Ecuador apologizes to plantation workers who were exposed to ‘modern slavery’ conditions

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Ecuador's government issued a public apology on Saturday to a group of plantation workers who were subjected to slave-like conditions according to a ruling issued last year by the country's Constitutional Court.

In an event held near the presidential palace in Quito, various members of Ecuador's Cabinet recognized that more than 300 workers of a Japanese-owned abaca plantation were forced to live in conditions of "modern slavery" with Labor Minister Ivone Nuñez pledging that Ecuador will strive to "build a state that guarantees the human rights of workers."

The apology issued by government officials is one of the reparation measures ordered by the court last year.

In the ruling, the Constitutional Court determined that between 1963 and 2019 workers of the Japanese company Furukawa were forced to live in dormitories without basic services at a plantation in western Ecuador, where accidents were common due to the lack of safety training.

Former employees of Furukawa attended Saturday's ceremony along with their lawyers, who have accused the company of not paying reparations to the workers who were affected by the harsh conditions at its plantation in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas province.

Furukawa representatives were not immediately available for comment. The company changed owners in 2014, and it has said that conditions have changed since then. Furukawa has also asked Ecuador's government to lift a ban on the sale of its properties in Ecuador so that it can pay reparations to workers.

The abaca plant, which is also known as manila hemp, is used to make specialty papers, ropes and fishing nets. The plant resembles a banana plant, but its fruits are not edible.

Ecuador is the world's largest exporter of bananas and is also among a handful of countries that produces large quantities of abaca,