Gestern hat die ecuadorianische Regierung der Umwelt-NGO Acción Ecológica mit fadenscheinigen Gründen die Zulassung entzogen.

Im entsprechenden Dekret des Gesundheitsministeriums heißt es,  die NGO habe gegen ihre Gründungsziele verstoßen und ihre Aktivitäten nicht mit dem Ministerium koordiniert.

Alberto Acosta, früherer Bergbauminister und Vorsitzender des Verfassungskonvents, wirft Präsident Rafael Correa „autoritäres Verhalten“ vor. Es handle sich um eine Vergeltungsmaßnahme, weil Acción Ecológica im Januar zusammen mit den indigenen Organisationen den Widerstand gegen das neue Bergbaugesetz angeführt hattte, sagte Acosta gegenüber Latin@rama. Mit dem Gesetz will die Regierung ausländische Unternehmen für die Förderung der Bodenschätze Ecuadors gewinnen.

Nach den ersten Meldungen internationaler Nachrichtenagenturen ruderte Gesundheitsministerin Caroline Chang zurück. Ihr Dekret stelle keinen Angriff auf die Umweltgruppe dar, erklärte die Ministerin: „Es gibt keinerlei Interesse, irgendeiner Organisation zu schaden, schon gar nicht Acción Ecológica“. Vielmehr werde das zuständige Umweltministerium die Zulassung erneuern, versuchte Chang die Wellen zu glätten.

Acción Ecológica hatte maßgeblich den Vorschlag entwickelt, auf die Erdölförderung einem Nationalpark im Amazonasgebiet zu verzichten, wenn die internationale Gemeinschaft Ecuador für den Erhalt des Regenwaldes honoriert und für die Hälfte der erwarteten Einnahmen aufkommt. Präsident Correa hatte sich die Initaitive 2007 zu eigen gemacht, die unter anderem einhellig vom deutschen Bundestag unterstützt wird.

Acción Ecológica bittet um Protestmails an Präsident Correa:

Dear friends,

We need your support! In a clear act of censorship, the Ecuadorian government has closed down the NGO Accion Ecológica. We believe that the only reason for taking this decision is Acción Ecológica’s position against mining which is apparently supported by the government.

We request you to send a letter to President Correa (see sample letter below) to the following addresses:

rafael.correadelgado@presidencia.gov.ec

Copies to:
alexis.mera@presidencia.gov.ec
ffalconi@hotmail.com
info@accionecologica.org

Dear President Correa,

I would like to express my dismay about the decision taken by your administration to close Acción Ecológica, by withdrawing its legal right to exist (personería juridica). Such a decision could have been expected from previous governments, which were anti-people and anti-environment, but not from yours. I have been among the many people that applauded the recognition of the rights of nature and the right to human “well-being” (buen vivir) in the new Ecuadorian Constitution promoted and approved during your mandate as President.

Within Ecuador, one of the few organizations that has for years defended nature and local peoples’ well-being is Acción Ecológica. Everyone around the world knows its dedication to defending the Amazon and its peoples from oil companies such as Texaco. Everyone who has been in contact with them knows about their courage, integrity, and commitment to protecting the country’s social and ecological wealth against the economic interests of corporations eager to exploit Ecuador. Everyone who has had the privilege of working with them can only express admiration.

Protecting the country’s natural resources and peoples against industrial logging, commercial shrimp farming, oil exploration and extraction, monoculture tree plantations, biopiracy and water privatization – as Acción Ecológica has been doing over many years – is clearly consistent with the new Ecuadorian Constitution. Even more so: the work of Acción Ecológica is an obligation for any person, organization and institution in Ecuador.

I therefore find that this decision taken by your administration to be in total contradiction with the aims stated in the new Constitution, and can only assume that it is a mistake made by some ill-informed person within your administration.

Your government is seen by many as one of the most progressive within the region and as an example to many other governments that do not respect nature or people’s well-being. Your government is also a sign of hope for those of us who are fighting for a socially just and environmentally sustainable world.

However, the credibility of your government is now at stake as a result of this attack against one of the most respected civil society organizations of your country: Acción Ecológica.

I therefore trust that you will intervene on this issue and ensure that Acción Ecológica’s legal capacity is restored immediately so that they can continue doing what they do best: protecting people’s and nature’s rights.

Yours sincerely,
SIGNATURE

Onlineformular auf Spanisch hier.

Aktueller Stand am 19. März: Wie Acción Ecológica mit Dank an alle Beteiligten soeben mitteilt, ist ihre Zulassung provisorisch wiederhergestellt. Die NGO wird nun dem Umweltministerium zugeordnet.

Nachtrag Anfang September: We wish to communicate that on Monday, August 31, 2009, Acción Ecológica finally regained its legal status through resolution 069 of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment.

We would like to take this opportunity to deeply thank all the people, institutions and organizations – both nationally and internationally – whose solidarity and support enabled us to recover our legal identity that the government of Rafael Correa arbitrarily and unjustly withdrew from us in February.

We would also like to say that, consistent with our ecological principles and in spite of constant threats and abuse, Acción Ecológica will always act with the same commitment in favor of environmental justice, the defense of human and collective rights, and the rights of nature.

For our planet and its inhabitants!

Ivonne Ramos, President