Inter-American Court of Human Rights Condemns Ecuador for Violating Rights of Tagaeri-Taromenane People Living in Voluntary Isolation in Yasuní National Park

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) released a judgment declaring Ecuador’s international responsibility for violating the rights of the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.

The Court determined that the Ecuadorian government failed in its duty to guarantee the principle of no contact of these peoples, allowing illegal incursions into their territory by third parties. Likewise, the creation of the Tagaeri Taromenane Intangible Zone (ZITT) was implemented without due diligence, facilitating extractive activities in the Yasuní National Park without applying the precautionary principle. In addition, the government failed to adopt adequate measures to protect the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous peoples from violence by external actors.

The ruling establishes that Ecuador violated, among others, the rights to life, personal integrity, and collective property of the Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation by failing to prevent the episodes of violence that occurred in 2003, 2006, and 2013, in which members of the Tagaeri and Taromenane were killed. The government is also responsible for the forced separation of two Indigenous girls after the 2013 massacre, which affected their cultural identity and fundamental rights.

The court decision comes after voters in a 2023 national referendum opted to keep the 846 million barrels of crude permanently in the ground underneath part of Yasuní National Park. The country’s Constitutional Court gave President Daniel Noboa’s administration one year to decommission drilling – closing 247 wells, dismantling infrastructure, and remediating and restoring the region. But to date, only four wells have been closed, exacerbating the existential threat to the Tagaeri-Taromenane.

The IACHR gave Ecuador one year to implement its binding decision, which will have a major impact on the next president and future of oil extraction in the country. The ruling also opens the door to further restrictions on drilling in other areas inside Yasuní, or future oil concessions if the ZITT is expanded. Ecuador will hold run-off elections on April 13, 2025 between incumbent right-wing president Noboa and Luisa González, the hand-picked candidate of former leftist president Rafael Correa. Both administrations seek to expand oil activities in the country’s Amazon region, despite opposition from local Indigenous peoples.

Concerning the popular referendum, the court ordered the Ecuadorian government to adopt “legislative, administrative and any other measures to effectively implement the decision taken in the popular consultation of August 20, 2023 to keep the crude of Block 43 indefinitely under the subsoil.” It also ordered the government to guarantee the application of the precautionary principle in any extractive activity in the region.

The Court also ordered 20 measures of reparations, restitution, and guarantees of non-repetition, including the obligation to investigate the massacres of 2003 and 2006, determine government responsibilities for the violation of the rights of the girls contacted and forcibly separated, train its officials in the rights of peoples living in voluntary isolation, establish effective judicial mechanisms for the protection of their territories, the obligation of the government to present a report on the improvement of the current monitoring measures of the ZITT, the creation of a technical commission for the evaluation of the ZITT to guarantee the protection of the peoples living in voluntary isolation, and that a public act of recognition of responsibility be carried out. This commission should include the participation of independent experts, representatives of Indigenous organizations, and civil society, as well as guaranteeing government funding for its adequate functioning.

The ruling marks a milestone in the defense of peoples living in voluntary isolation throughout the region and demands that Ecuador move from abandonment to immediate action for their effective protection. There are no more excuses: the government must guarantee their right to exist, free from violence and exploitation.

“This judgment of the Inter-American Court is the result of many years of struggle and is a guarantee of the rights to territory for peoples in isolation, so that they can live without the threat of oil, mining, and other threats. This is a milestone for all Indigenous peoples living in isolation in the region and throughout the world. It is a precedent of the struggle of years and the Waorani are united. We are celebrating this victory and condemning the government for violating the rights of the people,” Juan Bay, President of the Waorani Nationality of Ecuador (NAWE), underscored.

“This judgment is historic in several ways. It is the first time that the IACHR Court has issued a ruling regarding peoples living in voluntary isolation and ratifies the standards of protection and respect for the principle of no contact, precaution, and intangibility of their territories located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. On the other hand, it creates a historical precedent on the need to cease oil exploitation to protect the PIAV, since the court orders compliance with the popular consultation of Yasuní that has been pending since August 2023. This is an emblematic example of climate and social justice for the world,” emphasized Nathaly Yépez Pulles, Ecuador Legal Advisor at Amazon Watch.

Kevin Koenig, Climate, Energy, and Extractive Industry Director at Amazon Watch, explains that this ruling has implications for the United States as well: “This decision makes it crystal clear: anyone consuming and or importing crude from Ecuador is complicit in the violation of the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples and undermining the will of Ecuadorian voters, the country’s Constitutional Court, and now the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. California is addicted to Amazon crude, and the first step is admitting it has a problem.”