Ecuador A’i Cofán of Sinangoe Indigenous Law

Summary

In May 2017, the General Assembly of the Sinangoe Community adopted the Law for the Control and Protection of the Ancestral Territory of the Sinangoe Community of the A’i Cofán Nationality. The Law recognizes that the “territory is alive, it is sacred; the good spirits that help us heal live here.” The Law also describes how the survival of the A’i Cofán People is related to the protection of the land, as the Law aims to “guarantee the healthy and harmonious survival of the A’i People, and our close and significant relationship with our territory, considered a living being.” After establishing the territory as a living being with deep spiritual significance to the A’i Cofán People, the Law prohibits mining activities, fishing activities, hunting activities by individuals outside the Sinangoe community.

The Law is grounded in the Constitution of Ecuador, which establishes the collective rights of indigenous communities; the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169; the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and the Community’s law on the right to self-determination.

Since its adoption in 2017, the Law has been used in litigation against Ecuadorian agencies that have unlawfully granted mining concessions in the ancestral territory of the Sinangoe Community. The lawsuits have been successful in preventing mining activities in accordance with the Law of the A’i Cofán People.