Aceldo met with the President of the Canelos Parish Committee, who warned the lieutenant that “if the decisions taken by Canelos not to allow passage through Canelos territory are not respected, confrontation [will] increase.”129 110. The State sent a security contingent consisting of 10 officers to the area. Police Lieutenant Aceldo Argoti, who was there, stated: […] all the inhabitants [of Canelos] were gathering in order to prevent people from Sarayaku from going to Puyo, to the march for peace and for life […]. I went to the Cuyas sector to await the arrival of the people from Sarayaku. [A]t about 1.00 p.m., five people arrived, but, as of that moment, the inhabitants of Canelos indicated their clear refusal to allow any movement through and therefore, around 500 meters from where we were, they cut down a tree in the pathway to prevent us from leaving […]; immediately our personnel provided protection, to avoid further mishaps; […] on the other side of the bridge near the school they had found around 110 people from Sarayaku, […] so we strengthened passage on the bridge with a police barricade but our efforts were not sufficient because the police barricade was destroyed, at which point they began to chase the people from Sarayaku, arming themselves with sticks; we tried to avoid the confrontation making every effort. They chased them for 10 minutes, and caught up with some of them, causing a fight to break out in which some people were injured.130 111. During this incident, some members of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku were injured, among them: Hilda Santi Gualinga, Silvio David Malaver Santi, Laureano Gualinga, Edgar Gualinga Machoa, José Luís Gualinga Vargas, Victoria Santi Malaver, Marco Gualinga, Héctor Santi Manya, Marco Santi Vargas, Alonso Isidro Gualinga Machoa, Heriberto Gualinga Santi, Jorge Santi Guerra, Aura Cuji Gualinga, María Angélica Santi Gualinga, Clotilde Gualinga, Emerson Alejando Shiguango Manya, Romel F. Cisneros Dahua, Jimy Leopoldo Santi Gualinga, Franco Tulio Viteri Gualinga and Cesar Santi.131 112. Owing to these events, on December 5, 2003, the Ombudsman of the province of Pastaza opened a complaint procedure ex officio and issued a decision in which he concluded that leaders and members of the Indigenous People of Canelos were responsible for: (a) flagrant violation of the right to move freely throughout national territory, a right guaranteed and recognized in article 23-14 of the Constitution of the Republic; (b) a criminal offense, established and penalized in article 129 of the Criminal Code, and (c) violation of article 12(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.132 113. In addition, based on a report by the Ombudsman’s Office, on December 9, 2003, the Pastaza District Prosecutor initiated a preliminary inquiry into these events.133 The Prosecutor carried out some investigation measures.134 I. Facts subsequent to the suspension of CGC activities 129 Cf. Report of the Canelos Parish Committee on the confrontation between the People of Canelos and the People of Sarayaku, folio 5112. Also see police report of December 4, 2003 (evidence file, tome 9, folios 5116 and 5117). 130 Report submitted to the 16th Provincial Commander of Pastaza of December 4, 2003, signed by Police Lieutenant Wilman Oliver Aceldo Argoti, (evidence file, tome 9, folios 5135 a 5137). Also see Preliminary Inquiry 845-2003 mentioning the confrontation (evidence file, tome 16, folio 9230 and ff.). 131 Cf. Medical certificates of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Department of Legal Medicine and Forensic Science, December 9, 2003 (evidence file, tome 9, folio 5149 and ff.), Pastaza Police report No. 16 of December 5, 2003, signed by Police Lieutenant Patricio Campaña, photos taken at the hospital (evidence file, tome 11, folio 6578 and ff.); Preliminary Inquiry 845-2003 mentioning the confrontation, folios 9230 and ff. 132 Cf. Initial measure taken in investigation opened ex officio by the Ombudsman’s Office of the province of Pastaza on December 5, 2003, annex 45 to the application. 133 Cf. Preliminary inquiry 845-2003 confirming the confrontation, folio 9230 and ff. 134 Cf. Preliminary inquiry of December 9, 2003 (evidence file, tome 16, folios 9253 and 9254); Record of appointment of expert witnesses of December 9, 2003 (evidence file, tome 16, folio 9255); Record of forensic medical examination of December 9, 2003 (evidence file, tome 16, folios 9256 to 9295); statements of suspects taken on May 4, 5, 14 and 20, and June 4 and 8, 2004 (evidence file, tome 16, folios 9313 to 9370); witness statement of June 10, 2004 (evidence file, tome 16, folios 9371 and 9372), and report on inspection of the scene of the events involving Sarayaku and Canelos, of April 23, 2004 (evidence file, tome 16, folios 9359 to 9360). 29