26. With respect to the friendly settlement proceedings begun under the aegis of the IACHR, the petitioners gave notice, on January 19, 2002, that they were withdrawing from the negotiations; this was a decision taken by the community’s members, in light of the fact that continuing with the process would only delay any resolution of the complaint. B. The State 27. In its first filing of comments on the complaint, the State noted its interest in beginning friendly settlement proceedings; it also stated its willingness to establish a negotiating panel with the petitioners, in order to better understand this petition in light of the experience it had gained during the processing of Case 11.173, Enxet-Lamenxay and Kayleyphapopyet (Riachito) Indigenous Communities. 28. The State also informed the Commission about Presidential Decree No. 3789/99 of June 23, 1999, which declared a state of emergency in the Yakye Axa community and ordered that they be provided with medical and nutritional assistance. The relevant paragraphs of this decree read as follows: That, in turn, the Yakye Axa community of the Enxet Lengua people, numbering fiftyseven families, are claiming 15,000 hectares of their traditional territory, awaiting the resolution of that claim, and dwelling opposite the lands claimed, alongside the same Colorado to Concepción road, at Km 80. That these communities are denied access to the traditional means of subsistence associated with their cultural identity, through the owners’ ban on their entry into the habitat they claim as a part of their ancestral territories. That this circumstance, currently under administrative and judicial examination, hinders the normal pursuit of these native communities’ lives because of the lack of the minimum necessary nutritional means and medical assistance, and it is a source of concern for the Government that requires an urgent response. That since overseeing the preservation of the nation’s indigenous peoples is a matter of public interest in accordance with provisions clearly set down in Chapter V of the National Constitution, in Law 904/84 “Statute of Indigenous Communities,” and in Law 234/93 “Adoption of ILO Convention 169,” and since it is an obligation of the State to provide public assistance and help to prevent or address urgent needs, as provided by the aforesaid laws, such assistance should be rendered to the Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa indigenous communities. NOW THEREFORE, The President of the Republic of Paraguay decrees that: Art. 1: A state of emergency is declared among the Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa indigenous communities of the Enxet Lengua people in Pozo Colorado district, Presidente Hayes department, of the Paraguayan Chaco. Art. 2: The Paraguayan Indigenous Institute, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare shall take appropriate steps for the immediate provision of medical and nutritional assistance to the families that make up these communities for as long as the judicial proceedings relating to the legal status of the land they claim as their traditional habitat remain ongoing. 6 6 Decree Nº 3789/99, President of the Republic of Paraguay. 5