“They looked at his identity card and shot him dead”
Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire
The violence that followed the disputed presidential election in November 2010 has caused the most serious humanitarian and human rights crisis in Côte d'Ivoire since the de facto partition of the country in September 2002. Hundreds of people have been unlawfully killed, often only on the grounds of their ethnicity or presumed political affiliation. Women and adolescents have been victims of sexual violence, including rape, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes to seek refuge in other regions of Côte d'Ivoire or in neighbouring countries, especially Liberia.
Human rights violations and abuses continued to be committed after the arrest of the former president, Laurent Gbagbo, on 11 April 2011.
a manhunt was launched against real or perceived supporters of the former president
These people, belonging to ethnic groups considered to be supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, have little or no protection from either the Forces républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI, Republican forces of Côte d'Ivoire), created on 8 March 2011, by President Alassane Ouattara, or the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI)
On 11 April 2011, in his first speech after Laurent Gbagbo's arrest, President Alassane Ouattara announced his intention to "set up a truth and reconciliation commission to shed light on all the massacres, crimes and other human rights violations."
Two days later, the new president publicly asked the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, to begin an investigation into the massacres that took place in the west of the country at the end of March 2011
The conclusions in this report clearly show that all parties to the conflict have committed crimes under international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity
In September 2002, a coup attempt led by some members of the security forces ended in the de facto partition of the country into a northern zone controlled by the armed opposition movement, known as the Forces nouvelles, New Forces, and a southern zone loyal to President Gbagbo.
The de facto partition of the country was confirmed by the establishment of a buffer zone under the supervision of the French force Licorne.
Within the framework of an attempted peaceful resolution of the conflict, the United Nations Security Council authorized in 2004 the deployment of the UNOCI peacekeeping forces, which currently numbers more than 10,000.
, the country remained divided in two and both parties regularly committed serious human rights violations and abuses, Both parties recruited Liberian mercenaries as well as in some cases used child soldiers
Laurent Gbagbo had been elected head of state in October 2000 after an election that he himself described as "disastrous".
At the end of his mandate in 2005, elections were due to be held. However, this election was postponed for five years because of delays in compiling electoral rolls and disarming fighters
The international community made considerable efforts to help organize elections. Finally, a
presidential election was held in November 2010. the victory of Alassane Ouattara. This result was immediately contested by Laurent Gbagbo, who proclaimed himself president after the Constitutional Council cancelled votes in four regions in the north of the country.
The international community, notably the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), recognized Alassane Ouattara's victory and the country found itself in a political stalemate with two presidents and two governments
Laurent Gbagbo denounced the UN peacekeeping forces and French troops of the Force Licorne for taking sides and demanded their departure on the grounds that they were not impartial.
Just after the proclamation of the electoral results, the security forces and Laurent Gbagbo's supporters began to commit acts of violence
UNOCI was also targeted from the end of December 2010 by forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo
The crisis that began in Côte d’Ivoire after the disputed election of November 2010, was the culmination of a power struggle between three men that has taken place over the last 20 years: former president Henri Konan Bédié, deposed after a military coup in 1999; Laurent Gbagbo, the outgoing president who led the country from 2000 to 2010; and Alassane Ouattara, recognised by the international community as the winner of the recent presidential election in November 2010.
This political crisis was accompanied by an economic crisis and an identity (DO- ethnicity) crisis. The economic crisis dates from the fall in coffee and cocoa prices on the world markets at the end of the 1980s (Côte d’Ivoire is the world's biggest cocoa exporter) as well as a wave of business bankruptcies and mass dismissals.
The impoverishment of the population led to inter-communal and sometimes xenophobic tensions that were exploited by some political and economic leaders to remain in power or to sideline opponents on the grounds that they were not "genuine" Ivorians.
… Dioulas. Depending on the circumstances, this term may describe anyone with a Muslim name or from the north of Côte d'Ivoire or other countries in the sub-region (Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea,
Senegal, etc...).
