33 He is a Nicaraguan national. He has lived most of his life in the Lanlaya Community, of the Miskito ethnic group, which he is a member of, close to the city of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. He has been a member of the Regional Council, and in 1998 he was elected for a four-year period. He is also a member of the indigenous organization YATAMA. On March 29, 1996, he filed an amparo remedy against the State, with the objective of suspending the concession made by the State to the SOLCARSA corporation. The remedy was requested by the communal leaders of the Awas Tingni Mayagna Community. Almost a year went by before the Court decided on the remedy. The decision cancelled the concession to the firm and ordered that it be suspended. Despite that, the firm continued its operations. Engineer Jorge Brooks, who was a MARENA official, took some steps to promote the SOLCARSA concession. After the decision by the Supreme Court, SOLCARSA covered the expenses to set up a meeting in Puerto Cabezas, including the cost of taking all the Councilmen of the region from the municipalities to Puerto Cabezas. After the meeting in Puerto Cabezas, Jorge Brooks offered each of the Council members 5,000 cordobas to vote in favor of the concession to the SOLCARSA corporation. On January 22, 1998, the witness filed another remedy for the concession to be cancelled. Eight months later, the Court cancelled the concession. However, the situation of indigenous land titling or demarcation remained as before. The State did nothing about it. The Atlantic Coast has an autonomous status which has been recognized since 1987 by Law No. 28, according to which any concession granted by the State has to be consulted with the indigenous communities and also with the Regional Council. The witness knows of an unconstitutionality remedy filed against the concession to SOLCARSA, in which the Awas Tingni Community was a party to the suit, and as a result of which the concession was declared unconstitutional. He also knows that MARENA ordered the concession to be suspended shortly after being notified by the Supreme Court of Justice that this concession was unconstitutional. He has no knowledge of the Management Plan, which is a prior requirement to begin logging, being approved by the State for SOLCARSA. He knows that MARENA, in Ministerial resolution No. 02-97, fined SOLCARSA for illegal logging outside the area of the concession. The Awas Tingni Community occupies ancestral lands, is an indigenous community, and “historically it is their territory, it is their land, no one can take it away (from them), and the State is well aware of this, totally, this territory belongs to the Awas Tingni Community.” i. Testimony of Wilfredo Mclean Salvador, a member of the Awas Tingni Community The witness was born in the Awas Tingni Community. He belongs to the Mayagna ethnic group. Within the Community, he holds the position of Person Responsible for the Forest. He is also the Person Responsible for the School Center at Awas Tingni.