Corruption in Ecuador accused Ecuador of violating the due process of 27 Supreme Court justices dismissed by Congress in 2004. In 2015, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) stated that “judicial independence is seriously compromised” in Ecuador. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in 2014 that an $18 billion pollution judgment against Chevron by an Ecuadoran court in 2011 had been the product of corruption. Attorney Steven Donziger and his legal team, according to Kaplan, had “used bribery, fraud and extortion” to win the case for his clients, a group of Ecuadoran villagers. Evidence showed that the ruling issued by Ecuadoran judge Nicolas Zambrano
Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin cultivate mutual collaboration between all Indigenous peoples of the region, and to promote the cultural vindication of its members. Some of the initiatives that COICA has been able to accomplish include allowing indigenous peoples to be educated in their native languages and the foundation of an Amazon Indigenous University. Accomplishments such as these have encouraged the revitalization of traditional cultures. In 1993, COICA’s headquarters was permanently relocated to Quito, Ecuador. Here the organization has received legal recognition by the Ecuadorian state. Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA)