Los Cedros Reserve to be protected from mining after comprehensive Ecuador Constitutional Court ruling on Rights of Nature and the environment In a significant ruling on December 1, the Ecuador Constitutional Court revoked the water and environmental rights of Cornerstone Capital Resources and the Ecuador state mining company (ENAMI) for the Rio Magdalena concessions that … Read More
hanrine
Ecuador legal system manipulated in Rinehart company case
The National Council of the Judiciary in Ecuador confirmed the presence of irregularities and manipulation of the judicial computer system in the Protective Action that allowed Gina Rinehart subsidiary Hanrine to forcibly enter the town of Buenos Aires on August 3. The investigation was carried out by the National Directorate of Management Transparency after Assemblyman … Read More
Human rights violations at Gina Rinehart’s Ecuador mining concession
Approximately 500 armed national police stormed Buenos Aires in the early hours of the 3rd August, using tear gas and military trucks to forcibly clear a path through the town for the mining company Hanrine in what locals say is a significant human rights violation. This was despite a court ruling in June that gave … Read More
Judge rules Rinehart’s Ecuador subsidiary must not block public road
Hundreds of workers from Rinehart’s subsidiary Hanrine have blocked the only road to the town of Buenos Aires in north-west Ecuador for more than 40 days, hoping to force locals to allow them passage through the town to the concession Imba 1. The judge of the Urcuquí Multicompetent Unit, Manuel Sucuzhañay, today accepted the Precautionary … Read More
Gina Rinehart’s Ecuador concession faces new trouble
The Ombudsman’s Office of Ecuador has called on the National Government to suspend all mining activities in the Buenos Aires parish where Rinehart has several concessions, after what it deemed was excessive military force against inhabitants resisting mining. The Buenos Aires community says they have not been consulted and do not want a mine in … Read More
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve threatened by BHP, SolGold and other miners
Protest in Ecuador over UNESCO Biosphere Reserve threatened by SolGold, BHP and other miners Yesterday marked 60 days of protest against mining for people in the Parish of Pacto in Ecuador. In December, the Pacto parish declared an indefinite protest, arguing that mining activity threatens the biodiversity and water sources of the Chocó Andino reserve, … Read More
Llurimagua case looks set to be lost by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment
Llurimagua case for endemic species looks set to be lost by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment in significant blow to plans for mining in the area A case for protecting endemic species at the planned Llurimagua mine site had another win last week when Carmen Jaramillo Cevallos, Judge of the Multicompetent Judicial Unit of … Read More
Major legal victory for endemic species in Ecuador Rights of Nature case
A Constitutional Protection Action win at the Cotacachi Court on September 24 may stop mining companies destroying the habitats of endemic species in Ecuador “In a huge win for the environment, on Thursday 24 September a judge at the Cotacachi Court ruled that the Ministry of the Environment failed at its job of protecting species … Read More
Sanctuary for life in Ecuador
A Constitutional Protection Action could protect the Rights of Nature over the economic rights of transnational companies in Ecuador’s Intag Valley. Originally published in The Ecologist by Rebekah Hayden The Intag valley in the Imbabura province, high up in north-west of Ecuador, should be a peaceful place. Forested mountains are blanketed so thickly in fog … Read More
Australian mining companies plunder Ecuador’s gold and copper
First published in Green Left by Anthony Amis In 2008, Ecuador was the first country in the world to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution. But, as Anthony Amis reports, international mining companies have been given the green light to exploit the country’s copper and gold reserves. The Ecuadorian government is desperate for … Read More