ST-CTEA – Demanding Justice for Ecuador’s Amazon: Human Rights Violations and Cancer From Oil Contamination

WE DEMAND THAT THE ECUADORIAN STATE RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS!
COMPLY WITH THE CONSTITUTION!
DON’T LET PEOPLE WITH CATASTROPHIC DISEASES DIE!

SIGN THE PETITION: CHANGE.ORG

UDAPT (Unión de Afectados y Afectadas por Texaco – Union of People Affected by Texaco) is an organization that works in the Ecuadorian Amazon to defend human rights and nature, which have been affected since 1967 by pollution caused by oil extraction. This petition aims to demand that the Ecuadorian Government comply with the constitution and the rights of people diagnosed with an oncological disease caused by oil contamination in the Amazon region.

Context of the CTEA case

Since 1967, with the arrival of the oil company Texaco, now Chevron, in Ecuador, there has been a dramatic deterioration in the environment and human health. 50 years later, the Ecuadorian State continues to ignore the tragic consequences of oil pollution, financing oil extraction even in protected areas through the public company EP – Petroecuador and transnational oil companies.

The severe and persistent contamination is reflected in the high incidence of cancer in the Amazonian provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana, where oil is extracted, with an average incidence rate that is 100% higher than the national average, and women (73.8%) are the most affected compared to men.

In 2018, the Ecuadorian State recognized the health damage caused by oil contamination. In fact, in agreement with the National Assembly, the law of the “Amazon Special Territorial Circumscription” (CTEA), also known as the “Amazon Law,” was enacted, with the aim, among other things, of providing economic and social support to people with catastrophic diseases, including oncological ones, in the region. For every barrel of oil extracted in the Amazon, the State must set aside 4% of the sale price, which must be no less than 2 dollars per barrel. Part of this fund should be used to cover transportation, food, and accommodation expenses during medical treatment for those entitled to the benefit provided by law. However, no payments have been made since 2021.

For this reason, UDAPT has filed and won four protection actions against the Ecuadorian State, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Technical Secretariat of the CTEA, the government body responsible for managing and distributing the funds from this law. Despite more than a year having passed since the first court ruling ordering the State to pay patients and take other reparative measures, nothing has been done, and the violation of the provisions of the “Amazon Law” continues, along with the violation of the human rights of cancer patients.

Health situation

Access to healthcare in Ecuador, particularly oncological care, is not easy. In the Amazon region, there is no hospital capable of diagnosing and treating diseases like cancer. Therefore, residents of the Amazonian provinces have to travel more than 1,000 kilometers round trip to reach a center that can treat their illness. In many cases, the lack of economic support from the State leads these people to abandon their treatments, which drastically increases the cancer mortality rate in this region of Ecuador. UDAPT supports all these people through palliative care, social, and economic support. However, it is the State’s duty to take care of these people, preventing them from abandoning their treatments.

Cancer deaths in the Amazon region are therefore a direct consequence of the poor management, negligence, and lack of political will of the current governments in Ecuador. In the face of this situation, international solidarity is needed to demand that the Ecuadorian State strictly comply with the law that protects this vulnerable population.

It is time to stop this indifference and criminal negligence of the Ecuadorian State towards people with cancer.

It is time for international solidarity.

It is time to act!

Objective of the petition

The objective of this petition organized by UDAPT is to exert worldwide pressure to demonstrate international support for the affected Amazonian people. Indeed, all those who remain indifferent to this tragedy are complicit. Let’s create a network and motivate the relevant Ecuadorian authorities to respect the Ecuadorian Constitution, the law, and the measures established in the rulings in favor of the people directly affected by oil contamination. Upon reaching 5.000 signatures, we will deliver the final report to the Technical Secretariat of the CTEA, demonstrating international indignation.

We invite you to join us. Every signature can make a difference in the lives of these people.

Raise your voice, get angry, and support us in demanding respect for human rights!

SIGN THE PETITION: CHANGE.ORG