Lina Maria Espinosa
Lina Maria Espinosa is a human rights lawyer, in particular for indigenous peoples' rights and the defence of land and territory, she is a member of the organization Amazon Frontlines and one of the founders of the Alianza de Derechos Humanos del Ecuador, a human rights coalition of fifteen organisations. For almost a decade as part of her work, she has accompanied indigenous peoples in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru and has litigated emblematic lawsuits on behalf of indigenous peoples threatened by extractive industries in the Amazon rainforest. Over the last few years Lina has received several threats that could be linked to her human rights advocac
While the new Constitution promulgated in 2008 contained clauses referring to the environment and its protection, over the last couple of years, the government has permitted multinational corporations to enter and exploit oil and gas reserves to the detriment and devastation of the environment and indigenous communities. HRDs working to protect the environment increasingly find themselves targeted and in need of protection.
