Ecuador: Further information: Indigenous defender no longer under threat: Patricia Gualinga
Indigenous defender Patricia Gualinga is no longer considered under imminent threat. No new security incidents or threats against her have occurred since the 5 January attack at her home. She has since reported receiving protection measures.
Further information on UA: 8/18 Index: AMR 28/8179/2018 Ecuador Date: 5 April 2018
URGENT ACTION
INDIGENOUS DEFENDER NO LONGER UNDER THREAT
Indigenous defender Patricia Gualinga is no longer considered under imminent threat.
No new security incidents or threats against her have occurred since the 5 January
attack at her home. She has since reported receiving protection measures.
Indigenous defender Patricia Gualinga told Amnesty International that she received protection measures after the
organization launched an Urgent Action calling for her safety in January. The Urgent Action was in response to a 5
January attack where an unknown man threw stones at the windows of her home in Puya, Pastaza province, while
yelling death threats at her. She has not reported any other security incidents or threats against her since.
Although her security situation is currently stable, Patricia Gualinga is concerned that, three months later, there has
been no progress in the investigation into the attack at her home. She also told Amnesty International that the
Attorney General’s Office of Pastaza province has hampered her access to the evidence gathered so far, including
footage from all the public surveillance cameras close to her home, which would allow for the identification of the
perpetrator.
Amnesty International will continue to monitor the situation and call on the Attorney General to promptly and
thoroughly investigate the attack and to grant Patricia Gualinga access to the evidence gathered so far, including
footage from all the public surveillance cameras close to her home.
Patricia Gualinga is a Kichwa Indigenous leader of Sarayaku, whose ancestral lands are located in eastern
Ecuador. She works to defend rights related to land, territory and the environment in the context of extractive
projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon, including oil concessions in the ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples such as
of the Kichwa of Sarayaku, the Sápara, Achuar Shuar, Shiwiar, the communities of Santa Clara, San Jacinto and
the cities of Puyo and Shell-Mera. Many Indigenous leaders and human rights defenders from these communities
have expressed their concerns regarding the effects that oil exploration and extraction could have on their lands,
and have previously reported threats and harassment because of their human rights work.
No further action is required of the UA network at this time. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.
This is the first update of UA 8/18. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr28/7714/2018/en/
Name: Patricia Gualinga
Gender m/f: f
Further information on UA: 8/18 Index: AMR 28/8179/2018 Issue Date: 5 April 2018