The main focus of this GDA's legal analysis note is on the illegalities surrounding SOCAPALM's acquisition of land and the violent repression of the communities' civil rights.

The two experts involved first outline the history of the Edea plantation from the colonial period to the present day. Land titles were transferred from the Societes des Plantations Reunis (SPROA) to the Societes des Palmaraies de la Ferme Suisse in 1976, then publicly owned by SOCAPALM before being transferred to the privately owned SOCAPALLM held by SOCFIN.