20 communication dated July 7, 2009. Therefore, in view of the fact that the State had the opportunity of disputing this evidence, the Commission will consider it in its analysis. B. Factual Determinations 1. The situation of the Afro-descendant Communities in the River Cacarica Basin 105. The Community Council of the River Cacarica basin is currently comprised of 23 communities located in the Urabá of Chocó, under the jurisdiction of the Riosucio Municipality, Chocó Department, on the left banks of the River Atrato and right banks of the River Cacarica. The River Cacarica basin bounds in the west with the Department of Antioquia. The Cacarica river is one of the tributaries of the Atrato river and rises in the sierras of Darién, on the border with Panama. The constituent communities are: Puente América, Bijao-Cacarica, Quebrada del Medio, Bogotá, Barranquilla, El Limón-Peranchito, Santa Lucía, Las Pajas, Quebrada Bonita, La Virginia, Villa Hermosa- la Raya, San Higinio, Puerto Berlín, Puerto Nuevo, Montañita Cirilo, Bocachica, Balsagira, San José de la Balsa, La 35 Balsa, Bendito Bocachico, Varsovia, Tequerré Medio and La Honda. 106. The Urabá of Chocó, which surrounds the Gulf of Urabá and the frontier with Panama, is a strategic access corridor both to the Pacific as well as the Atlantic Oceans. The only means of access is the river; the area's economy is essentially subsistence and depends on the cultivation of crops, local fishing, hunting and exploitation of wood, whose commercialization "presents huge difficulties derived 36 from the armed conflict." Despite being one of the regions with the world's greatest biodiversity, its 37 38 predominantly Afro-descendant population lacks enjoyment of the basic necessities. 107. In 1993, Law 70 was enacted with the aim of "recognizing the black communities who have come to occupy uncultivated lands in the rural areas on the banks of the Pacific Basin rivers, in accordance with their traditional production methods, the right to collective property" and of establishing measures to protect their cultural identity and the rights of the black communities in Colombia as an ethnic group, as well as to encourage their economic and cultural development, in order to guarantee that 39 these communities enjoy real conditions of equal opportunity along with the rest of Colombian society. 108. The Afro-descendant community councils of the Urabá area, of the banks of the Atrato and its tributaries, and the Naya area have been targets of acts of violence by armed groups fighting to control the area, due to the collective land title claims pursuant with Law 70 of 1993, and the rights 40 enshrined in the 1991 Constitution in recognition of the lands' valuable natural resources. 109. In addition, the illegal armed groups, belonging to the guerillas -predominantly the FARCand the paramilitaries -the AUC and the ACCU- have used the area as a mobility and access route to the 35 Annex 1. Constitutional Court, Judgment T-955/2003 of October 17, 2003, p. 7. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008. 36 Annex 2. The Ombudsman’s Office. Ombudsman’s Resolution No. 025 on the Massive Human Rights Violations and Forced Displacement in the Bajo Atrato Region of Chocó, October 2002. Annex to the initial petition of June 1, 2004. 37 The introduction of African slaves for work in the gold mines of Colombia dates back to the 17th Century, the population of African descent experienced notorious growth in the 18th Century. The Afro-Colombians of the Cacarica river basin are descended from the tribal peoples of the Congo and Angola. Annex 3. CAVIDA We are part of the land of this Land: Recollections of a Civilian Resistance, Cacarica, 2002, pp. 21-23. 38 Annex 11. IACHR Preliminary Observations after the visit of the Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants and Against Racial Discrimination to the Republic of Colombia, para. 39 in: http://www.IACHR.org/countryrep/ColombiaAfrodescendientes.sp/ColombiaAfros2009cap3-4.sp.htm#1. 39 Annex 12. Article 1 of Law 70 of 1993, Official Gazette No. 41.013 of August 31, 1993, through which temporary Article 55 of the Political Constitution is amplified. In: http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/ley/1993/ley_0070_1993.html. 40 Annex 11. IACHR Preliminary Observations after the visit of the Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants and Against Racial Discrimination to the Republic of Colombia, para. 57. En: http://www.IACHR.org/countryrep/ColombiaAfrodescendientes.sp/ColombiaAfros2009cap3-4.sp.htm#1.