51
Law, which would allow “Communities themselves to end the […] communal regimen” and
that “the State [would] use [a] positive legal norm that would normally benefit the peoples,
[…] and it [would] interpret it and apply it in a manner such that it [would] affect the peoples.”
Finally, the representatives indicated that “[a]s a policy of the eight administrations that have
been in office in Honduras after the ratification of Convention [169 of the ILO], they have all
avoided the matter of the enforcement of the right to consultation [and] prior, free, and
informed consent.”
185. On the other hand, the State in general terms referred to the fact that the Constitution
“establishes several principles under which it protects and guarantees the protection of the
human rights of indigenous peoples, their lands and natural resources” and that “these rights
were reaffirmed […] through ratification of Convention 169 of the ILO.” It added that the State
“through the [INA], executing entity of the agrarian policy, carries out actions oriented toward
the recognition of [traditional] lands of the indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities.”196
Likewise, it indicated that the “INA, upon executing its measure through a technical
commission [defines] the boundaries of the area to title to each Community by preparing a
map [and] the delimitation of the boundaries is done once the title is granted prior request of
the interested parties by providing the labor and materials necessary. The institution forwards
it again to the agrarian commission.” Regarding the legislative measures adopted by the
State, it referred, among others, to the creation of the Secretary of State’s Offices of
Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Peoples and reforms to the Criminal Code to “add as an
aggravating circumstance that the crime be committed with hate or contempt because of their
belonging to indigenous and afro-descendent peoples.”197
186. Finally, with regard to the right to prior consultation, the State indicated that “despite
the ratification […] of Convention 169 of the ILO, as well as the signing of the United Nations’
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the State did not include in its domestic
regulation an adaptation as per the mentioned treaties; [since] formally the declaration is not
a binding document for the States because since it is not an International Treaty it has the
category of Declaration, which grants it an important political, ethical, and moral value for all
states members of the United Nations, but it does not create direct legal obligations.”
B. Considerations of the Court
187. The Court recalls that Article 2 of the Convention obliges States Parties to adopt, in
accordance with their constitutional processes and the provisions of the Convention, such
legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to those rights and freedoms
and other rights of those peoples” and that several of its provisions “[would] threaten the obligations taken on by
the State in different international instruments.” The representatives indicated that “on December 15th of the year
2008, once again the Garífuna communities, represented by the OFRANEH […] filed a constitutional motion against
the regulation of the Law on Property, which was declared inadmissible by the Constitutional Court on February 8,
2011, basically substantiating its judgment on civil court regulations.” This constitutional motion as well as the
decision issued by the Constitutional Court in this regard have not been included in the case file.
The State indicated that the titling process for the Communities’ lands consists of three stages, without
referring to the relevant regulations. Namely, titling (including recording before the registry), the “expansion” that
refers to “an extension of the national or communal areas in parts that are not occupied, which are State property
and that have been the habitat of Garífuna Communities,” and “restructuring” that refers to a “process through which
the value of the land is paid for and improvements are introduced by the occupants.”
196
Additionally, the State referred to other regulations, for example regarding non-discrimination, and several
training sessions carried out and addressed to several public officials.
197