22. With respect to this point, the State added that the President of the Paraguayan Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INDI), Colonel Oscar Centurión, was currently taking steps to acquire a 4,000 hectare property which is a segment of ranch N° 1418 and which, when combined with a parcel of land adjacent to the above property and currently owned by INDI, could be offered to the Xakmok Kásek Community. 23. Without prejudice to the above, the State contends that the petition is unlikely to be declared admissible because the petitioners have failed to exhaust domestic remedies, pointing out that the Republic of Paraguay possesses an adequate legal framework to protect the right or rights alleged by the petition in question to have been violated, specifically the right to community property. 24. In respect of the first argument, the State says that the petitioners did not exhaust domestic remedies and identifies three pending remedies: first, administrative measures to purchase a fraction of the 4,000 hectares of the property called “Potrerito,” so that it may be definitively transferred and its title assigned to the indigenous community are still pending in the administrative body–INDI. Second, should the owners refuse to offer the claimed part of the property for sale, the National Congress will be asked to pass an expropriation bill; and, third, the recourse established under International Labour Organization Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, in accordance with Article 14 and 15 of Act 904/81 on the Statute of Indigenous Communities, has yet to be exhausted. Its purpose is to request the prior, free, and express consent of the community for a possible transfer to other lands of equal size and quality. 25. The State also contends that the legal framework of the Republic of Paraguay is such that it can protect the right or rights allegedly violated in the present petition, to wit, the right to community property of the Xakmok Kásek community and bases its assertion on the fact that the institution charged with handling matters concerning the land requested by the community–INDI–is currently continuing to make arrangements for acquisition of the property claimed by the indigenous community and, with respect to the delay in the final resolution of the community’s petition, says that it has been justified for the reasons given above. 26. At the same time, the State maintains that the delay in successfully completing proceedings with the administrative authorities is due to the fact that purchasing the lands to be turned over to the indigenous communities requires negotiations with the current owners to convince them to sell. In the event that they refuse to sell, it will be necessary to bring draft legislation before the legislative authorities with a view to requesting expropriation of the land. In such cases, the National Congress has the power to approve or reject the respective draft legislation. 27. Regarding the allegation of new facts that, in the view of the State, have legal consequences that warrant consideration by the Commission, the State explains that the former owner of the area claimed by the Xakmok Kásek community transferred its title to a Mennonite cooperative, which means that negotiations must be reinitiated with the new owners to convince them to sell the claimed portion to INDI, thus enabling its subsequent transfer to the indigenous community. It adds in this regard that, according to Paraguayan law, the “new facts” argument is recognized in positive law and, in the present case, could be applied supplementally in this quasi-judicial proceeding to afford INDI more time to purchase the claimed property in 2003. 28. The State, in its written arguments, places on record that it has not obstructed or hampered the administrative proceeding in violation of the legitimate rights of the Xakmok Káseks, through any government institution or its agents. 4