Amazon Defense Coalition

Organisation profile

The Amazon Defense Coalition, (Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia – “FDA”)  is a part of a regional, national and global struggle for environmental and collective rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It consists of a group of Amazonian grassroots organizations and communities who have joined to defend and sustain peoples and environment through unification of their forces and the integration of the entire Ecuadorian Amazon.

It is currently involved in litigating against Chevron Oil in an Ecuadorian court for its devastating pollution and contamination of the Amazon region which affected 30,000 indigenous rainforest residents. The contamination of water and soil has made it virtually impossible for the indigenous peoples to survive, drastically impacting their health. Land acquisition and contamination has seen one of the five indigenous groups that inhabited the land disappear, and the other four groups forced to live on 5% of the land they used to. The case is potentially the biggest environmental litigation ever brought against a multi-national corporation and involves a number of human rights and tort claims in an effort to secure a remedy for human rights abuse victims.

For more information about the Amazon Defense Coalition, visit their website at www.texacotoxico.org/eng/

Intern Profile

A decision in the case is expected towards the end of the year and interns will most likely be involved in preparing documents relating to final judgment and possible appeals, as well as exploring enforcement actions in other countries. Additionally further actions are being contemplated and interns may be involved in the investigation and research into these areas. The internship is sure to provide students with hands on experience in the issues involved in litigating such human rights violations.

Former ADF intern Nick Moodie has summed up his experience as an intern: “I've been given an insight into the enormity of the task confronting the indigenous litigants- using toxic tort litigation in local courts in order to hold a massive corporation accountable for human rights violations.”

Eligibility criteria

Please click here for the eligibility criteria.

Selection Criteria

The following selection criteria will be taken into account by the Castan Centre in choosing the intern and applicants are advised to directly address each criterion in the personal statement.

• Particular interest in the work currently being undertaken by the FDA and ESC rights generally;
• A demonstrated interest in human rights as shown through your practical or academic experiences;
• The ability to work independently;
• Strong academic record, in particular marks received in human rights and other relevant subjects;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Fluency in Spanish will be an advantage though not required.

Application process

This internship is part of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law's Global Internship Program.  For full details of the application process, go to the Global Internship homepage.

Equity grants

The Student Mobility Fund (SMF) has been developed to provide financial assistance for faculty internship programs to those students who can demonstrate financial hardship. 

Contact information

If you would like further information about this internship please contact:

Forms

Global Internship Application Form

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