E/C.12/GC/26 47. International cooperation and assistance should be focused on supporting national policies to secure access to land tenure for those whose legitimate user rights have not been recognized. Policies should avoid leading to land concentration or commodification of land and should be aimed at improving the access of disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups and increasing their security of tenure. Adequate safeguard policies shall be in place, and persons and groups affected by measures of international cooperation and assistance shall have access to independent complaint mechanisms. International cooperation and assistance can facilitate efforts to ensure that land policies are sustainable and are or will become an integral part of official land use planning and States’ broader spatial planning. IV. Specific issues of relevance to the implementation of rights enshrined in the Covenant in land-related contexts A. Internal armed conflicts and post-conflict situations 48. There are links between internal armed conflicts, land and the enjoyment of rights enshrined in the Covenant. Sometimes, land conflicts, especially those relating to structural unequal distribution of land tenure coming, for example, from colonial or apartheid systems, can be one of the root causes or a trigger of the conflict. In other cases, the conflicts may lead to forced displacements, land grabbing and land dispossession, especially for populations in vulnerable situations, such as peasants, Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities and women. It is noteworthy that addressing land disputes and conflicts might be a key to building resilience and sustaining peace.60 Thus, States should make every effort to prevent land dispossession during internal armed conflicts. If dispossessions do nevertheless occur, States are obliged to establish restitution programmes to guarantee to all internally displaced persons the right to have restored to them any land of which they were arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived.61 States should also address all those land conflicts that might trigger the re-emergence of an armed conflict. 49. Preventive measures to avoid land dispossession during armed conflict should include at least the following: (a) the establishment of mechanisms for the protection of land tenure for populations in vulnerable situations; (b) the coordination of humanitarian assistance and the implementation of international humanitarian law with measures to prevent land dispossession; (c) the inclusion in information systems of all those estates at risk of dispossession, not only to prevent dispossession but also to facilitate future land restitution; and (d) the possibility of freezing the land market in regions in which the risks of internal displacement and land dispossession are high. All such preventive measures should protect not only property, but all forms of land tenure, including customary tenure, as those at higher risk of being dispossessed of their land may not be the formal owners of it. 50. Land restitution programmes shall include measures to guarantee the right of refugees and internally displaced persons to a voluntary return to their former lands or places of habitual residence, in safety and dignity. If restitution is not possible, States should develop adequate compensation mechanisms.62 States shall establish and support equitable, timely, independent, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures, institutions and mechanisms to assess and enforce all land restitution claims. They should cover not only property rights but all forms of land tenure, especially when they are linked to the enjoyment of rights under the Covenant. Special attention should be paid to dealing adequately with “secondary occupants”, who are mostly good faith purchasers, and persons in a vulnerable situation who occupy land after the legitimate tenants have fled owing to armed conflict. In particular, due process shall be guaranteed to secondary occupants; if their eviction is necessary, it shall be implemented with genuine consultation and States shall, if necessary, provide them with 60 61 62 14 See the guidance note of the Secretary-General entitled “The United Nations and Land and Conflict”, issued in March 2019. See the principles on housing and property restitution for refugees and displaced persons, endorsed by the Sub-Commission on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/17). Ibid. GE.23-00043