Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

Victim - The woman who has no privilege <strong>of</strong> land rights.
Impact - Insecurity <strong>of</strong> tenure; reluctance to invest because she doesn’t know if she can stay; emotional
and financial pressure on her, her family and on <strong>the</strong> community as a whole.
Duty holder/violators - The State is <strong>the</strong> primary duty holder. The chief and <strong>the</strong> extended family are <strong>the</strong>
main violators.
Actions/Recommendations –
– Land alienated during <strong>the</strong> colonial administration, but currently under-developed, should be
returned to <strong>the</strong> traditional landowners – this will enable more clan land to be available to share
with women such as my daughter;
– Necessary institutional structures be established with user-friendly procedures to ensure traditional
landowners’ participation in and benefit from development on <strong>the</strong>ir land in a meaningful and
sustainable way;
– An ongoing ‘economic and benefits package’ be established in recognition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> Motu-
Koita people lost <strong>the</strong>ir land to <strong>the</strong> city and <strong>the</strong> nation during colonial times, for <strong>the</strong> price <strong>of</strong> cloth
and tobacco. A taskforce be established to determine <strong>the</strong> elements <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> package;
– The government assist in identifying, surveying, valuing and registering customary land at full
or subsidized costs;
– Appropriate legislation be enacted to facilitate <strong>the</strong> registration <strong>of</strong> customary land;
– Government authorities assist customary landowners to protect <strong>the</strong>ir marine and land resources
through appropriate legislation or regulations and policing (e.g. prevent destruction <strong>of</strong> marine
resources through dynamiting and uncontrolled harvesting <strong>of</strong> marine resources);
– Government authorities to assist in addressing all forms <strong>of</strong> pollution that are effecting <strong>the</strong>
environment.
Solomon Islands
Aloha from my fa<strong>the</strong>r on my matrilineal side and from my mo<strong>the</strong>r on my patrilineal side. As a Solomon
Islander I have rights to access land but not to own land. This is because my fa<strong>the</strong>r is <strong>the</strong> wrong sex
for a matrilineal system and my mo<strong>the</strong>r is <strong>the</strong> wrong sex for a patrilineal system, for me to inherit outright
ownership to land.
As a result <strong>of</strong> this situation, in addition to myself, my bro<strong>the</strong>rs and <strong>the</strong>ir wives are also vulnerable.
My siblings and I all have secondary rights, through our relatives. But my bro<strong>the</strong>r’s wife can only access
her rights through our secondary rights, and this connection will be even fur<strong>the</strong>r removed for her
children.
The only option for me to obtain ownership rights to land was for me to marry back into a patrilineal
system, and for my bro<strong>the</strong>r to marry back into a matrilineal system. But we are human and we didn’t
follow culture and got married into <strong>the</strong> wrong systems.
The o<strong>the</strong>r way I could have owned land was by having a good education and job, which would enable
me to buy land and build a house. However, both <strong>the</strong> patrilineal and matrilineal systems in my two
Islands tend to let girls only go to school up to class 3-4. This is so <strong>the</strong>y can read <strong>the</strong> Bible. Fortunately,
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