residents who have lived in Côte d’Ivoire since before independence, as well as to their descendants; and to people born to foreign nationals in Côte d’Ivoire between December 1961 and January 1973, as well as to their descendants.67 The law also allows these people to make their claim for Ivorian citizenship through a declaration, rather than the normal naturalization process.68 The political opposition and at least some civil society groups expressed frustration over the lack of consultation with relevant stakeholders before the National Assembly debated and passed the laws.69 According to its letter response to Human Rights Watch, the Ivorian government does not currently have plans for additional reforms to the 1998 law on rural land tenure.70 A potentially divisive question will be how citizenship conferred under the new nationality law impacts previous acquisitions of land, since only Ivorian nationals can own land under the 1998 law. That question is outside the scope of this report. With this report, Human Rights Watch aims to capture the prevailing situation of land conflict in western Côte d’Ivoire and to offer recommendations for sustainable solutions to those conflicts, grounded in the equal protection of land and property rights. Western Côte d’Ivoire has experienced some of the country’s worst atrocities over the last decade and could prove host to more atrocities if land issues are not resolved. Reducing tensions in western Côte d’Ivoire will require significant work at the local level to address complaints related to illegal land seizures that occurred while people were displaced by the postelection crisis. Marcoussis peace agreement. See Texte de l’Accord de Linas-Marcoussis, January 24, 2003, http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/cote-d-ivoire/colonne-droite-1347/documents-de-reference/article/accordde-linas-marcoussis (accessed August 30, 2013), annexe, paras. 1-3. For a July 2005 decree from President Gbagbo that opened up the naturalization process for one year, see Décision n° 2005-04/PR du 15 juillet 2005 portant dispositions spéciales en matière de naturalisation, http://www.refworld.org/docid/452511b84.html (accessed August 30, 2013). Whether due to poor dissemination of the relevant laws, the difficulty of the naturalization process, barriers erected by government officials, or lack of interest from the relevant populations, few potential beneficiaries went through the process. 67 Loi portant dispositions particulières en matière d’acquisition de la nationalité par déclaration, http://www.assnat.ci/sites/default/files/PROJET%20DE%20LOI%20ACQUISITION%20DE%20LA%20NATIONALITE.pdf (accessed September 19, 2013); Ange Aboa, “Ivory Coast lawmakers pass critical land, nationality laws,” Reuters, August 23, 2013. 68 Loi portant dispositions particulières en matière d’acquisition de la nationalité par déclaration, arts. 3-7. 69 See “La CSCI et SOS Exclusion demandent le report du vote de la loi sur l’apatridie,” Agence Ivoirienne de Presse, August 11, 2013, http://news.abidjan.net/h/467649.html (accessed August 29, 2013); “Côte d’Ivoire: lois sur la nationalité, ‘une bombe à retardement’ (opposant),” Agence France-Presse, August 26, 2013, http://news.abidjan.net/h/469998.html (accessed August 29, 2013); and “Projets de lois sur la nationalité et le Foncier rural: Voici la position du MFA,” Le Démocrate, August 16, 2013, http://news.abidjan.net/h/468971.html (accessed August 29, 2013). 70 Letter from Gnénéma Coulibaly, minister of justice, human rights, and public liberties, to Human Rights Watch, September 13, 2013, p. 9. 27 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2013