A/HRC/42/37/Add.2 40. These customary practices and traditions revolve around the concept of intergenerational responsibility to protect lands and resources to sustain the present and future generations. This is reflected in their customary value, ema iha oan, rai la bele iha oan (people can have children, land cannot), which also seeks to ensure equal access for all to lands and sufficient resources to sustain the population. 15 The indigenous culture of the Timorese is closely interlinked with their relationship to their lands, the environment and the whole ecosystem. Most of the lands are community lands that may be utilized by all of its members, who have the collective obligation to protect and preserve them. Individual ownership usually covers agricultural and household lands. 41. Land registration or certification is a foreign concept, as the Timorese traditionally identified boundaries to their lands through customary practices, without codification. When Indonesia occupied the country, it introduced property ownership in line with Indonesian laws, resulting in the issuance of some 44,000 titles, in contrast to the small number issued by the Portuguese of about 3,000. 16 During the Indonesian occupation, individual certificates giving title to customary lands were issued to people who may not have had any traditional relationship to the lands. Timorese who were forcibly displaced during the conflict but later decided to return were faced with people who had occupied their lands in their absence. At the end of the occupation, a strong movement to revive or strengthen customary laws and practices emerged, especially in relation to land and the environment. 42. The Special Rapporteur recognizes the efforts of the Government to address the complex issues relating to land in the country. The Constitution of Timor-Leste recognizes traditional norms and customs, which include customary concepts of landownership and management. In 2017, the law on the special regime on the determination of ownership of land17 was passed. This was supposed to be the legislative response to the complex issues regarding land, including addressing competing claims. However, in the two years since its adoption, most of the complementary laws required to implement the Land Law have yet to be drafted. 43. Despite the fact that legislation remains pending, the Government has launched land registration projects. The first land registration scheme was the Ita Nia Rai (Our Land) project initiated a decade ago. The second is the Sistema Nacional de Cadastro (National Cadastral System), launched in 2014 and ongoing. The previous land registration scheme did not foresee the registration of community lands, while such provisions have been included under the current project. However, very few communal titles have been registered and concerns have been raised that sacred sites, water resources and other protected areas of communities have not been adequately mapped. 44. The Special Rapporteur was told that many people have received little or no information about the ongoing land registration process, do not fully understand the impact and implications it will have on their customs and traditions, and were not adequately informed or consulted before or during the implementation. It is reported that most of the land that has been registered so far has been registered as private titles with one owner, while much of the land should have registered as customary land. Furthermore, measures have allegedly not been taken in the registration process to consider the specific needs of vulnerable groups such as the elderly, widows, persons with disabilities and orphans. The Special Rapporteur was informed that the lack of community participation risks increasing tensions and conflicts over lands and resources. 45. Information received indicates that land disputes are still most often settled through the customary justice system. In meetings with the Special Rapporteur, government officials voiced their support for the customary system and recognized its efficiency in settling land disputes, noting that the customary justice system is better understood and 15 16 17 8 Rede ba Rai (Timor-Leste Land Network), Land Registration and Land Justice in Timor-Leste: Culture, Power and Justice (2013). D. Fitzpatrick, Land Claims in East Timor (Canberra, Asia Pacific Press, 2002). Land Law, No. 13/2017.