PHM-Exch> ECUADOR: Health status of fellow activists who have been criminalized

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Maria Zuniga <mhamlin at phmovement.org>

ECUADOR:  Health status of fellow activists who have been criminalized in
Nabón – Ecuador. REPORT OF THE HEALTH STATUS OF CRIMINALIZED ACTIVISTS IN
COCHAPATA PARRISH, NABÓN, AZUAY-ECUADOR


   Video:  Health status report, 7 criminalized activists in Cochapata,
Nabón, Azuay, Ecuador, june 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuQ59mabMXg


HEALTH SCIENCES DEPARTMENT.  CUENCA UNIVERSITY.  PEOPLE´S HEALTH MOVEMENT –
LATIN AMERICA.   ACCION ECOLOGICA. In 2006, 7 members of the Cochapata
community were acused of sabotage by the Ecuadorian State Prosecution.  They
were accused for allegedly vandalizing the Explorsur S.A. Company which is
part of the Eljuri economic group.  In 2008, those 7 community members along
with others social movement members accused of sabotage and terrorism,
received amnesty from the National Constituent Assembly.  Nevertheless, the
justice system in the Azuay province did not accept this ruling. The case of
the 7 community members criminalized in Cochapata continued  and ended in a
sentence in 2010.  During this period those 7 people have remained as
clandestines while their families have fought for their freedom based on the
right to resistance, enshrined in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution. The
“criminalization of the struggle” figure has been established in Ecuador a
while ago.  By 2011, 189 members of social, ecological, native people´s
organizations are persecuted for defending land and water.  This fact is
unthinkable in a State whose Constitution was the first to have Nature
Rights.


The Medical Sciences Department of the Cuenca University, PHM – LA and
Acción Ecológica; in line with their commitment with communities affected by
social-environmental conflicts, and in the framework of the resolutions and
agreements of the “Continental Meeting of the Abya Yala Peoples for Water
and the Pacha Mama (Cuenca, june/2011)”; declare the urgency to assess the
health status of these members of the Cochapata parrish, sentenced to 8
years imprisonment.


A team of health professionals and faculty members of the Medical Sciences
Department of the Cuenca University; assessed the physical, mental and
social status of the criminalized fellow activists in Cochapata. From a
science and technical view, the activity aimed to: -support the
environmental and social justice struggle of the communities - establish
monitoring processes of health and environmental problems and -stimulate the
generation, use and exchange regarding social determinants of health and
environment.    Fellow criminalized activist whose health status was
evaluated: Celso Patiño Quezada (Political Chief – Local justice authority),
Luis Martín Mora (Irrigation and potable water leader), Plutarco Patiño
Patiño (Nabón´s Councillor); Vinicio Jaya Quezada (Nabón´s Councillor);
Rodrigo de los Ángeles San Martín (President of Parrish government); Manuel
Capelo Herráez, (President of the Credit Commission of Jardín Azuayo),
Segundo San Martín Mora (Irrigation and Potable Water Leader) Results: As a
result of the assessment/ analysis from a social, family and community
context, the team concluded:


