Amnesty International calls on Ecuador to act as sanctions against Yasuní defenders highlight civic space deterioration

Amnesty International on Thursday has called on Ecuadorian authorities to drop all legal and financial penalties against activists behind the 2023 Yasuní Referendum, warning that the looming fines are part of a broader crackdown on civic space and environmental dissent in the country. In commenting on the importance of defending environmental activists from state retaliation, Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director stated: Three years ago, millions of people made history by voting to protect Yasuní. Today, those who dedicated years of their lives to securing the park’s protection are facing fines of $18,000. This is clear harassment of civil society. The Yasuní Referendum was a statewide initiative to require oil drilling to end in Yasuní National Park. The park is said to be one of the most biologically diverse places on earth and home to a number of uncontacted indigenous tribes, as well as an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of crude oil. In 2007, the Yasuní-ITT Initiative was launched as an appeal to the international community for $3.6 billion in return for preventing oil extraction in the region. The efforts failed and in 2016 oil drilling began. However, due to the efforts of indigenous communities and civil society organizations, most crucially YASunidos, the Yasuní Referendum was held which resulted in an overwhelming majority voting to end oil extraction within a year. This result was celebrated across the world and was hailed one of Latin America’s most formidable victories in the fight against climate change. Since the vote, oil drilling has continued uninterrupted and in 2025 Ecuadorian election authorities launched proceedings against YASunidos over the financing of their campaign and a 39 cent discrepancy in their finance records. $18,000 in fines have been levied against the organization, but YASunidos has challenged this decision in Ecuador’s constitutional court. This marks the latest chapter in a long pattern of President Noboa’s attack on civil society organizations. He has previously rolled back rights, levied fines, and stigmatized civil society and humans rights groups, which critics say have had a chilling effect on the NGO culture within the country. Amnesty International is pressing President Noboa to restore full legal protections for NGOs and respect the democratic mandate of the Referendum, calling it a non-negotiable test of democratic integrity.