ECUADOR ARRESTS U.S. CITIZEN ENVIRONMENTALIST FORCOMBATING

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001779 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2017 TAGS: SENV EFIS CASC PHSA PGOV SUBJECT: ECUADOR ARRESTS U.S. CITIZEN ENVIRONMENTALIST FORCOMBATING SHARK FIN TRAFFIC REF: QUITO 1680 Classified By: ChargQ d'Affaires Jefferson T. Brown, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary: On August 4 Ecuadorian immigration police arrested U.S. citizen Sean O'Hearn, Country Director of the environmentalist group Sea Shepherd, revoked his visa and issued an order for his immediate deportation. O'Hearn was charged with "crimes against Ecuadorian sovereignty" for his organization's cooperation with Ecuadorian environmental police in the arrest of shark fin traffickers (reftel). That same day President Correa called O'Hearn's activities in Ecuador interference by "gringuitos." On August 5, Minister of Government Gustavo Larrea stopped the deportation and restored O'Hearn's visa. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) After an August 1 police raid that captured two tons of shark fins in houses in Manta on the Ecuadorian coast, shark fin trafficker Alcira Fuente Sanchez (one of those arrested in the raid) filed a police report against OQ,Hearn, who had provided information to support the raid. According to OQ,Hearn, all charges against Fuente Sanchez were later dropped and her shark fins were returned. The provincial governor of Manabi pursued the complaint and requested the revocation of O'Hearn's amparo visa (a visa granting indefinite residence to spouses of Ecuadorian citizens) O'Hearn's wife is Ecuadorian and his child was born here. O'Hearn grew up in Puerto Rico and had lived mostly in Ecuador in recent years). In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 4, immigration police arrested and detained O'Hearn until late on August 5. Subsequent to the arrest, President Rafael Correa declared in his Saturday radio address "we will not allow gringuitos from Sea Shepherd or anywhere else to pursue our fishermen like criminals." Correa was apparently unaware of O'Hearn's familial Ecuadorian ties. The next evening, Minister of Government Gustavo Larrea canceled O'Hearn's deportation and released him. ¶3. (U) The Embassy duty officer visited O'Hearn while he was being detained and confirmed that he was not mistreated, although the police denied access to Sea Shepherd's lawyer, who was present, and instead assigned O'Hearn a public defender. ¶4. (SBU) O'Hearn told econoff that over the last three months he has received multiple death threats from credible sources. Sea Shepherd has been collaborating closely with the environmental police to share information about alleged traffickers, and in early July signed a five-year training and logistical support agreement (reftel),which other elements of the GOE -- especially the military, have subsequently criticized. It is not clear whether Minister of Government Larrea was aware of the agreement, although he is reportedly the personal friend of one of Sea Shepherd's staff. O'Hearn told the press that Larrea told him that neither Larrea nor President Correa "knew of his situation in Ecuador," notably that he has an Ecuadorian wife and child, and that on that basis Larrea would restore his visa. While Larrea reportedly assured O'Hearn that Sea Shepherd's agreement with the police would remain in place, on August 7 he announced that the agreement was canceled. ¶5. (U) O'Hearn's arrest, deportation threat and subsequent release were lead stories in Ecuadorian print and TV media for both Sunday, Monday and today. In TV interviews on August 7, his wife reported that O'Hearn remained in hiding. The same day, O'Hearn confirmed to econoff that he had finally received his personal and travel documents back from the GOE. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: O'Hearn was pulled, in a most unfortunate manner, into what has become an embarrassing mess for the Correa administration. The press had already been critical of Correa's July 19 decree legalizing incidental shark catch, reporting a large increase in the number of sharks caught and fins seized. We do not know if Correa or Larrea had approved the deportation order, but Correa's comments on his weekly radio show certainly give the impression that Correa endorsed the action. The media immediately jumped on the opportunity to report the mishandling of the whole episode. Meanwhile, O'Hearn has told the Embassy that he plans to temporarily leave Ecuador since he is mentally worn out, although he plans to return to Ecuador. End comment. BROWN