Lack of Financial Support from Government Several sub-prefects in western Côte d’Ivoire are doing impressive work trying to resolve land disputes, but they are constrained by the lack of financial and technical support from the central government. The result is a serious delay in resolving disputes, increasing the potential for inter-communal clashes and depriving those who suffered land dispossession while displaced the right to regain their property. Principle 12 of the Pinheiro Principles calls on governments to establish and support— including financially and through personnel—mechanisms working to resolve claims of land and property restitution related to displacement, so that restitution may be done in a “just and timely manner.”218 The lack of financing and support for the sub-prefectural land committees puts the government in breach of these Principles. A sub-prefect interviewed by Human Rights Watch said he had a “problem of lack of equipment and a problem of lack of personnel,” which constrained his ability to resolve disputes in a timely fashion.219 Another sub-prefect said there was no government vehicle for him to use to travel to areas of land conflict, so he used his personal car if the village was nearby and borrowed a vehicle from a local cooperative if the village was further away. This left him both beholden to their vehicles’ availability and, as he recognized, “What will happen tomorrow if they’re involved in a land dispute? I will have solicited them for help in the past, and people will say that I’m not independent [in deciding the dispute].”220 Another local government official involved in resolving land conflicts in western Côte d’Ivoire said that his biggest need was to have one or two motorbikes at his disposal. He was currently using his private car, which could not go to all of the villages and campements in the area—particularly during the rainy season, which runs from around April to July and again from October to November. He said: “If I had a motorbike, if there was a village with 5, 6, 7 cases of land conflict, I could resolve all of them in a day or two. I could go out on the ground, visit the forest in question, hear the parties, and fill out the PV (procès verbal) that day.”221 218 Pinheiro Principles, principle 12. 219 Human Rights Watch interview with sub-prefect, western Côte d’Ivoire, date withheld. 220 Human Rights Watch interview with sub-prefect, western Côte d’Ivoire, date withheld. 221 Human Rights Watch interview with local government official, western Côte d’Ivoire, June 2013. “THAT LAND IS MY FAMILY’S WEALTH” 74