30 Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. The reform of the Electoral Act depends on the will of the Legislative Assembly. Currently, the special increased majority would only be obtained “by an agreement between the two majority parties.” B) TESTIMONIAL AND EXPERT EVIDENCE 111. On March 9 and 10, 2005, during a public hearing, the Court received the statements of the witnesses proposed by Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the representatives of the alleged victims, and of the expert witnesses proposed by the State and the representatives. The Court will summarize the principal parts of these testimonies and expert evidences below. TESTIMONIES a) Proposed by the Inter-American Commission and the representatives 1. Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, principal leader of YATAMA The witness is Miskito. Most of the population of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua is indigenous. YATAMA emerged in the 1970s as the basic organizational mechanism of the indigenous people of the Atlantic Coast, and since that time has led their struggles and activities. The structure of YATAMA is linked to the traditions, practices and customs of these communities. It is part of their cultural identity. The organization operates on the basis of the active participation of the members of the indigenous people, according to their practices and customs. The leaders and representatives are selected by the communities. The candidates are proposed by the communities; then the communities of a territory meet and select candidates and, lastly, there is a third level corresponding to the regional assemblies, in which the candidates who have been select are ratified. The way that traditional political parties conduct their electoral campaigns does not respond to these practices and customs. In the case of municipal or regional elections, YATAMA allows “all the other people who are not indigenous, such as mestizos,” to take part as candidates. YATAMA decided to enter political life in order to defend the rights of the indigenous communities. It was obliged to transform itself into a political party to comply with the requirements of the 2000 Electoral Act, which eliminated the category of “public subscription association”. The political party is a form of organization alien to the traditions of the indigenous communities. This forced the organization to change from an oral to a written tradition. To comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act, the YATAMA candidates have had to play a political role in territories where there are no indigenous communities. In these areas there are municipalities in which YATAMA has an influence, but also some which are of no interest to the organization. In the 2000 elections, YATAMA complied with the requirements established in the Electoral Act, in both the RAAN and the RAAS. In the latter, YATAMA entered into an alliance with the Coastal People Party (PPC) and the Indigenous Multiethnic Party (PIM). The latter withdrew from the alliance. When it learned that the Coastal People Party did not comply with the legal requirements, YATAMA asked to be allowed to participate in the electoral process under its