4
petitioner adds that on September 28, 1979, at the Community's behest, the National Agrarian Institute
(hereinafter "the INA") granted a deed "guaranteeing occupancy" for 126.40 hectares of the land
historically occupied by the Community under a titling program implemented by the State with a view to
regularizing title to ancestral lands occupied by the indigenous and Garífuna communities.
18.
The petitioner points out that on October 29, 1993, at the Community's request, the INA
granted "definitive title in fee simple" of the land previously granted as communal land. It adds that,
according to the same title deed, the deed was granted on condition that sale or donation of the land only
be authorized for tourism projects approved by the Honduran Tourism Institute (hereinafter "the IHT") and
for descendants of the Community awarded the deed. According to the petitioner, on January 22, 2001, it
submitted another demand for an expansion of the fee simple title already granted, by virtue of which, on
September 27, 2001, the INA granted definitive title in fee simple to a "property pertaining to the State
under domestic law," comprising three lots located in the village of Triunfo de la Cruz covering an area of
234 hectares, 48 ares, and 76.03 centiares. The petitioner adds that the same title deed established that
the land granted constitutes an inalienable heritage of the Community benefited by the award, except
when ownership is transferred for the purpose of constructing homes for homeless members of the
Community, and that, likewise, any transfer of ownership by home-owners must be to members of the
Community. In both cases, according to the petitioner, the transfer must be approved by the Management
Board of the Community Council (Junta Directiva del Patronato), and that approval must be recorded in
the deed transferring ownership.
19.
The petitioner claims that the titles granted do not cover all the Community's ancestral
land and, above all, do not include its functional habitat. It alleges, furthermore, that even though it
granted title, the State did not reorganize the situation on the ground, so that much of the Community's
land remains in the hands of ladinos or non-Garífunas, who have gradually taken over their land. In
addition, the petitioner states that a number of authorities carried out acts detrimental to the Community's
property and possession of its ancestral land, such as selling lots to private individuals and tour
operators.
20.
In particular, the petitioner states that, at the request of the Municipality of Tela, the INA
approved a 3,219.80 hectare expansion of that town's urban perimeter, through resolution No. 055-1989
of April 24, 1989. The petitioner maintains that operative section 2 of that resolution ordered that "the land
awarded to beneficiaries of the Agrarian Reform prior to this resolution is to be excluded from the
demarcated urban area until they have been paid for in full." Based on that, it asserts that the 126.40
hectares for which the Community was granted a "guarantee of occupancy" should have been excluded
from the expansion. It maintains that the Honduran Tourism Institute ratified the expansion of the urban
perimeter through resolution No. 002 of January 17, 1992. It argues that said authorization was illegal
because the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz was not informed and no effort was made to obtain its
consent, despite the fact that that decision affected its ancestral territory, recognized as communal land
(ejido) since 1950. It points out that the failure to notify the Community preventing it from lodging appeals
against the decision.
21.
The petitioner says that when its urban limits were enlarged, the Municipality of Tela
interpreted that the lands of the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz had become its property and allotted
plots to third parties. Specifically, in 1997, the Municipality allotted a 22.87 manzanas plot of Community
land to the Tela Municipal Workers Trade Union. The petitioner asserts that, as a result of that allotment,
the Community has been harassed and threatened by armed individuals. Those acts were reported to the
Criminal Investigation Bureau, which failed to investigate them. The petitioner states that on September 5,
2002 the Community filed an administrative appeal requesting annulment of the aforementioned
agreement but no ruling has yet been made.
22.
In addition, it alleges that the Municipality bought parcels of land from Community
members who had no authority to sell and proceeded to transfer that land to the company Inversiones y
Desarrollo El Triunfo S. A. (hereinafter "IDETRISA") for a tourist project known as "Club Marbella." The
petitioner states that some members were forced to sell land under threats and duress and that those
who opposed the sale were slandered and murdered, as in the case of community leaders Jesús Álvarez