43
150. The Court verified, as indicated by the INA in the year 2001, that said area is located
within the urban area of Tela,162 which is part of Plot A1 considered by that same institution
traditional territory of the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz (supra para. 115). Moreover, the
allocation of the 22 blocks over part of the Community’s traditional territory occurred after
Honduras’ ratification of Convention 169 of the ILO. At the time of that event, Honduras had
already acquired the international commitment to guarantee the right to property of
indigenous communities over their traditional territories (supra para. 119).
151. Therefore, the Court concludes that the State is responsible for having violated the
duty to guarantee the right to property of the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz, enshrined in
Article 21 of the Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of the same instrument upon allowing
the allocation of a title deed over a plot located within the territory acknowledged by a state
body as traditional and occupied in part by the members of the Community.
152. Concerning this matter, the Court recalls that the State’s responsibility in relation to
the area where the 22 blocks that were allocated to the workers’ union of the municipality are
located must be understood without detriment to the rights of affected third parties to obtain
a compensation or indemnification pursuant to Honduras’ domestic legislation.
B.4.4. Conclusion
153. According to that indicated in the previous sections, the State is responsible for the
violation to the duty to ensure the use and enjoyment of the territories granted to the
Community in guarantee of occupation in the year 1979 and, as of the year 1996, for not
guaranteeing the use and enjoyment of the Community’s traditional territories acknowledged
as such by the INA in the year 2001, in relation to Article 1(1) of the same.
B.5. The obligation to guarantee the right to consultation, in relation to the right to
communal property of the Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz
154. With regard to the right to collective property, it is necessary to reiterate that it is not
absolute and that, when States impose limitations or restrictions on the exercise of the rights
of indigenous peoples to the ownership of their lands, territories, and natural resources,
certain guidelines must be respected, which must be established by law, necessary,
proportionate, and aimed at achieving a legitimate objective in a democratic society.163
Additionally, the first paragraph of Article 21 of the Convention establishes the right to
property and points out as attributes of property its use and enjoyment and includes a limit
to such property’s attributes, which is social interest. 164 Additionally, the second paragraph
refers to the expropriation of property and the requirements to ensure that this action by the
State may be considered justified.165
155. Moreover, when referring to the right to collective property of indigenous and tribal
peoples, it must also be understood that a limitation or restriction to that right may not imply
162
Cfr. National Agrarian Institute, Memorandum of July 5, 2001 (evidence file, folio 1936).
Cfr. Case of the Yakye Axa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, para. 144, and Case of the Kichwa
Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador, para. 156.
163
Cfr. Case of Salvador Chiriboga v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objection and Mertis. Judgment of May 6, 2008.
Series C No. 179, para. 55, and Case of Granier et al. (Radio Caracas Televisión) v. Venezuela. Preliminary Objections,
Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of June 22, 2015. Series C. No. 293, para. 336.
164
Cfr. Case of Salvador Chiriboga v. Ecuador, para. 55, Case of Granier et al. (Radio Caracas Televisión) v.
Venezuela, para. 336.
165