March 30, 2004

Mr. Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa

Constitutional President of Ecuador

CC. Sr. Leonidas Iza, President of CONAIE

Dra. Mariana Yépez de Velasco, General Prosecutor

Dr. Raúl Baca Carbo, Minister of Police and Government

Lic. Jorge Proveda Zúñiga, General Commander of the National Police

Ambassador Raúl Gangotena, Ambassador of Ecuador in the United States

Mr. President,

We want to express our concern and indignation at the attempted murder and the attack committed against Mr. Leonidas Iza, President of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities in Ecuador (CONAIE) and some of his family members, on February 1st, 2004.

In accordance with several international treaties ratified by Ecuador and with the Constitution of Ecuador, it is the responsibility of your government to respect and guarantee the human rights of all the people subject to your jurisdiction, including the fundamental right to life and physical integrity. Thus, any act that threatens life, state tolerance towards these acts; or the lack of adequate investigation and failure to sanction those responsible, amounts to a violation of the state duty to respect the human right to life and to physical integrity and to guarantee its free and full exercise.

Given this duty, we urge you to adopt all necessary means to guarantee the security of Mr. Leonidas Iza, his family as well as all members of CONAIE and prevent any further act of violence.

In addition, it is fundamental for your government to demonstrate in practice your commitment to eliminate impunity and to conclude without delay an exhaustive, impartial and independent investigation. This duty will prevail until the crimes committed again Mr. Iza are fully investigated and those responsible for them are sanctioned in accordance to law.

Finally, we consider that the democratic strengthening of the judiciary and the police is fundamental to guarantee human rights within all democratic states and to reestablish the confidence of

civil society. With this purpose we urge you to work with civil society as well as national and international intergovernmental and non

governmental bodies to guarantee the respect of human rights of the members of CONAIE and, in general, of all citizens in Ecuador.

Sincerely,

Name / Organization / Country
Africa Magongo / On behalf of de Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions / Swaziland
Mélanie Berthaud / Mexico
Emma Maza / Centro de Derechos Humanos "Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez", A.C. / Mexico
Francisco Soberón G. / On behalf of Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos / Peru
Suad Elias Atala / ESCR-Net (on my personal capacity) / Mexico
María Victoria Fallon / On behalf of Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos humanos / Colombia
Renji George Joseph / On behalf of Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable
Development of Communities (AHSDC) / India
Abdoul Aziz Niang / Mauritania
Lourdes Ríos / On behalf of Observatorio DESC / Spain
Sandeep Kindo / On behalf of Cultural Survival / USA
Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos / Mexico
Armando Pérez Salazar / On behalf of Comite de Familiares de Victimas de la violación a los Derechos Humanos De El Salvador. CODEFAM / El Salvador
Sharda Sekaran / Center for Economic and Social Rights / USA
Chris Caruso / Center for Economic and Social Rights / USA
Juan Mª Garitaonandia Axpe / On behalf of Asociación IZAN / Spain
Wilder Sánchez Chávez / Secretario General Colegiado de la Confederación Campesina del Perú (CCP) / Peru
Bruce Van Voorhis, / Asian Human Rights Commission, / Hong Kong
Darci Frigo / Terra de Direitos / Brazil
Ravi Rebbapragada / mines,minerals & PEOPLE / India
Anne Witt-Greenberg, / J.D./M.A./Human Rights Activist and Translator / USA
José Luis Aguilar García / Proyecto Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Anáhuac del Sur / Mexico
Jeannethe Lara / PWRDF / Canada
Pervin Jehangir / India
Luisa Nardi / Italy
Alberto León Gómez Zuluaga / Abogado independiente / Colombia
Daniel de Culla / Izquierda Republicana de Burgos / Burgos, Spain
Nashieli Ramirez / On behalf of Ririki, Intervención Social / Mexico
Prof. Francisco Scarfó / GESEC / La Plata, Argentina
Armando Perez Salazar / On behalf of Comité de Familiares de Victimas de las Violaciones de los Derechos Humanos de El Salvador / El Salvador

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