The State further argues that the Secretariat of Labor demands that an individual contract be entered into between employers and workers, as an indispensable requirement for authorizing the fishing boats to weigh anchor, before which it performs on-site inspections of them and, during the off-season, it is seen to it that the workers receive the material, equipment, and training necessary and that repeat diving be planned. 23. The State argues that to reduce the incidence of accidents due to decompression syndrome in the population of divers, and to propose productive alternatives for the development of the Mosquitia region, in 2004 it created the “Inter-institutional Commission for Reorganizing Commercial Fishing by Diving.” In this regard, it describes the activities carried out by this commission to control and improve the conditions for underwater fishing.28 It also argues that it guarantees health promotion through training on safe diving and that through its hospital network it ensures disability prevention and complete reparations for the divers affected by their underwater fishing activity. In addition, it indicates that support has been given to the organizations for protecting divers, with a L.200,000.00 subsidy allocated by the Secretariat of Government and Justice to the Asociación de Misquitos Hondureños de Buzos Lisiados (Association of Disabled Honduran Miskitu divers) through the Coordinadora de Instituciones y Asociaciones de Rehabilitación de Honduras (Coordinating Body of Rehabilitation Institutors and Associations of Honduras) in 2004 and 2005. 24. In conclusion, the Honduran State indicates that it has social security, health, and labor policies aimed at the population engaged in underwater fishing, who have a legal body that regulates labor relations between employers and workers, the procedures to be followed, the institutions, and the competent personnel to whom the persons affected can turn to demand respect for and observance of their rights. Finally, it asks that the petition be found inadmissible on grounds of failure to exhaust domestic remedies. IV. A. ANALYSIS OF ADMISSIBILITY Competence ratione personae, ratione temporis, ratione loci and ratione materiae of the Inter-American Commission 25. The petitioners are authorized by Article 44 of the American Convention to file petitions with the IACHR. 26. The petitioners present as the alleged victims 48 Miskitu divers who were individually identified in paragraph 15 of this report, and the members of the Miskitu people who were and are engaged in underwater fishing in the department of Gracias a Dios 29, who 28 The Honduran State indicates that the Inter-institutional Commission on Diving held a training session in the city of La Ceiba June 15 to 18, 2004 and a Course on Safe Diving in Guanaja June 10 to 12, 2004, as a result of which 180 persons were trained, including captains and intermediaries who hire divers; in addition, the General Bureau of Merchant Marine trained 94 divers from June 7 to 12, 2004, through a Course on Safe Diving Techniques. It notes that the efforts to provide training fostered by the State have trained 1,225 divers as of February 2005. In addition, the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security has performed inspections on the boats through the Occupational Safety and Health Inspector, which in 2004 performed 31 inspections of lobster boats. It indicates that the Honduran Navy performed inspections of 23 boats in the city of La Ceiba, 23 vessels on the island of Guanaja, and 10 vessels on the Island of Roatán from June to August 2004. 29 According to information from international organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization, in the department of Gracias a Dios there are approximately 9,000 divers, most of them members of the Miskitu people, 4,200 of whom have suffered some degree of

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