53
main means of survival, but also because they form part of their worldview, of their religiousness,
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and consequently, of their cultural identity.
203.
In light of the above, it is clear that the Honduran legal system expressly recognizes, and
obliges the State to guarantee, the Indigenous peoples’ right to property, including that of the Garífuna
Community of Triunfo de la Cruz. By virtue of Articles 21 and 29 of the American Convention, those
provisions are protected by the Convention.
204.
Based on the facts considered proved in the instant case, the IACHR observes that State
authorities took part in actions and omissions that deprived the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and its
members of recognition of its right to its ancestral property, as well as the use and effective enjoyment of
their lands and natural resources. It further considers that that has to do with the existence of
shortcomings in the legal framework that have prevented the Garífuna people in Honduras and, in
particular, the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz, from being able to protect the territories they have
historically occupied. The IACHR will now proceed to analyze compliance with those obligations by the
State and will point out, where applicable, related shortcomings in the domestic legal order.
i)
Right to a suitable and culturally appropriate title deed for its ancestral territory
205.
As the IACHR and Inter-American Court have established, by virtue of Article 21 of the
American Convention, the indigenous peoples are entitled to tenure rights and ownership over the land
and resources they have occupied historically; therefore, they have the right to be legally recognized as
the owners of their territories and to obtain formal legal title to their lands and to have these titles duly
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registered. The collective right to property of indigenous lands implies a collective title to territory, that
is, the recognition of an equally collective title to property over such lands that reflects the community
property of the land, with due respect for indigenous peoples’ forms of internal organization with regard to
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land tenure.
206.
The IACHR has also pointed out that, with respect to indigenous and tribal peoples,
States are obliged to “grant lands, at no cost, of sufficient extent and quality to conserve and develop their
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ways of life.” Lands shall be deemed of sufficient extent and quality if they guarantee for the members
of the Community the ongoing exercise of the activities from which they derive their sustenance and
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which enable them to preserve their culture.
207.
Pursuant to inter-American human rights instruments, indigenous and tribal peoples are
entitled to recognition and protection of “their particular versions of the right to the use and enjoyment of
268
I/A Court H.R. Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua. Judgment of August 31, 2001.
Series C No. 79. paragraph 149. Case of the Yakye Axa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of June 17, 2005. Series C No. 125, paragraph 137; Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay.
Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of March 29, 2006. Series C No. 146, paragraph 118.
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See inter alia I/A Court H.R. Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua. Judgment of August
31, 2001. Series C No. 79. paragraph 137; IACHR, Report No. 40/04, Case 12.053, Maya Indigenous Communities of the Toledo
District (Belize), October 12, 2004, paragraph 115.
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I/A Court H.R. Case of the Saramaka People v. Suriname. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of
November 28, 2007. Series C No. 172, paragraph 194. IACHR, Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru. Doc.
OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106, Doc. 59 rev., June 2nd, 2000, paragraph 39 ; IACHR, Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights
in Paraguay. Doc. OEA/Ser./L/VII.110, Doc. 52, March 9, 2001, paragraph 45.
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IACHR, Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Paraguay. Doc. OEA/Ser./L/VII.110, Doc. 52, March 9, 2001,
Chapter IX, paragraph 50, Recommendation 1.
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The IACHR has thus recommended States ”[t]o promptly adopt any such measures as may be necessary to enforce
the right to property and possession of the ancestral territory of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community of the Enxet-Lengua
people and its members, specifically to delimit, demarcate and convey them title to their lands pursuant to their customary law,
values, usage and customs, and to guarantee the members of the Community the exercise of their traditional subsistence activities”.
[IACHR, Report No. 73/04, Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community (Paraguay), October 19, 2004, Recommendation 1.
Referenced in: I/A Court H.R. Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of March 29, 2006. Series C No. 146, paragraph 8].