Laurent Gbagbo
Human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire getting worse, says UN report
A new United Nations report highlights an ongoing pattern of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, abductions and excessive use of force, in Côte d’Ivoire since the November election and warns that the situation is only getting worse.
“With the political stalemate now going into the third month, the human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire is becoming more precarious,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, states in her report on the human rights situation in the West African nation.
The report, which was commissioned by the Human Rights Council and covers events up to 31 January 2011, documents a trend in rights violations, with almost 300 people killed, most as a result of extra-judicial killings committed by elements of the security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo.
The outgoing president refuses to leave office despite opposition leader Allasane Ouattara’s UN-certified victory in the 28 November presidential run-off. The election was meant to be the culminating point in reunifying the country, which was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north.
The rights violations cited in the report include extrajudicial killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, excessive use of force by security forces and destruction of property committed by the security forces and individuals, and incitement to violence by state television.
It shows that most of the serious violations are perpetrated in the areas under the control of Mr. Gbagbo and his supporters, mainly in the southern and western regions and in the commercial capital of Abidjan. It also notes that some incidents are committed in the areas controlled by the rebel Forces Nouvelles.
In addition to the deterioration of the human rights situation, Ms. Pillay also voices her concern about the obstructions to the movement and operation of the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and its Human Rights Division, and attacks on UN staff.
She calls on all parties, particularly Mr. Gbagbo and his supporters, to cease infringements of human rights, to allow the independent investigation of violations and to cooperate with the UN for the protection of civilians.
Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37608&Cr=Ivoire&Cr1=
Côte d’Ivoire: UN mission deplores excessive use of force against demonstrators
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire today deplored the excessive use of force against demonstrators in the city of Abidjan and surrounding areas over the past couple of days, saying the violence had left dozens of people dead or wounded.
The mission (UNOCI) condemned the disproportionate use of force by security forces, who it said used heavy weapons against the demonstrators.
“UNOCI calls on all parties to exercise restraint at a time when political and diplomatic efforts are under way at the highest level to find a peaceful solution to the Ivorian post-electoral crisis,” the mission said in a press release.
Côte d’Ivoire descended into turmoil in early December when Mr. Laurent Gbagbo, the outgoing president, refused to leave office despite opposition leader Allasane Ouattara’s UN-certified victory in the presidential elections. Mr. Ouattara has been recognized by the international community as the duly elected president.
The head of UNOCI’s police component has warned that Gbagbo loyalist militias may be preparing for civil war. “The Gbagbo clan has a long tradition of mobilizing militias and being very hostile and having armed mobs which it is at present trying to rally,” Commissioner Jean-Marie Bourry told the UN News Centre last week. “Everything leads us to believe that we are seeing preparations for a civil war.”
The election was meant to be the culminating point in reunifying the country, which was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north.
Mr. Gbagbo has demanded the withdrawal of the 9,000-strong UNOCI. Not only has the UN refused this but the Security Council last month, in a unanimous resolution adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows for the use of force, authorized the immediate deployment of an additional 2,000 troops and three armed helicopters.
Cote
Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37593&Cr=Ivoire&Cr1=
UN deplores ambush of peacekeepers in Côte d’Ivoire
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire today spoke out against an ambush of its peacekeepers by armed forces loyal to outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo in the country’s capital of Abidjan overnight.
A team made up of UN police and military personnel was coming back from patrol in the suburb of Abobo when shots were fired at it, prompting it to return fire, the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) said in a statement. “The mission notes that this ambush occurred one day after the forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo blocked and looted a UNOCI convoy on its way to re-supply the Golf Hotel,” UNOCI said, adding that three peacekeepers were slightly injured in the overnight incident. The West African country, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has been in turmoil since early December when the Mr. Gbagbo refused leave office despite opposition leader Alassane Ouattara’s UN-certified victory in November’s run-off election. Mr. Ouattara, who has set up base in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, has been recognized by the international community as the West African country’s duly elected president. UNOCI also reported that yesterday, several hundred men in black uniforms reportedly began shooting and forcing residents out of houses in Abobo. The mission made contact at the political level with Mr. Gbagbo’s team, but when two UNOCI patrols tried to reach the area, they were blocked by people manning checkpoints. Amid daily reports of incitement to hatred and violence, human rights violations, attacks against civilians and peacekeepers, there are fears that country could return to civil war. The polls last year were meant to help reunify the nation, which was split by civil war in 2002 into a government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. An estimated some 25,000 Ivorian refugees fled into neighbouring Liberia, with some 600 people arriving there each day, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will send a request to the Security Council next week for between 1,000 and 2,000 additional forces for UNOCI, which currently has nearly 9,000 peacekeepers. The new “blue helmets” will fill the gap currently bridged by peacekeepers from the UN peacekeeping mission in neighbouring Liberia, who were deployed on a temporary basis for the elections.
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Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37259&Cr=ivoire&Cr1=
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