5 operations on indigenous lands and, on March 12, 1997, the Commission requested that the State provide it with information about this within fifteen days. On March 20, 1997, Nicaragua requested that the Commission allow it 30 days to respond to the request, and this was conceded. 14. On April 3, 1997, the petitioners informed the Commission about the judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice of Nicaragua of February 27, 1997, which decided on the application for amparo filed by members of the RAAN Regional Council and declared that the concession granted by MARENA was unconstitutional, since it did not meet the requirement of Article 181 of the Nicaraguan Constitution. They also informed the Commission that the State had not suspended logging activities under the concession. 15. On April 23, 1997, the State requested that the Commission reject the precautionary measures requested by the petitioners due to the delivery of the judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice, which it agreed to comply with. However, on June 11 that year, the petitioners informed the Commission that, despite the judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice, the State and SOLCARSA continued to act as though the concession was valid. 16. In a hearing before the Commission on October 8, 1997, the petitioners indicated that logging operations were continuing on the Community’s lands and requested that the Commission observe the situation in situ. On October 27 that year, three days before the Commission’s planned visit to Nicaragua, the State informed it that the visit was not necessary because it was preparing a brief with relevant additional information. 17. On October 31, 1997, the Commission requested that the State adopt precautionary measures designed to suspend the concession granted to SOLCARSA and established a period of 30 days for the State to inform the Commission about them. The same day, the Commission reiterated to the State that it should reply within 30 days to the Commission’s request of February 5, 1996, when the process was opened. 18. On November 5, 1997, the State requested that the Commission close the case as the RAAN Regional Council had ratified the approval of the concession to SOLCARSA, correcting the error of form committed and, consequently, the concession was now valid. 19. On November 17, 1997, the petitioners declared that the central element of the petition was Nicaragua’s failure to protect the Community’s rights over its ancestral lands and that this situation still persisted. Furthermore, with regard to the ratification by the RAAN Regional Council, they indicated that this Council was part of the State’s politico-administrative structure and had acted without taking into account the Community’s territorial rights. Lastly, they requested that the Commission proceed to issue a report in accordance with Article 50 of the Convention. 20. On December 4, 1997, the State sent a communication to the Commission indicating that the petitioners had filed an application for amparo on November 7, 1997, requesting that the Matagalpa Appeals Tribunal declare the concession to SOLCARSA null, so that domestic remedies had not been exhausted, and it invoked