1.      Criminalization in the midst of dispossession and the terror theory
have been implemented in Nabón to legitimize criminalization of community
leaders.  Nevertheless, the community support system in Cochapata is a
symbol of resistance, even when life can not be normal in the midst of an
authoritarian and repressive regime.   *"... Ever since the Meeting of the
Abya Yala Peoples in Cuenca, we are subject of persecution. This last Friday
two men who refused to identify themselves and who were foreigners called
the attention of our fellow community members and one of them was caught and
handed to the Nabón police (around 10 pm at night ) ... "*
     2. Environmental and social discrimination: violation of the right to
health. Discrimination practices are imbeded in social and environmental
areas. It is necessary to promote an ecosystemic approach to health. The
economy, the environment and the needs of the community affect the ecosystem
health.  The reconstruction of the right to health for the criminalized
members, their families and their community, requires social and
environmental justice fullfillment.  Thus, loss of individual health is only
a symptomatic expression of an autocratic regime that condemns social
protest and who understands social participation as a mere vertical
formalism.
 “*......Previously, a double cab truck arrived at the house of fellow
community members Sanmartín Mora, and has repressed them with bullets, but
they were not affected. **Last Monday night some people said they were
passing through my house (it is hard to live with- this uncertainty- and we
can not tolerate it more) .....these owners of economic power have said they
will have revenge with our children ... Then there is no freedom even for
them [our children] **and we have to keep an eye on them everyday. Now we do
not know what will happen, when, how, what we should do, we have nowhere to
move, nowhere to go to avoid being targeted every day. My husband is in bad
shape, he had prostate problems and he can not go to see a doctor, now he
has constant headaches and I fear he will have a stroke, so... this I am
telling you, we are pretty bad ... "*
    Health alterations are present in the community, family and individual
level. In the community and household/ family level, there are profound
mental health alterations due to the repression and criminalization
processes. In the individual health level, we must start by denouncing the
inhuman social and environmental conditions in which these seven
criminalized members of the Cochapata community are living. They are
currently living as nomads in the midst of harmful weather conditions and,
furthermore, they are forced to absolute isolation, which results in their
physical and mental health deterioration.
The following are shared elements: the experience of terror against the
imprisonment order, the exclusive and traumatic focus on the possibility of
capture, sleep deprivation, starvation, apathy and suicidal ideation. The
physical health of the 7 fellow community members evaluated is affected.
 Everyone has lost weight - between 10 and 20 kg -; several require
especialized exams, medical control and care. Regarding mental health, all
the patients evaluated present severe mental suffering, and probable anxiety
and depression. Furthermore, two patients present severe deterioration of
their cognitive status and there is one with a possible pathology.
Fellow community members and their families requiere sustained psychological
support. In these context, the three aforementioned institutions, left a
written record of the severity of the physical and mental health conditions;
along with the inhumane conditions in which the seven criminalized Cochapata
members are living.  We further made the Ecuadorian Government responsible
for the health and the life of the criminalized partners and demand the
Government to take immediate action for the restitution of the right to
health and life of the criminalized members.
We express our support to our partners who have been criminalized for
defending their territories and the rights of nature; we know that an
autocratic regime demands - more than ever- the union and the organization
of all social movements, groups, institutions and citizens who believe in
the possibility of building a common project in solidarity; a project in
which the balance of human-nature relationships is built based on respect
for the biophysical limits and the restoration of the health of ecosystems
as an expression of collective health.


Testimonials
*"... It's too cold ... you can not sleep ... you are just thinking .... One
is afraid for them to come and take us .. we live in expectation ... "* *"...
I have waves of fear ... when outside people come ... One tries to stay
active, to keep reading .... But here there is not much to do ... There are
nights when you do not sleep, everything comes to mind ... "*


*"... Sometimes I cry, it's very hard to be like this ... I think about my
wife, my children, my mother ... everyone is suffering ... I am a peson who
was popular, I'm a national tequila producer.. My dream was to make a
tequila factory ... so now I have bad ideas ...of not wanting to live ...
When they said we have the possibility of amnesty, I regained hope ... "*
 "... After the accident and that they took me during the elections, I have
anxiety ... depression ... I sleep maximum 2 hours at night ... Even when I
try to go to sleep very late, I wake up in two hours ... I have tried to
control myself but ever since I was arrested during the elections, I can not
relax. It is an unjust story, what we are going through, without any fault
we're in this legal process ... "

 "...I have headache, stomach pain that feels like wanting to vomit ... My
pressure is up and down, right now I have high blood pressure, I had to
undergo prostate surgery but now what, ... and sometimes not I can not pee
... "

 "... And now how can I be like this ... sometimes I would rather be dead
... I am really angry... sometimes I can not stand it anymore... But then I
realize that I have to live for my people ... "
"... Rather than unjustly go to jail I will prefer to die ..."

 "... Psychologically one is done, ended, we really feel bad ... Imagine
yourself, we've been apart during father day, mother day ... My son was
about to be thrown out of school ... and imagine yourself as a parent who
can not help" "I have dizziness ... I feel like my head will explode .. and
cold ... so much cold ... "
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