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