pound of lobster, money with which they must also pay the cayuquero [child assistant in a small dugout canoe]. It added that the divers worked between 12 and 17 full days without a break and that their work was imposed upon them by the ship’s captain. In addition, it stressed that they only receive their wages when the product has been paid for by the packing company and until that happens, the owners of the vessels give the divers “loans” in the form of food, liquor, and clothes and that afterwards these amounts were discounted from the divers when their wages were paid. 40. According to the Prosecution Service itself and the Inter-American Development Bank, in 2001, it was recorded that the following diving regulations were breached: i) absence of adequate nutrition and on occasion bad food; ii) drug use encouraged by the ship captains themselves; iii) vessel capacities exceeded; iv) the quality of the diving equipment is not inspected and accidents have occurred as a result of the exploding SCUBA cylinders and system obstruction; and v) ship captains require the divers, under threat including with firearms, to deep dive down to 140 feet (more than 40 meters).21 41. On May 30, 2001, Executive Agreement No. STSS 116-01 was issued by the State Secretariat in the Offices for Labor Affairs and Social Security, whereby the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations for Underwater Fishing were adopted. In one of the considering clauses, the following is indicated: That, because of the high rate and severity of the professional risks recorded in underwater fishing activities, there is an urgent need to establish standards of a regulatory nature to facilitate the enforcement of Title V and the other provisions appearing in the Labor Code on the protection of the health of workers to tackle the risks stemming from underwater fishing working conditions. 42. The Regulation sets forth the minimum safety and health requirements that must be met to carry out activities in fishing vessels. It indicates that failure to fulfill the obligations of the employers shall be punished by the Secretariat for Labor Affairs and Social Security, which shall evaluate and score the infringements and impose sanctions enforcing the provisions set forth in the Labor Code.22 43. In August 2002, the Secretariat for Labor Affairs and Social Security, the Secretariat for Governance and Justice, the organization Handicap International, and AMHBLI met to agree on commitments to be made to improve the situation of the Miskito divers. In the minutes of said meeting, it was agreed that “it is a responsibility of the State to coordinate the search for a solution to the problem of the injured divers of Moskitia” and that it is necessary to establish a compensation fund that would make it possible to provide better living conditions to the affected persons. It also pointed out that “it is indispensable to have an ambulance ship that has a decompression chamber.”23 44. Despite the above, PAHO, in its 2004 report, pointed out that: i) the Miskito divers continued to not receive any suitable training by the companies hiring them; ii) they were using obsolete diving equipment without suitable maintenance; and iii) they would stay in very deep water for too long and would return to the surface too quickly, in breach of diving safety regulations. In the same report, it was indicated that, because of this situation, 97% of the Miskito divers have shown signs of some degree of the bends (decompression sickness), and at least 4,200 Miskitos have presented a disability. PAHO also contended that the rise in use of cocaine, marijuana, and liquor to mitigate secondary pain associated with decompression sickness is an aggravating element.24 45. A 2007 report from the International Labor Organization (hereinafter ILO) continues to refer to the problem. Therefore, it indicates that the owners of the fishing vessels, for the most part U.S. and European Office of the Special Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage. Inter-American Development Bank. Study on the Problems of the Divers of La Mosquitia Region on Honduras. Honduras. 2001. Annex to the communication from the petitioners received on November 5, 2004. 22 Occupational Safety and Health Regulations for Underwater Fishing. Available at: http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/hon33886.pdf 23 Minutes of the meeting of August 13, 2002. Annex to the communication from the petitioners received on November 5, 2004. 24 Pan American Health Organization. Human Rights and Disability among Indigenous Peoples. Integral Healthcare Services for the Miskito Divers in Honduras. 2004. Available at: http://cidbimena.desastres.hn/filemgmt/files/MISKITO_Derechos.pdf 21 7