6 16. That the representatives reported that owing to the “situation of absence of land for the Community and because the State has not complied with its obligation to return the land and to provide the required assistance as regards the water, health care and food necessary to sustain a decent life, eight members of the Community have died since notification of the Judgment. Most of these victims were the elderly, pregnant women or very young children.”7 17. That the Commission indicated that “in its Judgment, the Court ordered certain obligations, and failure to comply with them has endangered the lives of the members of the Community […] on a daily basis and, in fact, has led to the death of its members. […] The daily existence of the Community is jeopardized; the life of its members. For example, the inadequate or insufficient compliance with the provision of potable water means that, on the days the State does not deliver adequate potable water, the members of the Community drink contaminated water, and their children are becoming ill. In other words, if the month has 30 days and the State only delivers potable water for 29 days, this is insufficient, because it should deliver enough for 30 days. In only takes one day without water for a child to fall ill and drinking contaminated water from the ponds where the animals come to drink can kill a person.” The Commission concluded that, although it recognized the efforts made by the State, they were insufficient in view of “the results, the deaths, and the state of the health of those who are alive.” “The Community’s right to life continues to be jeopardized.” 18. That in the Judgment delivered in this case, the Court indicated: 167. The special detriment to the right to health, and closely tied to this, the detriment to the right to food and access to clean water, have a major impact on the right to a decent existence and the basic conditions to exercise other human rights, such as the right to education or the right to cultural identity. In the case of indigenous peoples, access to their ancestral lands and to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources found on them is closely linked to obtaining food and access to clean water. In this regard, the abovementioned Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has highlighted the special vulnerability of many groups of indigenous peoples whose access to ancestral lands has been threatened and, therefore, their possibility of access to means of obtaining food and clean water. […] 172. The Court must highlight the special gravity of the situation of the children and the elderly members of the Yakye Axa Community. The Court has established, in previous cases, that, regarding the right to life of children, the State has, in addition to the obligations regarding all persons, the additional obligation of fostering the protection measures mentioned in Article 19 of the American Convention. It must play the role of guarantor with greater care and responsibility, and it must take special measures based on the principle of the best interests of the child. In the instant case, the State has the obligation, inter alia, to provide the children of the Community with the basic conditions to ensure that their Community’s situation of vulnerability due to its lack of territory will not limit their development or destroy their life projects. […] 176. Based on the above, the Court finds that the State violated Article 4(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of the Convention, to the detriment of the members of the Yakye Axa Community, by not taking measures regarding the conditions that affected their possibility of having a decent life. 19. That, based on the foregoing, the Court ordered the State to adopt a series of 7 The people who died between 2005 and 2007, and their respective age at death, are as follows: Eulogio Sosa, Pedro García, Ignacio Torales Severo, Hilda Flores, Dominga Fernández Gómez (42 years), Catalina Galeano (75 years), Elías Chico Avalos (64 years) and Silvana Soledad Gómez (1 year).