IVORY COAST: Illegal land sales in cocoa belt could reignite fresh violence, warns HRW

Record ID: 182382

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Illegal land sales in cocoa belt could reignite fresh violence, warns HRW
  • Date: 10th October 2013
  • Summary: DUEKOUE, IVORY COAST (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE SEATED UNDER A TENT VARIOUS OF OLD WOMAN HOLDING SMALL CHILD VARIOUS OF DAMAGED HOUSES
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVAECJ828OE7QW3SGB6827EYCRXA
  • Story Text: Rampant illegal land sales in the wake of Ivory Coast's 2011 post-election civil war have dispossessed thousands of farmers of their land and raised the likelihood of fresh violence in the world's leading cocoa grower, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its latest report.
    Some 3,000 people were killed in the brief armed conflict that broke out after incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to acknowledge defeat at the hands of his rival Alassane Ouattara in a run-off poll in late 2010.
    Around 200,000 Ivorians - mainly Gueres, an ethnic group considered loyal to Gbagbo - fled to neighbouring Liberia fearing reprisals by Ouattara's supporters.
    When they returned many found their land occupied by new owners.
    "We visited 42 villages in the West of the country, where we found that most people there had their land taken away from them, while they fled during the post election period. These people, who were mainly from the Guere tribe, and typically seen as pro Gbagbo, fled the conflict, and came back only to find their land have been occupied by migrants from Burkina Faso" said Human Rights Watch researcher for the Africa division, Matthew Wells.
    The report also pointed out that land dispossession is seen as a far more existential threat, likely to provoke inter-communal violence, as it imperils livelihoods both present and future.
    Western Ivory Coast, home to the country's richest farmland and its most productive cocoa plantations, has a long history of tensions related to land that often take on an ethnic dimension.
    Gbagbo manipulated sensitive land issues to bolster his support among the so-called native groups in the west.
    Pro-Gbagbo militias, often composed of Guere youth, terrorised so-called outsiders - immigrants from neighbouring countries and migrants from elsewhere in Ivory Coast - following the country's first 2002-2003 war.
    "Given that these people whose land was taken away illegally were linked to the former regime, it's a very sensitive question. It's a question that requires the government's attention and for it to act swiftly, in order to guarantee the return of the land that have been sold illegally," added Wells.
    Gueres have often complained they are now victims of a revenge campaign, including land seizures by armed Ouattara allies.
    And while HRW discovered several such instances, in the vast majority of cases it found that land had in fact been illegally sold, usually by other Gueres misrepresenting themselves as the rightful owners.
    While HRW documented in detail 117 cases of land dispossession, it believes such cases number in the thousands.
    One local official told HRW he had received 800 complaints related to land since the 2011 crisis. Another said he deals with between four and eight cases a day.
    But a lack of central government support for local authorities' efforts to tackle the problem has led to backlogs and delays. A failure to prosecute those involved in illegal sales has further heightened local tensions.
    According to the report, customary and administrative officials could not point to a single case in which sanctions had been imposed-even when an illegal land seller's acts amounted to theft and fraud.
    Local activists the land issue is further complicated by the fact there are no proper land demarcation in villages, leading to inter-communal clashes related to land disputes.
    "When I talk about securing the land, what I mean of is to first and foremost demarcate the areas around the villages. It's very important to demarcate these villages because there are many inter-communal conflicts due to the issue of demarcation. We need to give the opportunity to those who own land according to customary law, to be able to benefit and acquire a title deed in this rural context," said activist Victor Naclan.
    In a written response to HRW, the government said it was aware of the problem and planned to support local government efforts to handle such cases. It also said it had set aside funding to demarcate 1,300 rural villages to reduce confusion over customary jurisdictions.
    But meanwhile, some have already taken justice into their own hands, HRW said, adding that tension over land dispossession is mounting in western Ivory Coast, with residents often referring to it as a "bomb" that may explode if the government does not quickly take action to ensure restitution to rightful owners.
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