People's Tribunal against the Criminalization of Protest in Ecuador http://upsidedownworld.org/main/ecuador-archives-49/3099-peoples-tribunal-against-the-criminalization-of-protest-in-ecuador

For this reason, one of the main objectives of this conference was to expose these kind of cases, thus exemplifying the ongoing criminalization of protest in Ecuador. An integral part of the conference was a Court of Ethics that analyzed "the criminalization of defenders of human rights and nature." This people’s court took place on Wednesday, June 22, with the presence a jury of four international authorities: Elsie Monge (Ecumenical Commission of Human Rights, CEDHU, Ecuador), Raul Zibechi (writer and journalist, Uruguay), Leah Isabel Alvear (poet and academic, Colombia),

and Mary Hamlin (International Movement for People’s Health). They listened to more than four hours of testimonies and 17 cases of people accused of terrorism."Democracy can only be guaranteed when citizens are guaranteed their rights to protest and resistance," testified Ramiro Avila, a lawyer and professor at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. "These laws are being used to suppress protest and should be immediately repealed." Avila explained that the law under which the right to protest is criminalized in Ecuador dates back to the early republic, based on the Penal Code of 1920.

[I SIDE WITH RIGHT TO PROTEST,THE DANGER HOWEVER,IS WHEN ENVIROMENTAL GROUPS,START TAKING CUES AND ALIGNING WITH US SPONSORED AND FUNDED NGO'S WICH ALSO HAS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT...AS LONG AS ITS DOMESTIC AND NOT MANIPULATED THRU OUTSIDE INFLUENCE SUCH AND IMPERIAL NORTH,THEN THOSE RIGHTS TO PROTEST HAVE TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AND CONSIDERED...