I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION 1. The case submitted to the Court. On October 1, 2013, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) submitted to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights the case of the Punta Piedra Garifuna Community and its members against the Republic of Honduras (hereinafter, “the State” or “Honduras”). According to the Commission, this case relates to the State’s international responsibility for the violation of the right to property of the Punta Piedra Garifuna community (hereinafter, “the community” or “the Punta Piedra community”), as a result of the failure to comply with the obligation to guarantee rights because it had granted full title to the land to the community in 1993 and 1999 without having freed the land of encumbrances (saneamiento) satisfactorily, 1 even though it was aware that non-indigenous third parties occupied part of the lands and territories that were titled. According to the Commission, as a result of this situation, the community only exercises effective ownership over half the territory titled by the State, with the subsequent negative effects on their way of life, livelihood, culture, and traditional customs and practices. The Commission also indicated that the continuing occupation by non-indigenous people had created a conflictive situation that had resulted in threats, harassment and even the death of a member of the Punta Piedra community. Moreover, the Commission argued that the State had reneged on the agreements made to clear the title, and that the community had not had an effective remedy to achieve the peaceful possession of their lands and territories. 2. Procedure before the Commission. The procedure before the Commission was as follows: a) Petition. On October 29, 2003, the Commission received a petition lodged by the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (hereinafter “OFRANEH”), against Honduras for the violation of Articles 8, 21 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”), in relation to Article 1(1) of this international instrument and International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (hereinafter “ILO Convention No. 169”), to the detriment of the Garifuna Communities of Cayos Cochinos, Punta Piedra and Triunfo de la Cruz. On December 19, 2003, the Commission decided to separate the petitions into three separate matters, one for each community, and assigned each one a separate case number. b) Precautionary measures. On June 15, 2007, OFRANEH requested the adoption of precautionary measures on behalf of the Punta Piedra Garifuna community and, in particular, one of its members, Marcos Bonifacio Castillo, because he had received death threats. On August 20, 2007, the Commission granted precautionary measures in favor of Marcos Bonifacio Castillo (MC-10907) and continues monitoring them to date. For the purposes of this case, the Inter-American Court will understand the word “saneamiento” (clearing title/freeing the land of encumbrances), as a way of ensuring the use and enjoyment of collective property pursuant to Article 21 of the American Convention. 1 5