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12 December 2011 | Interviews | Human rights | Extractive industries
Consultation is a Right
Miguel Palacin (CAOI): The communities’ right to consultation is above extractive projects
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General Coordinator of the Andean Coordination of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI), Miguel Palacin, said in Ecuador that internationally recognized indigenous peoples rights imply that any kind of mining or oil exploitation should go through a prior free and informed consultation process.
Sonorama radio station interviewed Palacin in his visit to Ecuador, we took some of the main excerpts of the interview.
The Andean leader felt sorry about the violation of the communities right to consultation on extractive projects in several countries with indigenous population.
“Rights are not negotiated, they are demanded and enforced”, said Palacin. He mentioned that this issue is being discussed in a Workshop called “The right to previous free and informed consultation and consent: reach and challenges”, held at the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, in early December.
The main concept of this right is contemplated under Resolution 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Palacin said that the consultation carried out in communities that would be affected by gold exploitation in Quimsacocha lagoons, to the South of Ecuador, resulted in a strong rejection to gold exploitation, but the project is still underway.
