25 Starting in the 1990s, a whole process of harassment began because, when the Municipality sold the land to the entrepreneurs, they needed to evict the Garífunas who were growing coconuts and cassava in the area. So they began to slash their plants and burn the coconut palms to frighten the members of the Community into leaving the area, saying that if they went they would get checks of 750 or 800 lempiras and that the land no longer belonged to the Community, but rather to the Municipal Mayor’s office, so that if they did not accept the money, they would have to leave 92 anyway. Those were the first threats the Community received. i) Criminal proceedings before the Office of the Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage of the Office of the Attorney General on account of illegal sales of land 110. On September 17, 1994, the Committee for the Defense of the Land, CODETT, filed a complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage of the Office of the Attorney General (hereinafter “Office of the Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups”) regarding sales conducted by the Municipality , in which it stated that: Our Committee considers that this sale of land was illegal because, although took part in the sale of land, the local authorities in Triunfo de la Cruz, did not inform the members of the Community about it, as was their duty. No assembly of the Community was held to study the sales plan or elicit its approval, contrary to custom, nor was the people told about the expansion of the urban core of Tela 93 sic . 111. According to the evidence provided, pursuant to that complaint, the Chief Public Prosecutor of Tela sent a memorandum to the Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups on December 15, 1994, 94 informing him of the sales carried out by the Municipal Mayor’s Office in Tela to IDETRISA. In light of that memo, on December 16, 1994, the Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups asked the Chief Public Prosecutor 95 in Tela, through Official Letter FEEPC-005/94, to conduct investigations. 112. . On January 30, 1995, Alfredo López Álvarez, President of CODETT, and Gregoria Flores, wrote to the Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups of the Office of the Attorney General asking for information regarding the status of investigations “given that the Triunfo de la Cruz Community’s problem had not been resolved.” According to the information at the disposal of the IACHR, the Chief Public 92 Testimony of Gregoria Flores Martínez at the public hearing held before the Inter-American Court on June 28, 2005, in Case Alfredo López v. Honduras. Along the same lines, Beatriz Ramos Bernárdez, member of the community, stated in her testimony before the IACHR: "They arrived with the complicity of a persons who was working as a magistrate, a Garífuna of Triunfo de la Cruz, together with the Mayor. They went to the Community to intimidate the people, telling them that if they did not sell their land, it would be taken away from them without payment. Those who objected were told that they had to hand over their I.D. so that they could regularize the lot they were working on. Many fell for that trap and were surprised to find them coming to their homes at midnight to give them a handful of one-lempira notes totaling 200, 300, 500, or 1,000 lempiras and that was all the payment they made to many who had been working for years in the Community and their forebears before them. Those who objected had their cassava slashed and set fire to." IACHR, Public Hearing dated March 2nd, 2007 on “Case 12.548 –Garífuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz, Honduras”, 127th period of sessions. Testimony of Beatriz Ramos Bernárdez. 93 That same complaint contained a request for investigation into a second case of illegal sales by members of the Community of 38 manzanas in the south-east part of Triunfo de la Cruz to “David Zaccaro Morlachi.” Annex 23. Complaint filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage on September 17, 1994. Annex 16 of the initial petition dated October 27, 2003, received by the IACHR on October 29, 2003. Community leaders said they had received threats as a result of this complaint. - Annex 20. Document titled “La Comunidad histórica del Triunfo de la Cruz fundada el 3 de mayo de 1524 lugar donde se encuentra el histórico Cerro Triunfo de la Cruz” [The historic Community of Triunfo de la Cruz, founded on May 3, 1524 where the historic Cerro Triunfo de la Cruz site is located]” produced by the Land Defense Committee of Triunfo de la Cruz. Annex 12 of the initial petition dated October 27, 2003, received by the IACHR on October 29, 2003. 94 Annex 24. Memorandum from the Chief Prosecutor in Tela on the “Preliminary Report on Alleged Illegal Sales of Land of the Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz” dated December 15, 1994. Annex 17 of the initial petition dated October 27, 2003, received by the IACHR on October 29, 2003. 95 Annex 25. Official Letter FEEPC-005/94 from the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage to the Chief Prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General, dated December 16, 1994. Annex 17 of the initial petition dated October 27, 2003, received by the IACHR on October 29, 2003.