Luis Caiza
Luis Caiza es dirigente comunitario indígena de la nacionalidad Kichwa y defensor de los derechos humanos y de la naturaleza de la parroquia San Luis de Pambil del cantón Guaranda, provincia Bolívar de Ecuador.
Desde 2007, Luis ha participado en la resistencia pacífica de las comunidades indígenas y campesinas de la provincia Bolívar contra la empresa minera canadiense Curimining, subsidiaria de las compañías canadienses Adventus Mining Corporation y Salazar Resources Corporation.
Debido a su labor constante de defensa del derecho de su comunidad a la consulta previa, libre e informada, ha sido condenado a prisión en marzo de 2024 por el delito de asociación ilícita a pesar de la falta de evidencias sólidas en su contra, lo cual ha limitado su trabajo de defensa y afectado sus esferas públicas y privadas.
Human rights defenders have been victims of a wide range of violations in Ecuador, such as police brutality, judicial harassment, arbitrary detentions, smear campaigns, threats, harassment and the oppression of indigenous and campesino communities. Recent incidents have shown that the situation for human rights defenders in Ecuador is precarious. Throughout the month of August 2015 thousands of people gathered in different parts of the country to protest against President Correa's proposed amendments to the constitution that would allow him to run for re-election indefinitely. During this demonstration, many HRDs were detained and beaten by the police.
