Quito-Ottawa: Yesterday, July 2, 2025, 283 Ecuadorian, Canadian, and international organizations, unions, and coalitions sent a letter expressing deep concern about the systematic criminalization of 29 human rights and land defenders in Bolivar province in Ecuador, due to their legitimate and peaceful opposition to the Canadian owned Curipamba-El Domo mining project. The letter was sent to the governments of Ecuador and Canada, as well as to the Canadian companies who own the project, SilverCorp Metals Inc. and Salazar Resources Ltd, and their subsidiary Curimining S.A  who operates it.

“We are defenders of water, and we are being criminalized for the simple act of protecting our territories and protesting against this mining project that threatens our water sources and food sovereignty—in other words, what sustains our lives.” Freddy Díaz, Buenos Aires community, Las Naves district.

The letter highlights the unjust criminalization and sentencing of human rights and land defenders from Las Naves district and other communities affected by the Curipamba-El Domo project. Thirteen defenders have already received unjust convictions, despite there being no irrefutable evidence of the alleged crimes. This latest expression of international concern comes just days before the upcoming trial hearing of three defenders, and the appeal hearing of another three, who received a four-year prison sentence in February of this year. In total, 13 of the 29 criminalized defenders have received prison sentences of up to four years.

This comes at a time of growing international outcry, as human rights and environmental organizations denounced a wave of police and military repression against peasant families in the community of La Unión in Las Naves district, who are peacefully blocking heavy machinery from accessing the mining project on one of several access roads. The community’s blockade seeks to prevent the Curipamba-El Domo project from destroying the water sources that originate on the mountain they call “Piedra Negra” and the mining company calls “El Domo”, which would make the rich agricultural production that sustains the peasant economy in this area unviable. 

The blockade began when residents have expressed alarm about muddy waters that have begun to flow down from the area where the company is preparing to begin large-scale open-pit and subterranean exploitation of copper, gold, silver, and zinc in early 2026. The Las Naves district communities are even more concerned about the leaching of heavy metals and other toxic substances into their water sources, once exploitation activities begin.  The heavy machinery is also destroying the local road, built by the community 60 years ago to access local markets where they sell their plantains, citruses, and other tropical fruits. 

Last week,  over 300 heavily militarized state police stormed the little encampment in the La Unión community using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters and make way for the mining company’s dump trucks. In response to this repression, the international allies and signatories of the letter urge the national authorities to “immediately close the investigations and criminal proceedings against the land defenders of nature,” to “demilitarize Las Naves,” and to “remove the armed forces from the territory.”

The letter sent yesterday echoes statements by several United Nations agencies that have denounced the inadequate and repressive environmental consultation process for this project, which was carried out to advance the copper-gold project in the name of the “energy transition”. In 2023, the Ecuadorian government, in collusion with Canadian mining companies, carried out a highly problematic community environmental consultation that was marred by irregularities, violence, and contradictions with national and international standards for community consultations. In the end, only a little over 100 people were consulted, when more than 7,000 people are directly affected. The process was widely denounced and condemned by the affected communities. 

“Canadian mining companies tout themselves as having some of the best social, ecological, and governance (ESG) commitments in the world. That is not what we are seeing here on the ground in Ecuador. The Curipamba – El Domo mining project, which is backed entirely by Canadian capital, is marred with state-imposed violence, human rights violations, and persecution of environmental defenders. This urgently needs to be addressed by the international community.” Emily Conrad, Proyecto Dulcepamba   

The 283 international organizations that signed the letter include the SIRGE coalition, the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), the Latin America Better Without FTAs Platform, the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of State Workers (CLATE), and Front Line Defenders.

“When we shared what we are experiencing here in Las Naves, within a short time, hundreds of organizations from around the world expressed their serious concern about the violence and criminalization we are suffering. This means that we are not alone and that the world recognizes the violations of our rights by the Ecuadorian state, which, instead of protecting the people, backs large companies”, Napoleón Yunapanta, Selva Alegre community, Las Naves district.

This criminalization and violence is occurring while Ecuador and Canada seek to ratify a free trade agreement that has been denounced both in Canada and in Ecuador by affected communities and Ecuadorian and Canadian civil society organizations.

“A Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ecuador will only increase Canadian mining investment in the country, and with it, the violence in territories such as Las Naves. Economic interests cannot be placed above the protection of environmental defenders. Canada must prioritize their safety and implement the Voices at Risk guidelines for environmental defenders." Viviana Herrera, MiningWatch Canada

A copy of the letter and the complete list of signatories is available online here.

For more information or to set up interviews with mining-affected communities in Las Naves, contact:

Cecilia Chérrez, Acción Ecológica, semilla@accionecologica.org , +593 99 970 9525 (Spanish)

Emily Conrad, Proyecto Dulcepamba, emilyconrad16@gmail.com, +1 301 580 3295 (WhatsApp) 

Viviana Herrera, Mining Watch Canada, viviana@miningwatch.ca , +1 438 993 1264