10. According to the petitioners, the Miskitu divers are recognized worldwide for their innate capacity for immersion, and are considered to be among the best free divers on the planet. They indicate that underwater fishing is one of the main economic activities in the department of Gracias a Dios.3 Given the lack of labor opportunities, the members of the Miskitu people (men, youths, and even children) are forced to work as divers for fishing companies in subhuman conditions, without the proper training or occupational health and safety guarantees, as they fall victim to labor exploitation by the boats’ owners and captains.4 They add that given the scarcity of marine resources in shallow waters, the divers are forced by their employers, under threat and in some cases at gunpoint, to descend to greater depths and to be submerged for longer times, which is at odds with basic diving rules, due to the risk of suffering decompression syndrome 5 and other occupational accidents, which has caused and continues to systematically cause, in thousands of divers, partial and permanent disability and even death.6 11. Based on the information provided by the petitioners, it appears that the Ministry of Health indicates that “there are nearly 9,000 divers in the Mosquitia…. Of the 9,000 divers, 47% (4,200) have been disabled as a result of decompression syndrome.”7 They add that an aggravating consideration in this situation is that the disabled divers don’t have any opportunity to engage in any subsistence labor activity, putting them in acute extreme poverty, which affects their families, and on occasion they are abandoned by their wives and 3 Underwater fishing generates more than US$ 35 million annually for Honduras. The Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program for 2002 reported that 71.1% of the population of the department of Gracias a Dios is engaged in agriculture and fishing. Petitioners’ brief of November 5, 2004, Annex No. 80. 4 According to the petitioners, the divers are forced to work on average from 12 to 17 days, with more than five hours daily of diving sessions, on the high seas, where even the most basic labor standards are not observed, for it is the captain of the vessel who imposes the rules and controls the divers’ schedules, as well as the supply of food, alcoholic beverages, and even drugs. They add that such practices do not even comply with the minimum standards established by the Regulation on Occupational Health and Safety for Underwater Fishing. Petitioners’ brief of December 18, 2007, p. 4. 5 Decompression syndrome occurs when the diver submerges and there is more air in the body; this air becomes diluted in the blood. When the diver surfaces, he can expel it through the respiratory system, but respecting certain levels of decompression, otherwise the nitrogen bubbles in the body may damage the spinal column, obstructing veins and arteries, and at that moment the diver can suffer paralysis. The disease manifests in different ways: rashes on the skin, pain in the joints or tendons, headaches or nausea, and it can only be treated effectively by immediate re-compression in a hyperbaric chamber before the harm becomes irreversible. 6 As regards the divers who have died, AMHBLI maintains a registry with 400 victims. In those cases of death in which compensation has been obtained, it has not been greater than US$ 2,000; in many cases the compensation payment is for US$ 500 or US$ 100. They add that a large part of the accidents occur “due to lack of supervision of the diving equipment, especially its quality and maintenance; there have been accidents caused by the use of scuba cylinders and due to obstruction of the system, which forces them to come quickly to the surface.” Petition of November 5, 2004, pp. 4 and 5. 7 Human Development Report, United Nations Development Program, 2002, p. 106. Petitioners’ brief of November 5, 2004, Annex No. 74.