38 and intimidation committed against community members by paramilitary groups operating in the area, 165 despite the presence of the XVII Army Brigade. In its Press Release, the IACHR stressed that The IACHR Rapporteur was concerned to note the persistent complaints about acts of aggression by paramilitary groups, allegedly committed with the acquiescence or connivance of the Security Forces operating in the area. In addition, he received information about the phenomenon of deforestation of the collective lands and on acts of harassment designed to force some of these 166 communities to plant African palm as a classic prelude to the introduction of illegal crops. 172. On June 4, 2004, the IACHR reiterated to the State "its concern at the repeated incidents of harassment against the community beneficiary of precautionary measures, involving the participation of 167 members of the National Army's XVII Brigade" after the alleged extrajudicial execution of beneficiary Víctor Cuesta Mosquera by a member of the Army. 8. Regarding to the Exploitation of Collective Lands 173. By way of history and background with respect to the situation of the ancestral lands of the Cacarica Afro-descendant communities,168 it is relevant to note that since 1967, Law 31 accorded the right to collective ownership of ancestrally inhabited land to the national black communities, qua tribal peoples, and therefore, the ability to use and exploit the soil and forests - this last right, pursuant to law, 169 or with prior authorization of the local authority, in terms of the Code of Natural Resources. In addition, the Colombian Constitution of 1991 recognizes ethnic and cultural diversity and clearly defines the right to collective ownership by the black communities, protects their cultural identity, protects their traditional 170 methods of production and encourages their economic and cultural development. . 174. In 1992, the Government created the Special Commission for Black Communities in accordance with provisional Article 55 of the Constitution, which expressed concern for the logging in the area of the River Cacarica by reason of (i) the blockaging of the river by the processes for transporting timber and (ii) the deforestation of the last catival hardwood reservations which the country could boast of; and revealed the complaints of the social organizations for the procedures of the Autonomous Regional Corporation for Sustainable Development in Chocó (hereinafter "CODECHOCO") in the granting of permits for logging to companies, to the prejudice of the communities, in breach of provisional Article 171 55. The commissioners insisted on the necessity of suspending the concession of large-scale logging 165 Annex 60. IACHR Press Release No. 15/03 “IACHR Rapporteur concludes working visit to the Rep ublic of Colombia, June 27, 2003”, in: http://www.IACHR.org/Comunicados/Spanish/2003/15.03.htm. 166 IACHR Press Release No. 15/03 “IACHR Rapporteur concludes working visit to the Republic of Colombia, June 27, 2003”, in: http://www.IACHR.org/Comunicados/Spanish/2003/15.03.htm. 167 IACHR's note to the State of June 8, 2001, in the proceedings for precautionary measures MC 70-99. 168 Law 31 of 1967 approved the Convention concerning the Protection and Integration of Indigenous and Other Tribal and Semi-Tribal Populations in Independent Countries of the ILO of 1957; it permitted to intensify in the State policies of recognizing territorial lands of the communities and was a legal basis for the 1986 request by the black peasants of the Atrato on the granting of community title and its opposition to logging on their lands. Constitutional Court. Judgment T-995/2003 of October 17, 2003, pp. 19 and 10. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008. The Pacific Communities also demanded from the Government the title to "the community forests in the villages of Medio Atrato", and the title proceedings of the black population in the area in an associated or private form in accordance with each family's wishes. Meeting for the Defense of our Pacific Territories, Quibdó, June 1990. Constitutional Court. Judgment T-995/2003 of October 17, 2003. Footnotes to pp. 28 and 29. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008. The Cimarrón National Movement, for its part, filed a petition with the National Constituent Assembly for the acknowledgement of "their ancestral rights of property and use which the black and indigenous communities have acquired over the lands they occupy." Constitutional Court. Judgment T995/2003 of October 17, 2003, p. 12. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008. 169 Annex 1. Constitutional Court. Judgment T-995/2003 of October 17, 2003, p. 82. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008. 170 Constitution of Colombia, Articles 1 and 7. Annex 1. Constitutional Court. Judgment T-995/2003 of October 17, 2003, p. 13. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008. 171 Annex 1. Constitutional Court. Judgment T-995/2003 of October 17, 2003, p. 26. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ allegations on the merits received on March 10, 2008.