2 Takanka (hereinafter “YATAMA”). The Commission alleged that these candidates were excluded from participating in the municipal elections held on November 5, 2000, in the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic Autonomous Regions (hereinafter “RAAN” and “RAAS”), as a result of a decision issued on August 15, 2000, by the Supreme Electoral Council. The application stated that the alleged victims filed several recourses against this decision and, finally, on October 25, 2000, the Supreme Court of Justice of Nicaragua declared that the application for amparo that they had filed was inadmissible. The Commission indicated that the State had not provided a recourse that would have protected the right of these candidates to participate and to be elected in the municipal elections of November 5, 2000, and it had not adopted the legislative or other measures necessary to make these rights effective; above all, it had not provided for “norms in the electoral law that would facilitate the political participation of the indigenous organizations in the electoral processes of the Atlantic Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua, in accordance with the customary law, values, practices and customs of the indigenous people who reside there.” 3. The Commission also requested the Court, in accordance with Article 63(1) of the Convention, to order the State to adopt the specific measures of reparation described in the application. Lastly, it requested the Court to order the State to pay the costs and expenses arising from processing the case in the domestic jurisdiction and before the organs of the inter-American system. II JURISDICTION 4. The Court is competent to hear this case, according to the terms of Articles 62 and 63(1) of the Convention, because Nicaragua has been a State Party to the American Convention since September 25, 1979, and accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on February 12, 1991. III PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION 5. On April 26, 2001, YATAMA, the Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos (hereinafter “CENIDH”) and the Center for Justice and International Law (hereinafter “CEJIL”) filed a petition before the Commission. 6. On December 3, 2001, the Commission adopted Report No. 125/01, in which it declared the case admissible. The same day, the Commission made itself available to the parties in order to reach a friendly settlement. 7. On March 4, 2003, pursuant to Article 50 of the Convention, the Commission adopted Report No. 24/03, in which it recommended that the State should: 1. Adopt, in its domestic laws, in accordance with Article 2 of the American Convention, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to establish an effective and simple recourse to contest the resolutions of the Supreme Electoral Council, without limitations as regards the matter contested. 2. Adopt, in its domestic laws, in accordance with Article 2 of the American Convention, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to promote and facilitate the electoral participation of the indigenous people and the organizations that represent them, consulting them, and taking into consideration and respecting the customary law, values, practices and customs of the indigenous people residing in the Autonomous Regions on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.