that the problem was more complicated than a lack of qualified surveyors, however.268 Under a law passed in 1970 and several implementing decrees passed subsequent to the 1998 land law, the Order of Expert Surveyors (l’Ordre des Géomètres Experts de Côte d’Ivoire, or OGE-CI) has a monopoly on performing tasks related to demarcating village and individual property lines.269 According to OGE-CI’s website, which may be outdated, it has “authorized” 29 total surveyors, though only one surveyor for the entire area that this report examines.270 The land expert told Human Rights Watch that the Order has lobbied hard to maintain its monopoly, keeping out other potentially qualified people who could perform the relevant tasks.271 A wider pool of experts would help accelerate the process of boundary demarcation and likely reduce associated costs for landowners. A 2009 report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said that the small number of surveyors authorized to demarcate Côte d’Ivoire’s approximately 20 million hectares of rural land was a “serious handicap that may slow the implementation of the [1998] land law.”272 No Sanctions for Illegal Sales Another cause of massive land dispossession after the post-election crisis is the absence of penal sanctions—whether a fine or prison time—for people who engage in illegal sales. This is facilitated by the apparent reluctance of village chiefs, sub-prefects, and some victims to refer cases to the gendarmerie for investigation. 268 Human Rights Watch email correspondence with land expert, location withheld, September 2013. 269 Arrêté n°034 du 04 juillet 2002 fixant les modalités d’inscription sur la liste d’agrément des Opérateurs Techniques pouvant effectuer les opérations de délimitation des biens fonciers du Domaine Foncier Rural, Journal Officiel N° 33 du jeudi 15 aout 2002, http://www.clubua-ci.org/thematique-foncier-rural.php (accessed September 4, 2013); Décret n°99-595 du 13 octobre 1999 fixant la procédure de consolidation des droits des concessionnaires provisoires de terres du Domaine Foncier Rural, http://www.droit-afrique.com/ (accessed September 4, 2013), art. 3; and Loi n° 70-487 du 3 Août 1970 instituant l’Ordre des Géomètres-Experts en réglementant le titre et la profession, http://www.loidici.com/ (accessed September 4, 2013). 270 See L’Ordre des Géomètres Experts de Côte d’Ivoire, “Liste des Géomètres experts agréés,” http://geometre- expert.ci/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=85 (accessed September 4, 2013) (listing 29 authorized surveyors); and L’Ordre des Géomètres Experts de Côte d’Ivoire, “Tableau de régionalisation,” http://geometreexpert.ci/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=77 (accessed September 4, 2013) (listing one authorized surveyor for the region of Moyen Cavally, the former administrative area which has now been divided into Guémon and Cavally regions). 271 Human Rights Watch email correspondence with land expert, location withheld, September 2013. 272 IDMC and NRC, “Whose land is this?” October 2009, p. 20. A report from July 2012 suggests that there were 28 authorized surveyors at that time. Centre de Cartographie et de Télédiction, “Côte d’Ivoire : Etat de la production cartographique et de la gestion des informations géographiques de référence,” July 2012, http://ggim.un.org/2nd%20Session/country%20reports/RAPPORT%20PAYS%20DE%20LA%20Cote%20D%20I%20voire_% 20BNETD%20CCT%202012.pdf (accessed August 29, 2013), p. 11. 87 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2013