23 of the friendly settlement process of petition 12.094 of the IACHR Registry”, in which the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs expressed their concern at the stagnation of the friendly settlement process since the referendum had been organized, requested the Governor of the Province to suspend such initiative for the purpose of facilitating a resolution of the problem, urged the Lhaka Honhat Association to expressly pose its observations on the land adjudication proposal presented by the Provincial Government on March 2, 2005, and requested the IACHR to help through the designation of an observer or expert. 92. On October 7, 2005, the IACHR transmitted the petitioners’ observations received on September 30th to the State, and requested from it specific information on (1) whether the indigenous communities had been consulted about the referendum and its possible implications, (2) what the impact of the referendum would be upon the case that was being processed by the inter-American system, and (3) the situation in the area and the commitments adopted by the Government in the different minutes of meetings signed by the parties to the friendly settlement process. On October 12, 2005, the IACHR received a communication signed by the Secretary General of the Salta Governor’s Office, in which he reported that: “. . . the referéndum was decided by the Legislature of the Province of Salta, for the precise purpose of consulting the indigenous and the non-indigenous inhabitants about the measures that could affect them. Thus we complied with the provision of Article 15 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Province of Salta, which states literally: ‘The Provincial Government shall generate mechanisms that will make it possible, for both the indigenous and the non-indigenous, with their effective participation, to agree on solutions to matters related to the fiscal lands, respecting third parties’ rights.’ In addition to this, meetings have been held in practically all of the communities, clarifying the meaning of the referendum and distributing explanatory leaflets in Spanish and in the Wichí, Chulupí and Chorote languages.” 93. Mr. Indalecio Calermo, who presented himself as “General Chief of the Wichi Race and General Coordinator of the Wichi ethnicity in the Province of Salta”, presented an amparo lawsuit against the Lhaka Honhat Association, requesting that the judge order the defendant to abstain from any act tending to prevent the participation of the communities of Lots 14 and 55 in the referendum. This lawsuit was accepted by the Court, which ordered the Association to abstain “from carrying out actions tending to 94 undermine in any way the right to vote in the referendum summoned for October 23, 2005.” 94. On October 8, 2005, the chiefs of the communities that form the Lhaka Honhat Association signed a public declaration, in which they stated: “In the community of San Luis, having met th on the 8 of October 2005, the chiefs, leaders and delegates of the communities of Lots 55 and 14 of the province of Salta, ratify our unanimous will to request the Governor of the Province of Salta to suspend rd the referendum slated for October 23 , because it imperils our constitutional rights to land.” In addition, the chiefs annexed to their declaration a document entitled “Petition”, in which they summarized their position on the main points of the controversy. 95. On October 23, 2005, the Provincial Government held the referendum. The majority voted Yes. The provincial Government stated, in different public notes, that an affirmative response by 95 98% of the voters had been obtained; this result was broken down in a public report, in which it was explained that 5049 votes had been counted in favor of Yes, 131 in favor of No, 3978 blank votes, and 34 96 invalid votes. 94 Communication by the petitioners to the IACHR, received on September 30, 2005. 95 See, inter alia: Note published on the website of the Secretariat of Press and Diffusion of the Government of Salta, November 7, 2005; Note published in the newspaper El Tribuno on October 28, 2005. Documents submitted to the IACHR with the petitioners’ note received on November 11, 2005, transmitted to the State on January 31, 2006. 96 Document submitted to the IACHR with the petitioners’ note received on November 11, 2005, transmitted to the State on January 31, 2006.