forces in 2012—who told them to leave. [The Burkinabés] left for a couple days, but by a week later, they were working in my forest again. The subprefect has helped us a lot, but the guys there don’t want to leave.124 Illegal occupation of land by force while people were displaced within Côte d’Ivoire or as refugees violates the landowners’ rights as set out in international law.125 Allegations that the illegal occupants fought alongside pro-Ouattara forces during the crisis makes even more urgent the obligation on the Ivorian government to remove and, where appropriate, ensure the criminal investigation of the illegal occupants. The failure to do so risks stoking further conflict by fostering the perception that those who fought with pro-Ouattara forces can act with total impunity. Better Security Force Behavior, though Security Concerns Remain Throughout western Côte d’Ivoire, the general human rights situation appears to be slowly improving. Even between Human Rights Watch’s February and June 2013 missions, improvements were evident, often manifested in Guéré residents saying that they were more at ease and less restricted by security or human rights concerns. Outside of extortion and racketeering, which affects all communities,126 the Guéré population generally voiced few complaints during the time of the research about the security forces, including the military, known as the Republican Forces (or FRCI). In a region where members of the FRCI committed some of their worst crimes during the crisis, largely against the Guérés,127 and played a role in the July 2012 destruction of an IDP camp housing mostly Guérés,128 the reduction in serious security force abuses has helped rebuild at least some confidence with the Guéré population. Guérés throughout the region described feeling increasingly comfortable leaving their villages to work in their campements—which, out of fear of reprisals, many Guérés had avoided for 124 Human Rights Watch interview with Médibly resident whose land was allegedly taken by force by Burkinabé former combatants, Médibly, February 12, 2013. 125 Kampala Convention, art. 9(2); Pinheiro Principles; ACHPR, art. 14. 126 See “Côte d’Ivoire: Security Force Extortion,” Human Rights Watch news release, July 1, 2013, http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/01/cote-d-ivoire-security-force-extortion. 127 See Human Rights Watch, “They Killed Them Like It Was Nothing,” pp. 74-90. 128 Amnesty International, “Côte d’Ivoire: The Victors’ Law”; FIDH, “Ivory Coast: Justice to combat human rights violations and insecurity,” March 28, 2013. “THAT LAND IS MY FAMILY’S WEALTH” 46