CERD/C/106/D/61/2017 United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Distr.: General 26 July 2022 English Original: Spanish Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Opinion adopted by the Committee under article 14 of the Convention, concerning communication No. 61/2017*, ** Communication submitted by: Yaku Sacha Pérez Guartambel (not represented by counsel) Alleged victim: The petitioner State party: Ecuador Date of communication: 10 February 2017 (initial submission) Date of adoption of opinion: 28 April 2022 Document references: Decision taken pursuant to rule 91 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to the State party on 28 March 2017 (not issued in document form) Subject matter: Discrimination due to non-recognition of ancestral marriage Procedural issues: Exhaustion of domestic remedies; nonsubstantiation of claims Substantive issue: Discrimination on the grounds of national or ethnic origin Articles of the Convention: 1 (1), (2) and (4); 2 (1) (a) and (2); 5 (a) and (d) (iv); and 9 (1) 1.1 The petitioner is Yaku Sacha Pérez Guartambel, born on 26 February 1969. He is a national of Ecuador, a member of the Escaleras indigenous community belonging to the Kichwa Kañari people, the president of the Confederación de Pueblos de la Nacionalidad Kichwa del Ecuador and the general coordinator of the Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas. He claims that the State party has violated his rights under articles 1 (1), (2) and (4), 2 (1) (a) and (2), 5 (a) and (d) (iv), and 9 (1) of the Convention. The State party ratified the Convention in 1966 and made the declaration provided for in article 14 thereof on 18 March 1977. The petitioner is not represented by counsel. 1.2 The petitioner married Manuela Lavinas Picq, a journalist and professor of Brazilian and French nationality, on 21 August 2013 in the Escaleras indigenous community. The marriage was officiated by the traditional authorities of the Kichwa Kañari people of the * Adopted by the Committee at its 106th session (11–29 April 2022). ** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: Sheikha Abdulla Ali Al-Misnad, Noureddine Amir, Michal Balcerzak, Chinsung Chung, Bakari Sidiki Diaby, Régine Esseneme, Ibrahima Guissé, Gun Kut, Gay McDougall, Vadili Mohamed Rayess, Verene Albertha Shepherd, Stamatia Stavrinaki, Mazalo Tebie, Faith Dikeledi Pansy Tlakula, Eduardo Ernesto Vega Luna and Yeung Kam John Yeung Sik Yuen. GE.22-11683 (E) 300922 131022