Indian anti-mining activists claim harassment
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The lands of the Shuar Indians in the Amazon are rich in wildlife such as tapirs, toucans and red howler monkeys. They also hold treasures more coveted by outsiders: rich deposits of copper and other minerals that the government is eager to cash in on.
Projects to build open pit mines that would rip into their forest-covered hills have spawned a protest movement that sets leaders of the ethnic group against the country's popular president, Rafael Correa, who says development is essential to the future of this nation's 14 million people.
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He is among at least 205 activists who have been criminally charged, mostly with sabotage and terrorism, during Correa's tenure, according to a study by two human rights groups and an environmental group.
Typically jailed for a week or so, the activists then face lengthy legal battles. All but 16 have been cleared, the study found, and none has yet been convicted.
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