Darwin Javier Ramírez Piedra
Darwin Javier Ramírez Piedra is President of the community of Junín, in the region of Intag in northern Ecuador. He works to promote environmental rights and to protect human rights connected to environmental issues, such as land rights and the right to water. He has been a leader of the opposition to mining within the Intag region, in particular the Lurimagua mining project, directed by Ecuador's National Mining Company (ENAMI).
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.
