Margoth Escobar

Escobar was accused of assaulting the director of Belorusneft, Andrey Nikonov, and was summoned by the prosecutor's office in 2014, accused of sabotage and terrorism.^[2]

On 13 August 2015, Escobar was beaten and arrested following a general strike and demonstration in Puyo, which had been organized by the union of trade workers and indigenous organizations including Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador – Conaie (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador). The demonstrations called for agrarian reform, better access to health services, opposition to mining development, a free trade agreement with the European Union, and opposition to a proposed amendment of the Constitution of Ecuador that would have allowed President Rafael Correa to be re-elected indefinitely. A judge ruled that she should remain in preventative detention for 30 days, to stop her from disturbing the peace.^[4] In December 2015 the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.^[2]

Margoth's home was destroyed by arson^[5] on September 29, 2018.^[6] The house had been a meeting place for Mujeres Amazónicas,^[2] the Amazon Women's collective, of which she is a member.^[5] Also known as Colectivo de Mujeres Amazonicas,^[6] the largely indigenous group defends the Ecuadorian Amazon.^[5]

Other Mujeres Amazónicas members Nema Grefa, Patricia Gualinga, and Salomé Aranda, had also been attacked and threatened,^[7] and the group, in conjunction with Amnesty International, collected and delivered over 250,000 signatures to the Attorney General of Ecuador demanding progress in the stalled investigations.^[2] The signatures were delivered on 9 March 2015.^[8]