that Peter Tsokos and his partner Peter Martínez, had sold the cays to foreign buyers9 and had hired armed guards and National Police officers to keep the indigenous peoples off their own land, thereby preventing them from engaging in traditional subsistence activities.10 27. One of the actions undertaken by María Luisa Acosta to defend indigenous peoples' rights that ran counter to the interests of Peter Tsokos and his partner Peter Martínez, was the filing of an amparo (constitutional protection) suit with the Civil Law Division of the Court of Appeals of the Atlántico Sur District (Sala Civil del Tribunal de Apelaciones de Circunscripción del Atlántico Sur)(hereinafter "Civil Division of the Court of Appeals") on October 2, 2000, on behalf of several indigenous peoples in the Autonomous Atlántico Sur Region of Nicaragua (hereinafter “the RAAS”)11 and against two senior police authorities that, according to the amparo suit, were acting" like a private vigilante unit in the service of […] Peter Tsokos”12. As a result of that proceeding, on May 2, 2001, the Civil Law Division of the Court of Appeals ordered said authorities to withdraw and to refrain from sending members of the National Police to the aforementioned places13. The filing and outcome of this amparo suit drew the attention of Nicaraguan media to the conflict.14 28. In addition, as a result of complaints by María Luisa Acosta to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (hereinafter the "MARENA"), on October 18, 2000, the State Prosecutor for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources warned Mr. Tsokos that he would be punished via administrative and criminal if he continued preventing or restricting the entry of investigators authorized by the MARENA into the Pearl cays15. According to Nicaraguan media, in April 2001, the MARENA fined Peter Tsokos for conducting slash and burn operations in the Cerro Silva Nature Reserve.16 29. On January 30, 2002, acting on behalf of the communities of Monkey point and Rama, María Luisa Acosta instituted other proceedings against Peter Tsokos, by filing a restitution and constitutional protection suit (amparo) with the Civil Law District Court in Bluefields (hereinafter the "Civil Law District Court"). In that complaint, she alleged that Mr. Tsokos had stationed several armed men on communal land of 9 Appendix 17. “Asesino de García ya está en Bluefields”, El Nuevo Diario, September 6, 2004, File 2019-2004 of the appeal for annulment to the Supreme Court of Justice, folio 95. Appendix to the petitioners’ communication of July 13, 2007. Appendix 12. Catherine Elton, “Legal storm rocking island `kingdom'”, The Miami Herald, 99th Year, No. 219, 2002. Trial court file No. 110-02, folios 368-370. Appendix to the petitioners’ communication of July 13, 2007. Appendix 18. “Rifan cayo nica”, La Prensa, January 5, 2002. “Continúan denuncias contra inversionista griego”, La Prensa,April 21, 2001. Posted at: http://archivo.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2001/abril/21/nacionales/nacionales-20010421-06.html. Appendix 13. “Marena multa al griego Peter Tsokos”, La Prensa, May 18, 2001. Posted at: http://archivo.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2001/mayo/18/nacionales/nacionales-20010518-05.html 10 Appendix 14. “Amparan a misquitos en el caso de los cayos”, El Nuevo Diario, March 12, 2001. Posted at: http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2001/marzo/12-marzo-2001/nacional/nacional7.html. “Policía está al servicio de Tsokos”, La Prensa, October 14, 2000. Appendix 21. “La otra cara de los Cayos”, El Nuevo Diario, October 9, 2000. Posted at: http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2001/marzo/12-marzo-2001/nacional/nacional7.html. 11 The appellants were the indigenous and ethnic peoples of the Pearl Lagoon Basin; the Misquita indigenous peoples of Raitipura, Awas, Kahkabila, and teh creole communities of Pearl Lagoon, Brown Bank, Marshall Point, and Set Net Point of the Pearl Lagoon Municipality. Specifically, the amparo suit was filed against the Head of the National Police in the RAAS and the Head of the National Police in the municipality of Laguna de Perlas (Pearl Lagoon).. Appendix 22. Appeal to the Civil Law Division of the Court of Appeals in Bluefields, October 2, 2002. Appendix to the petitioners' communication of July 13, 2013. 12 Appendix 22. Appeal to the Civil Law Division of the Court of Appeals in Bluefields, October 2, 2002. Appendix to the petitioners’ communication of July 13, 2007. 13 Appendix 23. “Ordenan salida de policías de los Cayos Perlas”, La Prensa, May 6, 2001. Posted at: http://calpi.nativeweb.org/Peticion_(MLA)_+_MM.htm 14 Appendix 24. “Policía retira a agentes de los Cayos”, La Prensa, October 8, 2001. “Abogada de etnias asegura que Policía niega acceso al agua a las etnias que habitan en la zona”, La Prensa, October 14, 2000. Appendix 14. “El caso de los Cayos Perlas”, Editorial in La Prensa, October 12, 2000. Appendix 11. “Indígenas reclaman complejo de islotes”, La Prensa, October 12, 2000; Appendix 25. “Misquitos se amparan contra policía que apoyan al griego”, El Nuevo Diario, October 10, 2000;“La otra cara de los Cayos”, El Nuevo Diario,October 9, 2000. 15 Appendix 26. Letter addressed to Peter Tsokos, Office of the State Attorney for Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources, October 18, 2000. Appendix to the petitioners' communication of July 13, 2013. 16 Appendix 13. “Marena multa al griego Peter Tsokos”, La Prensa, May 18, 2001.