A/HRC/4/32/Add.2 page 20 74. The situation of indigenous peoples is particularly sensitive where the administration of justice and the efforts to harmonize the ordinary system of justice with the indigenous justice system recognized in the Constitution are concerned. 75. Available data indicate that, as a rule, more indigenous people live in poverty and extreme poverty, and meet fewer indicators of social and human development than other sectors of the population. In the inter-Andean corridors and the Andean heathlands, where demographic pressure on the land’s limited resources is greater, indigenous agricultural production and living conditions are precarious, causing growing emigration to the cities and abroad, a phenomenon that particularly affects indigenous communities. Indigenous women and children are particularly vulnerable in this process. 76. Ecuador has made important steps forward in bilingual intercultural education and in the application of an intercultural approach to indigenous health, but these programmes are still weak, as they have insufficient institutional underpinning and lack resources. International cooperation agencies and the United Nations are running some indigenous support programmes in these areas. 77. For some decades, the Ecuadorian economy has been highly dependent on oil exports. Oil operations are carried out primarily in indigenous territories, with negative effects on the environment and the communities’ living conditions. This situation has led to numerous conflicts between the State, oil companies and indigenous communities, who oppose the operations of these companies. Indigenous people are calling for the full application of their right to consent, through a process of free, prior and informed consultation. 78. Similar conditions govern the situation among Amazonian communities, which are confronted by the activities - sometimes illicit - of, among others, mining and logging companies and oil palm plantations. Among the indigenous nationalities on the northern border, this situation is further complicated by the aerial spraying of illicit crops, carried out in neighbouring Colombia under the auspices of Plan Colombia, which has negative effects on the Ecuadorian indigenous border populations. Some indigenous populations are living in voluntary isolation in the forest in these regions, and their situation is particularly worrying. Their survival and “untouchable” territory are threatened by such factors as pressure from illicit logging activities and the incursion of settlers. 79. The use of elements of the armed forces to secure the interests of oil, mining and logging companies operating in indigenous territories has triggered various abuses and complaints, and led to numerous incidents with the indigenous population, who complain of the militarization of their communal areas. 80. In March 2006, a large number of indigenous people suffered violations of their rights while protesting against the free trade treaty being negotiated by Ecuador with the United States of America. This led to the declaration of a state of emergency in some provinces and the disproportionate use of the police against the demonstrators.