2 Procedure, the Commission placed itself at the disposal of the parties in order to facilitate a possible process of friendly settlement to the matter. 7. Following notification of the admissibility report, the IACHR received information from the petitioner on the following dates: August 6 and September 27, 2010, January 3 and May 2, 2011, and November 19, 2012. The IACHR received observations from the State on the following dates: October 13, 2010, February 18 and August 22, 2011. These communications were duly forwarded to the parties. 8. During the proceedings before the Commission, a public hearing was held on March 7, th 2006, at the 124 regular session, where the petitioner offered the testimony of the following three 2 members of the Punta Piedra Community: Doroteo Tomas, Edito Suazo and Benito Bernárdez. th Additionally, two working meetings were held: on March 5, 2007, during the 127 regular period of th sessions and on July 19, 2007, during the 128 regular period of sessions of the IACHR. - Friendly Settlement Procedure 10. At the public hearing held on March 7, 2006, the parties agreed to engage in a friendly settlement procedure. On March 8, 2006, the IACHR received the proposed friendly settlement put forth by the petitioner. On March 26, 2007, the petitioner expressed its interest in withdrawing from the effort to reach a friendly settlement and going forward with the processing of the petition, alleging failure to make any progress. At the working meeting of July 20, 2007, which was attended by both parties, the petitioners reiterated their decision. - Precautionary Measure 109-07 11. On June 15, 2007, the petitioner requested the adoption of precautionary measures on behalf of the Garifuna Community of Punta Piedra and, in particular, one of its members, Marcos Bonifacio Castillo, because he had been the target of death threats. On August 20, 2007, the IACHR 3 granted precautionary measures on behalf of Marcos Bonifacio Castillo. On September 13, 2007, Honduras forwarded its reply. As of the date of the instant report, the IACHR is continuing to monitor compliance with the precautionary measures it granted. III. POSITION OF THE PARTIES A. Petitioner 9. The petitioner claims that the presence of the Garifuna people in Honduras dates back to 1797 and that, in particular, the Garifuna Community of Punta Piedra has occupied its territory for approximately two centuries, located in what is currently the Municipality of Iriona, Department of Colon, Honduras. It notes that the State recognized the historic occupation of the Community by means of two legal titles in fee simple granted by the National Agrarian Institute (hereinafter, “INA”) in 1993 and 1999. 10. It reports that, as of the early 1900s, the settling by non-indigenous peasants was authorized in the area known as “Entrerrios,” made up of the territories located between the Sico and Paulaya Rivers and partially overlapping the buffer zone of Rio Platano Biological Reserve. It further notes that, as a consequence, forests and watersheds in the area were devastated and it led to a constant influx of peasants and cattle ranchers –also known as “ladinos”- into the lands historically occupied by the Garifuna Communities, especially into the areas used for their subsistence activities. 2 IACHR, Public Hearing on March 7, 2006 in re “Petition 1119/03 – Garifuna Community of Punta Piedra, Honduras,” 124th regular session of the IACHR. 3 Specifically, the Commission requested the Honduran State 1) to Adopt the necessary measures to ensure the life and safety of Mr. Marcos Bonifiacio Castillo; 2) Arrange for the mesures to be adopted along with the beneficiary and the petitioners and, 3) report on the actions adopted in order to clarify by judicial means the incidents that warrant adoption of precuationary measures.