The Court evidenced a chain of serious effects on the community and individual ways of life of the Awá people.
The Constitutional Court made a momentous decision to protect the rights of the Awá peoplewho lives in the municipalities of Barbecues and Tumacoin Nariño.
The high court ordered a series of measures after confirming that at least 20 indigenous reservations of the Association of Traditional Authorities of the Awá People (UNIPA) were affected by the contamination with crude oil in its territory, in the context of the operation of the transandean oil pipeline.
The reservations presented a guardianship action against the company Cenit SASsubsidiary of Ecopetrol SAand other entities, arguing the violation of their fundamental rights due to the oil spills generated by damage to the pipeline. According to the Court, these damages are not incidental, but rather the result of recurrent attacks and perforationsmany of them attributed to illegal armed groups and illicit economies that operate in the area.
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The high court determined that the breakdown of the oil infrastructure has caused the dumping of crude oil into water sources and in vital ecosystems for communities, directly affecting their right to drinking water and the integrity of ancestral territory.
In its analysis, the Court also drew attention to the lack of environmental licensing of the pipeline, which – according to the ruling – prevented environmental authorities from knowing precisely the impacts of the operation on the Awá people and other neighboring communities.
As part of the decision, the Court ordered the temporary suspension of the operation of the trans-Andean oil pipeline until adequate safety and environmental control conditions are guaranteed. Furthermore, he demanded that the State and the companies involved to ensure access to drinking water for the affected reservations and will adopt effective prevention, mitigation, restoration and compensation actions of the environmental and social damage caused.
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Finally, the Court called on the National Government to adjust public standards and policies on environmental licensingespecially in regions plagued by armed conflict, where energy infrastructure can exacerbate risks to ethnic communities and the environment.
Source: Integrated Information System
