5 new cooperation agreement was signed. In the first phase, the State informed that the removal of the explosives from the surface was completed in three sub-phases – visual search by the explosive technicians of the Intervention and Rescue Group (GIR) of the National Police of Ecuador, search with technological equipments and search with the help of explosive detection dogs. Hence, in July 2009, the GIR personnel entered the territory of the Sarayaku People and proceeded to conduct a visual search and manual removal of 14 kilograms of pentolite, explosive material that was burn and detonated in a controlled manner on August 24, 2009, at the Provincial Police Headquarters of Pastaza, in the presence of a representative of the Government Attorney’s Office of Pastaza, leaders of the Sarayaku people, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and press media. The State further alleged that the search for explosives was conducted in an area demarcated according to the information provided by the community. The second phase, that is, the removal of the material from the subsurface, is still incomplete due to disagreements with the members of the community regarding the method to be used, but the State sustained that such material placed in the subsurface does not represent a danger for the community, given the depth in which the explosives are buried. Finally, the State indicated that it does not have specific information regarding the amount of explosive buried in the territory in question, given that there is only one report of the CGC company which would account for the explosives admitted at a military base used as operations center, but that there is no information on the entry of said explosives in the territory. 9. The representatives expressed that the removal of the pentolite is urgent and that it must be conducted as soon as possible, given that the territory, in which the Sarayaku Indigenous People is settled, constitutes a legacy of their survival and existence. To this end, the representatives alleged that the removal activities that ended up in the destruction of barely 14 kilograms of explosive, out of the 1400 kilograms there would be buried in there, had negative consequences for the community insofar as such destruction had serious environmental and, as a result, cultural impacts which seem out-of-proportion in relation to the amount of explosives the State would have removed so far. In this respect, they presented an evaluation of the socio-cultural impact of the removal of explosives from the surface. Therefore, they expressed their concern about the impact that the completion of the next phases may have. They sustain that it is the technical responsibility of the State to determine the areas where the explosives were placed and that it is necessary to hold consultations with other experts in order to identify the less intrusive and more respectful manner to the environment and the worldview of the Sarayaku People to proceed with the removal of the explosives. Furthermore, they expressed that it falls upon the State to determine the location of the explosives, given that the inspection of the land and the determination of the level of danger of the explosives was completed five years ago and yet the State indicates it has uncertain information. 10. Prior to the hearing, the Commission had valued, on different occasions, the efforts made by the State and the representatives to remove the explosive material placed in the Sarayaku territory, but it expressed its concern about the declaration of the gradual progress upon considering that this should have been done as soon as practicable, given that the explosives represent a potential danger and a very important environmental liability which hinder the access to an vast area of the territory and entail a permanent risk to the life and integrity of the members of Sarayaku. At the hearing, in response to the doubts expressed by the State regarding the existence and quantity of explosive in the area, the Commission made reference to a document of the National Direction of Environmental Protection [Dirección Nacional de Protección Ambiental], furnished within the framework of the