were not included in the cadastral survey reports or in the exclusion clauses of the
1999 property title. The representatives did not contest the existence or authenticity of
these title deeds and indicated that their issue was just one more example of the
failure to guarantee the inalienability of the Garifuna ancestral territories and the
profound inefficiency in the land registration system in Honduras.
106. Based on the above and the evidence submitted, the Court notes that the
parties agree that part of the territory granted to the Punta Piedra community is
occupied by third parties, most of whom do not have any property title, unlike Sergia
Zapata Martinez, and Ambrocio Thomas Castillo who presumably was Garifuna and had
sold his lands to third parties (supra para. 98). Nevertheless, contradictory versions
exist as to the number of hectares occupied by third parties who do not holding full
ownership titles, especially with regard to the more than the 1,513 hectares granted in
1999 (infra para. 107).
107. Owing to the lack of updated evidence submitted by the parties, the Court is
unable to determine with certainty the exact area of the territory currently occupied by
the inhabitants of Rio Miel. 94 However, based on documents prepared by the State, in
particular by INA, and the evidence in the file before this Court, at December 2001, the
area occupied by the peasant farmers in Rio Miel totaled 605 hectares. 95 Subsequently,
the July 12, 2007, “Final Report of the cadastral survey of the expanded area titled to
the Punta Piedra Garifuna community” 96 (hereinafter the “2007 cadastral report”),
concluded that, of the more than 1,513 hectares awarded in 1999, 612.13 hectares
were occupied by third parties, and only 653.24 hectares by the Punta Piedra Garifuna
community. This report also concluded that, within the expanded area, 177.98
hectares corresponded to forests that were also possessed by inhabitants of Rio Miel. 97
Therefore, even though the Court does not have sufficient evidence to determine with
certainty the area currently occupied, it has been proved that at least in 2007 a total of
790.11 hectares of the expanded area of the Punta Piedra community was occupied by
volume 656 of the Real Estate and Commercial Property Registry of the department of Colon (merits file,
folio 1139).
94
In this regard, during the procedure before the Inter-American Commission, the State indicated
different numbers of hectares occupied by third parties: (a) in the brief filed by the State on July 19, 2007,
in a working meeting during the 128th regular period of sessions, first, it mentioned an area of 670 hectares
(merits file, folio 18, para. 52); (b) in the same brief, it stated that 790.11 hectares have been occupied for
at least 25 years (evidence file, folios 717 and 718), and (c) in the brief filed by the State before the
Commission on August 19, 2011, it indicated that 278.40 hectares were occupied (evidence file, folios 526
and 527). However, before the Court, the State alleged that, when the 1999 expansion title was awarded,
the inhabitants of the village of Rio Miel were in possession of 600 hectares (merits file, folio 169). Also,
according to the conclusions of the 2007 cadastral report, the State had established that the area occupied
by third parties within the expanded territory amounted to 612.13 hectares (evidence file, folio 38). In its
brief with final arguments, the State ratified that, currently, the inhabitants of Rio Miel occupy a total of
612.13 hectares (merits file, folio 581). Meanwhile, the representatives initially asserted that third parties
had invaded around 670 hectares in 1993; this territory covered the community’s working areas and yuccacultivation areas (merits file, folio 103). Despite this, in their final written arguments, they indicated that,
currently, “the total area occupied by the Rio Miel settlers correspond[ed] to the entire area of the 1999
expansion title, […] which amount[ed] to 1,500 hectares that the settlers have exploited” (merits file, folio
545).
95
Cf. Undertaking signed on December 13, 2001, supra, which established that: “[…] we find that the
Rio Miel community occupies lands covering an area of 605 hectares” (evidence file, folio 30).
96
The Cadastral report of July 12, 2007, was prepared “only with the Rio Miel villagers, without the
presence of the Punta Piedra Garifuna” in order to avoid conflicts between the two communities. Cf. Final
Report on cadastral survey of the expanded area titled to the Punta Piedra Garifuna community of July 12,
2007 (evidence file, folios 36 and 37).
97
Cf. Cadastral report of July 12, 2007, supra (evidence file, folio 38) and Map of the geographic
location of the Punta Piedra Garifuna community, prepared by INA on July 12, 2007 (evidence file, folio 11).
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