A woman works on a plantation of rubber seedlings near San Pedro. Despite their regular involvement in
working the land in Côte d’Ivoire, many women face discrimination in formalizing their claims to land
ownership. March 9, 2012. © 2012 REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon
Lack of Enforcement, Difficulty Finding Consensus
Many customary authorities involved in resolving land disputes linked to the crisis
described difficulties in getting illegal sellers or occupants to accept their authority. The
nature of the disputes is also such that the traditional customary solution—a “win-win”
compromise—is more difficult to find.
Village chiefs and people with claims of dispossession bemoaned opposing parties’
refusal to appear when customary authorities summoned them to hearings. At times, it
is an alleged illegal seller—another Guéré—who refuses to appear; at other times, it is
the alleged illegal occupant, a non-native. Some customary authorities told Human
Rights Watch they had issued five or even ten summonses, with the party never
appearing.200 A summons issued by a village chief does not have the legal power to
compel attendance, and village chiefs said that they cannot legally appeal to the
200 Human Rights Watch interviews with village chiefs and elders, western Côte d’Ivoire, February and June 2013.
“THAT LAND IS MY FAMILY’S WEALTH”
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