the fumigations within the Plan Colombia , as this is an extremely serious situation which has unleashed a food and health crisis and a wave of internal migration in Ecuador. The fact that the Ecuadorian State allowed Collombia to damage the health, crops, and animals of the people in the border areas, thus forcing them to leave their land without receiving adequate compensation, and also failed to respond and react rapidly and objectively, constitutes a non-fulfilment of Ecuador's commitment to protect and fulfil the access to the resources for the entire population, and is thus a clear violation of the economic, social and cultural rights, and in particular of the right to adequate food.

Call to Action

The intervention of FIAN will be determinant for the Constitutional Court to decide in favour of the peasant and indigenous populations who are being affected by the fumigations on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border. Please send the attached letter to the President of the Republic of Ecuador and to members of the Constitutional Court, expressing your concern and asking to resolve the Constitutional protection of these communities. Please send copies to the  NGO Acción Ecológica.

URGENT ACTION 0413HECU

Original Letter:

Referencia:  Amparo Constitucional a favor de las comunidades campesinas e indígenas de la provincia de Sucumbíos.

Excelentísimos Señores,

Por medio de la presente, quisiera manifestarle mi preocupación por las violaciones de derechos humanos en contra de las comunidades campesinas e indígenas de la provincia ecuatoriana de Sucumbíos, provocadas por las fumigaciones dentro del Plan Colombia en el departamento colombiano de Putumayo.

Como es de su conocimiento, la mayoría de las comunidades campesinas e indígenas, que viven en la frontera con Colombia se dedican básicamente al cultivo de productos agrícolas para su subsistencia y son poblaciones, en su mayoría, extremadamente pobres. Las fumigaciones realizadas dentro del Plan Colombia han destruído los cultivos de maíz, yuca, arroz, cacao y plátano y han contaminado los ríos y pozos de agua, que las poblaciones utilizan para consumo humano.  Además, las poblaciones presentan alteraciones del sistema nervioso, afectaciones del sistema digestivo y enfermedades de la piel causadas también a raíz de las fumigaciones. Entre los más afectados se encuentran los niños de las comunidades.

Es obligación del Estado Ecuatoriano como Estado Parte del PIDESC brindar protección inmediata a las comunidades afectadas por las fumigaciones dentro del Plan Colombia, que han desencadenado una crisis alimentaria y de salud y una ola de migración interna en el Ecuador. El permitir que el Estado Colombiano destruya la salud, los cultivos y animales de las poblaciones fronterizas, sin indemnizarlas, obligándolas a dejar sus tierras, y la falta de respuestas y acciones rápidas y objetivas por parte del Estado Ecuatoriano, es un incumplimiento al  compromiso del Ecuador de proteger y hacer efectivo el acceso a los recursos de su población, y por lo tanto, es una clara violación a los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y culturales, especialmente al derecho a una alimentación adecuada.

Por todo esto, solicito que se resuelva el Amparo Constitucional N° 371-04 presentado por las comunidades y pobladores afectados por las fumigaciones realizadas en el mes de Julio de 2003, de acuerdo con los instrumentos internacionales de protección de los derechos humanos y la Constituición Ecuatoriana, con el fin de proteger y restituir los derechos de las comunidades afectadas.

Por la acogida que se sirva dar a la presente, le agradecemos.

Antentamente

Translated Letter:

Open translated letter Open translated Letter
Open translated letter Close translated Letter

Dear Sirs,
with the following letter I should like to express my deep concern about the human rights violations against the peasant and indigenous communities in the  Ecuadorian Province of Sucumbios, caused by the fumigations within the framework of the Plan Colombia in the Colombian department of Putumayo.
As you know, the majority of the peasant and indigenous communities who live along the border with Colombia are relying on the cultivation of agricultural products for their subsistence and are populations who are mostly extremely poor. The fumigations carried out within the Plan Colombia are destroying the corn, yucca, rice, cacao and banana crops and are polluting the rivers and wells used as sources of drinking water by the people. Moreover, the populations also exhibit abnormalities of the nervous system, problems with the digestive system and skin diseases also caused by the fumigations. Amongst them, the most affected are children of the communities.
As one of the state parties of the ICESCR, Ecuador is obliged to offer immediate protection to the communities affected by the fumigations within the Plan Colombia as these have unleashed an nutritious and health crisis and a wave of internal migration in Ecuador. That Ecuador allowed  Colombia to destroy the health, crops and animals of the populations living on the border without compensation, forcing them to leave their lands and the lack of fast and objective response and action by the Ecuadorian State, constitutes a non-fulfilment of Ecuador's commitment to protect and fulfil the access to the resources of the entire population, and is thus a clear violation of the economic, social and cultural rights, and in particular of the right to adequate food.
Therefore I ask you to decide upon Constitutional Claim No. 371-04 presented by  the communities and populations  affected by the fumigations carried out in July 2003, in compliance with the international  measures protecting human rights and also  according to the Ecuadorian Constitution,  in order to protect and restore the rights of the affected communities.
Thanking you for your attention, I remain,
Yours sincerely,


Recipients: