Sr. Carlos De La Torre Muñoz, Quito, Ecuador

FIO celebrated its ninth Annual Congress in Quito from 8 to 11 November 2004.

The Board was informed by the complainant's counsel that FARE DP members had illegally entered the complainant's brother's house in Quito and had destroyed some of the furniture.

2. Calls upon all States to support the States that comprise the Andean Community in promoting the principles and purposes provided for by the Declaration of San Francisco de Quito

3. Encourages the States members of the Andean Community to make every effort to ensure the early fulfilment of the commitments arising from the Declaration of San Francisco de Quito.

13. Welcomes, in this respect, the first regional pilot workshop for dialogue on the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee, held at Quito from 27 to 29 August 2002

In the context of regional efforts to promote space cooperation mechanisms, he recalled that the Fifth Space Conference of the Americas was to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in July 2006.

12. Takes note with interest of the Quito Framework for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights, which serves as a basis for the regional strategy of the Office of the High Commissioner, aimed at strengthening national capacities for the promotion of human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in this regard welcomes the meeting on the enforcement of the system of treaty bodies held in Quito in August 2002

It would be worthwhile for that Government to be invited not only to the preparatory meeting in Chile but also to the Fifth Conference in Quito to share its expertise in the practical application of space technologies.

In response to growing popular demonstrations and protests, President Lucio Gutiérrez, through an executive decree of 15 April 2005, dismissed the Supreme Court which had been appointed illegally on 8 December 2004 and declared a state of emergency in the city of Quito.

The Committee noted with satisfaction that, as noted by the General Assembly in its resolution 59 116, the Government of Ecuador had announced its intention to organize the Fifth Space Conference of the Americas, which would be held in Quito in July 2006.

In August 2004, a regional conference had been held in Quito at which the completion of demining operations in the most heavily populated western sector of the northern frontier of Peru had been discussed and the start of bilateral action in the eastern frontier area between Ecuador and Peru.

The Convention s memorandum of understanding on shark conservation, which lists seven endangered species, has attracted 35 signatories so far. Next month, representatives from these countries will meet in Quito, Ecuador, to discuss extending the list to include the great and scalloped hammerheads, the silky shark, thresher sharks, sawfish, and mobula rays.

11. Takes note with interest of the Quito Framework for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights, which serves as a basis for the regional strategy of the Office of the High Commissioner and aims at strengthening national capacities for the promotion of human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

In the regional course for Latin American countries, held in Quito in February 2004, the topics covered in the two week course included recent developments in international law and the inter American system for the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as international humanitarian law, international criminal law and the law of the sea.

22. Notes with satisfaction that the Government of Ecuador is considering positively hosting the Fifth Space Conference of the Americas, to be held in Quito in the second half of 2005 or in 2006, and that the convening of the Conference will be in accordance with the desire of Member States in the Latin American and Caribbean region to institutionalize the Space Conference of the Americas

22. Further notes with satisfaction that the Government of Ecuador will be hosting the Fifth Space Conference of the Americas in Quito in July 2006 and that the Government of Chile will organize a preparatory meeting for the Conference, with the support of the Government of Colombia, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, during the International Air and Space Fair, to be held in Santiago in March 2006

Further notes with satisfaction that the Government of Ecuador will be hosting the Fifth Space Conference of the Americas in Quito in July 2006 and that the Government of Chile will organize a preparatory meeting for the Conference, with the support of the Government of Colombia, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, during the International Air and Space Fair, to be held in Santiago in March 2006