A/HRC/16/45/Add.1 illegal armed groups. In Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó agro-businesses have usurped lands of displaced communities to plant African palm. The courts have confirmed the land title held by the communities; however, thousands of hectares remain controlled by illegal armed groups in cooperation with agro-businesses33. VII. The right to consultation and participation in decisionmaking A. Political participation 71. Civil society groups emphasized the poor levels of Afro-Colombian representation in political institutions at all levels. At the time of the independent expert’s visit, there were 10 self-identified Afro-Colombian members of the House of Representatives out of 166 elected members, two of whom occupied seats specifically reserved for Afro-Colombians. The 102-member Senate has no Afro-Colombian members and no reserved seats for AfroColombians, while 2 seats are reserved for indigenous peoples. In the newly elected Government, none of the 13 Cabinet Ministers is Afro-Colombian; there are no AfroColombians on any high court. 72. In the executive and administrative branches of Government there is apparent gross underrepresentation of Afro-Colombians. In the national police and military, AfroColombians are concentrated at the lowest levels. 73. In the departments and municipalities where the population is overwhelmingly AfroColombian, many of the politicians are considered to be corrupt or as not truly representing the interests of Black people. B. Community Councils 74. Law 70, Article 5, requires each community to form a Community Council as its internal administrative body to receive title to ancestral lands. Community Councils are also to oversee the conservation and protection of collective property, the preservation of cultural identity, and the use and conservation of natural resources. Community Councils are required to identify a representative from the respective community to act as a friendly conciliator in internal conflicts. Community Councils offer essential leadership structures and potential for local governance, allowing Afro-Colombians to manage their own affairs. 75. Leaders in Buenaventura and Suárez complained that their Community Councils were being denied registration, effectively denying them the right to claim collective land title and to be consulted over megaprojects. The reasons identified for the denial of registration were often bureaucratic requirements that may not have been met with precision or claims that registration had already been granted to another competing Council claiming legitimacy. Community members and NGOs interpreted both rationales as being ploys to wrest control away from the legitimate representatives in favour of those more compliant with the ultimate purpose of expropriating the land title or enabling use of the land by outside interests. 76. Competing interests related to land ownership are blamed for creating tensions within some communities. In the situation in Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó, it is evident that divisions have emerged within communities and between Community Councils over land 33 See http://www.wola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=viewp&id=870&Itemid=8 17