Ecuador: Amnesty International report on human rights

Background
Six police officers were found guilty in July of crimes against state security following police protests over pay cuts in September 2010. In May President Correa narrowly won a 10-question referendum, which included a proposal to reform the judicial system as well as to regulate the media.
In February, an Ecuadorian court fined the oil company Chevron US$18 billion for widespread contamination of the Amazon basin. An appeal by Chevron was pending at the end of the year.
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Indigenous Peoples’ rights
In July, Ecuador appeared before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights accused of failing to respect the right of the Indigenous Kichwa community of Sarayaku to be consulted and to give free, prior and informed consent before permissions for oil exploration on traditional lands were granted in 1996. At the end of the year a decision by the Court remained pending.
In October, the executive issued a decree authorizing the military to intervene in Chone city, Manabí province, where Indigenous communities were protesting against the construction of a dam that could lead to the forced eviction of around 1,700 families. The following day, hundreds of police entered the area, destroying farmland with tractors. One person was injured. Protests eventually resumed and three days later, four people were injured during operations to remove the protesters. Read Article