C-CONDEM demands prohibition of electric fences and the repeal of gun permits for the shrimp industry
After
the death of a new crab gather in the province of El Oro recently, the
C-CONDEM requires government authorities to ban electrification of
fences in mangrove areas and the repeal of permits to carry weapons for the shrimp industry.
the death of a new crab gather in the province of El Oro recently, the
C-CONDEM requires government authorities to ban electrification of
fences in mangrove areas and the repeal of permits to carry weapons for the shrimp industry.
On
Monday, members of the C-CONDEM with a large representation of
community members from various mangrove areas of the five coastal
provinces, met with Minister Javier Ponce to document the various acts
of violence involving the shrimp farm industry in mangrove areas.
Minister had occasion to hear the talk of widows and families of
victims, as local villagers have been killed by gunshot wounds, torn by
dogs or electrocuted on electric fences on their way to perform their
tasks of shellfish collecting, crabbing or performing fishing activities.
Communities
living in mangrove areas reported to the highest authority MAGAP as in many
cases, community roads that have been historically used by the
inhabitants to reach harvesting areas and fishing areas where they claim their
food sovereignty, are being illegally fenced and closed by the shrimp industry. The
forced entry into mangrove areas that the shrimp fatm industry has
conducted for decades goes against Presidential Decree 1391, by which
illegal land
occupation in mangrove areas is forbidden. Yet, the fact that these
violations by the shrimp industry are being regularized, is exacerbating
violence against communities. Certain shrimp farmers are even
considered owners of the lands and environments adjacent to their farms, closing roads, mudflats, estuaries and areas of wetlands.
The
crabber who died, Heriberto Antonio Zambrano
Basurto, lived in the province of El Oro. This incident occrred at the
same farm where four years prior a crabber was mauled and killed by the
shrimp farm’s guard dogs.
The
C-CONDEM demands that government authorities require compliance with the
regulations in force concerning human rights for Mangrove Ecosystem
Ancestral Peoples, and that the government prohibit electric fences in
mangrove areas and that the government sanction the shrimp farmers that violate this prohibition, withdraw the shrimp industry’s right to bear arms by removing their licences. They also demand
the cessation of land dispossession in the Mangrove Ecosystem
and resolution of the issues that are still unresolved before further
unjust displacement of the mangrove communities due to the illicit
activity of
the shrimp industry.