The Intag Solidarity Network-USA makes the following special call for action to help defend the rights of Carlos Zorrilla and his family.
We request that you both email and call the Ecuadorian Embassy in Washington, DC in order to express your concern about the violation of the civil and human rights of the Zorrilla family, as well as Roberto Castro, a neighbor and employee of the Zorrilla family.
Carlos Zorrilla is long term resident of Intag region. He is a dedicated environmentalist, a person who passionately believes in the ability of humans to co-exist in a sustainable fashion with the environment. Carlos Zorrilla is the co-founder of DECOIN. He has dedicated his life to the struggle against mining in Intag region. His work has provoked a continuous pattern of threats and intimidation on the part of those who favor mining. Since 2004, Ascendant Copper has targeted Carlos Zorrilla as the key person to remove from the struggle, mistakenly conflating grassroots resistance with the actions of a few "extremists." Ascendant has labeled Carlos an "eco-terrorist," and "extremist," and has made slanderous allegations that Carlos is a criminal.
We request that you focus your statement of concern on the questionable actions of the Ecuadorian state in carrying out the raid on the Zorrilla property. We encourage you to denounce the false charges made by Leslie Brooke Chaplin, and we ask that you request that the Ecuadorian state investigate the relationship between Leslie Brooke Chaplin and Ascendant Copper. Please assert that it is your view that Ascendant Copper is the cause of conflict in Intag region, and you are concerned that the company’s presence will continue to provoke human rights violations. You can assert that Ascendant Copper is doing serious damage to the good reputation that Ecuador enjoys among United States citizens, especially as a tourist destination.
Here are the facts as we know them.
– At 6:15AM on October 17, a group of between 11 and 20 armed police officials raided the property of the Zorrilla family, located in the community of Santa Rosa, Cotacachi county, Imbaburra province.
– Eyewitnesses in Santa Rosa (about 45 minute walk to the Zorrilla property) state that the police arrived in the community in 4 vehicles, each without license plates and lacking official markings.
– Two of the police officers were wearing ski masks.
– Officers shouted at and pushed Martín Zorrilla, the 15 year old son of Carlos Zorrilla and Sandra Statz.
– After nearly an hour long search of the property, during which time the office of Carlos Zorrilla was ransacked, the police officials "discovered" a gun and a bag of marijuana. The gun was "discovered" in the room of Martín Zorrilla.
– The police officers presented papers they claimed to be warrants, but the Zorrilla family alleges that the officers would not allow them to inspect the warrants.
– There was no warrant for the raid of Roberto Castro’s house.
– Lawyers for Carlos Zorrilla have discovered that the police warrant resulted from an accusation made by a United States citizen Leslie Brooke Chaplin, who filed charges of theft against Carlos Zorrilla on August 23, 2006 for an event that happened on July 13, 2006.
– The event that Ms. Chaplin charges Carlos Zorrilla of theft was the march in Quito carried out by people from Intag who are in opposition to mining. Multiple witnesses have identified Ms. Chaplin as a person who was handing out pro-mining propaganda during the march.
– Leslie Brooke Chaplin has subsequently left Ecuador. She was out of the country by the time of the police raid on the Zorrilla family property.
– Mr. Zorrilla’s lawyers have discovered that while Mr. Zorrilla was appointed a lawyer by the Ecuadorian state, he was never notified by the Ecuadorian state that a lawyer had been appointed to represent him. Before the police raid, the Zorrilla family had zero knowledge of the charges made against him by Leslie Brooke Chaplin.
– The police raid happened one day after Ecuadorian courts declared 5 people charged with arson (burning of the Ascendant Farm in December 2005) not guilty.
– Those charged are members of the resistance against Ascendant Copper.
– At this point, Intag Solidarity Network is not directly claiming Ascendant Copper hired Leslie Brooke Chaplin to make false accusations against Carlos Zorrilla.
The respected Ecuadorian human rights organization, CEDHU, however, states in their press release of October 18, that it is "far more outrageous for our judicial and police institutions to be involved in such crooked moves against Intag residents, as eager pawns for the Ascendant Copper Corporation mining company, whose sole interest is to extract ore from the Intag zone, and make hefty profits any way they can, even if at the cost of the life, liberty, well-being and other fundamental rights of the Intag population and its leaders."
Here is the contact information for the Ecuadorian Embassy:
Mr. Raúl Gangotena
2535 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
Tel. (202)234 7200
Fax (202)667 3482
Web site: www.ecuador.org
email: embassy@ecuador.org