The criminal trial hearing against Furukawa Plantaciones CA del Ecuador—a Japanese company—and three executives will begin next Thursday, April 18, 2024, before the Criminal Guarantees Court of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. This trial results from a call to trial presented by the State Attorney General's Office more than a year ago.
One of the abaca workers told us that the general manager of Furukawa Plantations, who had never visited these haciendas before, had told them, “ Why don’t we talk and negotiate right away? Nothing will happen at this meeting. You are just wasting your time.”
The Furukawa officials in the spotlight are Marcelo A., who served as the company's manager and president; Paúl B., head of human resources; and Hugo Ch., a board of directors member. All three will be tried for their alleged involvement in the crime of labor trafficking, including child labor.
It is worth mentioning that in January 2023, the case against Iván S., former field manager, and Adrián H., current manager, was dismissed. Prosecutor María Susana Rodríguez and the Private Prosecutors appealed this decision. However, all the Provincial Court of Justice judges of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas declined to hear the appeal, making the dismissal final by operation of law. Consequently, both executives mentioned above were acquitted of criminal liability.
Nevertheless, the criminal trial against the company and its officials is a historic event in the fight for the rights of abaca workers. Furukawa and three of its executives could be sentenced for systematically violating the human dignity of hundreds of people, many of them of African descent, by subjecting them to inhuman living conditions and labor exploitation, which amounts to a modern form of slavery.
As the Furukawa Never Again Solidarity Committee, we emphasize the importance of the trial hearing in obtaining a judicial decision that sanctions and does not leave these acts in impunity. We call on human rights organizations and the media to pay close attention to the decisions taken by the court in this emblematic case.
NO MORE IMPUNITY. THE ABACALEROS ARE EXPECTING COMPREHENSIVE AND TRANSFORMATIVE REPARATION!
PRESS CONTACT
For contact with the Furukawa Never Again Solidarity Committee +593 99 931 1384
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