114. On August 3, 2007, an inter-institutional cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and the National Police in order to proceed to remove the pentolite from the Sarayaku territory in keeping with the provisional measures ordered by the Court.135 115. On April 22, 2008, the Regulations for the Application of the Social Participation Mechanisms, established in the Environmental Management Act136 were promulgated, regulating, among other aspects, the mechanisms and scope of social participation in environmental management.137 116. Article 57 of Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution, which entered into force on October 20 that year, establishes that “the […] collective rights of the indigenous communes, communities, peoples and nationalities are recognized and shall be protected, in accordance with the Constitution and with human rights conventions, agreements, declarations and other international instruments.” 117. On April 20 2009, the PETROECUADOR Board of Directors decided to lift the suspension of activities in Blocks 23 and 24, decreed on February 6, 2003 (supra para. 102), and ordered the immediate resumption of certain activities mentioned under the partnership contracts.138 118. Based on a note issued by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on May 8, 2009, the oil company had been permitted to resume its activities.139 119. In July 2009, the State reported that it had initiated a negotiation process with CGC to terminate the said partnership contracts.140 120. On October 2, 2009, an inter-institutional cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Non-renewable Natural Resources and the National Police to remove the pentolite from the Sarayaku territory, both from the surface and the material buried deep in block 23, which involved three phases that would be regulated by the Under-Secretary for Hydrocarbon Policy and the National Police of Ecuador through the Intervention and Rescue Group (GIR). 141 121. On December 17, 2009, a “modifying agreement” was approved in order to increase the budget allocated to the plan for “Reparation and Remediation of Environmental Damage” by US$8,640.00.142 The State had remove 14 kilograms of the pentolite buried near the surface.143 135 Cf. Inter-institutional Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and the National Police to proceed with removal of pentolite (evidence file, tome 14, folios 8679 and 8680). 136 Cf. Executive Decree 1040 of April 22, 2008, “Regulations for the Application of the Social Participation Mechanisms established in the Environmental Management Act,” Official Record No. 332 of May 8, 2008. 137 This regulation also annulled Executive Decree No. 3401, Official Record No. 728 of December 19, 2002. 138 Cf. Note dated May 8, 2009, of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (evidence file, tome 9, folio 5228, and tome 14 folio 8661) referring to Resolution No. 080-CAD-2009-04-20 of April 20, 2009, of the Management Council of PETROECUADOR Board of Directors. 139 Cf. Note of May 8, 2009, of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. 140 Cf. Evidence file, tome 9, folio 5232. 141 Cf. Answering brief of the State (merits file, tome 2, folios 496 and 497). 142 Office of the Attorney General of Ecuador, “Modifying Agreement to increase the budget allocation,” of December 17, 2009 (evidence file, tome 14, folio 8707). 143 In the context of the provisional measures, at the end of 2009 the State reported that the pentolite was being removed in two phases: the first phase involved the material found on the surface, a phase that had already been completed and, a second, involving the material buried underground. Regarding the first phase, the State had previously reported that in December 2007 an inter-institutional cooperation agreement had been signed between the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and the Sarayaku People, which concluded in April 2008 with approximately 40% of the preliminary works completed. To complete the rest of the preliminary work, a second agreement was signed between the Sarayaku People and the Ministry in April 2008. In October and December 2009, a new cooperation agreement was signed. In the first phase, the State reported that the explosives on the surface were removed in three sub-phases: a visual search by explosives experts of the Intervention and Rescue Group of Ecuador’s National Police (GIR); a search with technological equipment, and a search with the help of dogs trained to detect explosives. Thus, in July 2009, GIR personnel entered the territory of the Sarayaku and proceeded to conduct a visual search and the manual removal of 14 kilograms of pentolite. This explosive material was burned and detonated in a controlled manner on August 24, 2009, at the Pastaza Provincial Police Station, in the presence of a representative of the Pastaza District Prosecutor’s Office, leaders of the Sarayaku People, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, and the press. The State added that the search area for the explosives was delimited based on the 30