The theory of “Ivoirité” seems to have been created by supporters of President Henri Konan Bédié, mainly in order to sideline one of his main rivals, Alassane Ouattara, considered to be a Burkina Faso national and deprive him of his right to run for president
this has led to sporadic or sustained harassment, extortion and serious human rights violations and abuses against people with Muslim names
Côte d'Ivoire … has attracted millions of foreign nationals from the sub-region, most of whom worked in the cocoa and coffee plantations … With the advent of the economic crisis, these migrants often became scapegoats and many of them, especially those from Burkina Faso, were evicted from the land they cultivated.
Laurent Gbagbo has sometimes adopted this rhetoric, notably during the recent presidential election in November 2010 in which he stood against Alassane Ouattara … as the "foreign candidate" adding that this means "someone who is working in the interests of foreigners"
The UN decision to confirm the victory of Alassane Ouattara at the beginning of December 2010 provoked an explosion of verbal attacks against the UN peacekeepers and France on RTI, controlled by Laurent Gbagbo ; The attacks particularly targeted Young Jin Choi, Special Representative of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral for Côte d’Ivoire, who was described as a "serial killer of Côte d’Ivoire's people" by the daily newspaper Le Temps, close to Laurent Gbagbo
The UN peacekeepers and French troops have also been accused of being "killers, rapists and thieves"
3.1 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY SECURITY FORCES LOYAL TO LAURENT GBAGBO
Faced with Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to recognize the results certified by the UN and then by the international community as a whole, Alassane Ouattara's supporters organized several demonstrations ; several people were killed by the security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo.
The same day, in the neighbourhood of Adjamé … security officials fired teargas and then opened fire using live ammunition on another group of protesters, killing three people
Extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings continued throughout March and April 2011 and dozens of people were killed either in their homes or in the street
As has been the case throughout the last decade, especially following the 2002 coup attempt, foreign nationals from the sub-region, especially people with a Muslim name, have been targeted and sometimes illegally killed
A number of people were subjected to enforced disappearance after being arrested by security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo
Shelling of residents of Abob
Many people, including women and children, were killed in the shelling
On 17 March 2011, shells were fired at a marketplace in Abobo, killing at least 20 people and wounding approximately 60 others
Attacks on mosques and Imams
After the election results were announced, mosques in Abidjan and outside the country's commercial capital were attacked and, in some cases, Muslims, including Imams (Muslim religious dignitaries), were shot dead.
Sexual violence
Arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment
3.2. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED BY THE MILITIAS SUPPORTING LAURENT GBAGB
For several years, Laurent Gbagbo's government has armed and trained young people in militias. These militias have carried out deliberate and arbitrary killings - mainly of people with a Muslim name or wearing Muslim clothes - with the consent or acquiescence of security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo
In other cases, attacks have specifically targeted presumed supporters of Alassane Ouattara, without referring to their foreign origin
3.3 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED BY THE INVISIBLE COMMANDO, AN ANTIGBAGBO ARMED GROUP
As indicated above, an armed group calling itself the Invisible Commando took control of the district of Abobo at the beginning of 2011. The links between the Invisible Commando and other forces hostile to Laurent Gbagbo have been the subject of debate.
This armed group committed serious human rights abuses by attacking individuals belonging to the Ébrié ethnic group, accused of supporting Laurent Gbagbo. In particular, they attacked the village d’Anonkoua-Kouté, in Abobo, on 6 March 2011, killing and wounding dozens of people.
3.4. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY THE FRCI DURING AND AFTER THE ARREST OF LAURENT GBAGBO
During the fighting in Abidjan and in the weeks that followed, the FRCI, created by Alassane Ouattara on 8 March 2011, committed serious human rights violations against real or presumed supporters of Laurent Gbagbo.
supporters of Laurent Gbagbo were hit by FRCI soldiers in the yard of the presidential residence after their surrender
Laurent Gbagbo was initially taken to the Golf Hotel and was then transferred to Korhogo … where no one seems to have been able to meet him until 2 May 2011, when the South African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, had a brief conversation with him.
Amnesty International also raised the question of the legality of these detentions.
Amnesty International remains concerned about the safety of those close to former President Gbagbo.
4. VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAW IN THE WEST OF THE COUNTR
4.1 THE WEST OF THE COUNTRY: A REGION THAT HAS BEEN UNSTABLE FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS
Since December 2010, the most serious human rights violations and abuses have been committed in the west of the country, a region rich in coffee and cocoa plantations and which has long been the scene of inter-communal tension.
Throughout the last decade, xenophobic rhetoric about “Ivoirité“ combined with the economic crisis led to conflict
In January 2011, in Duékoué (about 500 km to the west of Abidjan), some 40 people were killed in fierce intercommunal clashes. Hundreds of homes were looted and burned to the ground and thousands of people fled to camps for displaced people in the west of the country.
This inter-communal violence between so-called autochthonous and non indigenous communities (“autochtones” and “allogènes”) took place while the town was still under the control of forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo which were unable to prevent and end these clashes
4.2.2 ABUSES COMMITTED BY THE FAFN BEFORE THEIR INTEGRATION INTO THE FRC
Arbitrary detentions and ill-treatmen
4.2.3. VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY THE FRCI AND THEIR AUXILIARY FORCE
4.2.3.1 Massacres in Duékoué
When they took control of Duékoué and the surrounding villages, the FRCI and the Dozos massacred hundreds of Guérés on essentially ethnic and political grounds.
the systematic and targeted nature of the killings committed by uniformed FRCI soldiers and Dozos against Guéré populations
The UNOCI failure to protect civilian
The massacre at Duékoué took place in spite of the presence of a UNOCI base 1 km from the Quartier Carrefour, the main location of the killings
4.2.3.2 Massacres and killings in the villages in the Duékoué regio
The ethnic motive for these killings was evidenced by the fact that many witnesses said that non-Guéré communities were spared and their belongings left untouched
4.2.4 MASSACRES IN THE TOWN OF GUIGL
4.2.5. ATTACKS IN OTHER REGIONS IN THE WEST OF THE COUNTRY
4.2.6 SEXUAL VIOLENC
5. APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL LA
there has been a non-international armed conflict in Côte d’Ivoire
Applicable international law includes international human rights law which is applicable in both conflict and non-conflict situations and is binding on state actors.
International humanitarian law applies only in situations of armed conflict.
Under international criminal law, individuals who perpetrate certain serious violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law can be held criminally responsible.
International humanitarian law
Côte d’Ivoire is a party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977
Obligations under international human rights law
Côte d’Ivoire is a party to some of the major international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Côte d’Ivoire is legally bound by its obligations under these international treaties, as well as by relevant customary international law.
The International Court of Justice as well as the UN Human Rights Committee have affirmed that international human rights law applies in time of armed conflict as well as peacetime; some (but not all) rights may be modified in their application, or “derogated from” or limited in situations of armed conflict, but only to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the particular situation and without discrimination
International criminal law
Individuals, whether civilian or military, can be held criminally responsible for certain violations of international humanitarian law and grave abuses of human rights
All states have an obligation to investigate and, where sufficient admissible evidence is gathered, prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as other crimes under international law such as torture, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, in fair trials without the death penalty
Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I and most other serious violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes. Definitions of these crimes are included in the Rome Statute.
6. OFFICIAL MEETING
7. WHAT JUSTICE AND FUTURE FOR COTE D’IVOIRE?
The flagrant disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law standards displayed by all sides since the November 2010 disputed presidential election is the result of the complete impunity for human rights violations that has reigned for a decade, both in the southern part of the country under the control of Laurent Gbagbo and in the areas under the control of the FAFN.
In order to end this cycle of violations and reprisals, it is essential to ensure justice for all victims, whatever their political affiliation or ethnic group.
President Ouattara has firmly committed himself to the fight against impunity, basing himself on both national judicial procedures and the International Criminal Court (ICC)
On 25 March 2011 the UN Human Rights Council established an international Commission of Inquiry to investigate “the facts and circumstances surrounding the allegations of serious abuses and violations of human rights committed in Côte d’Ivoire following the presidential election of 28 November 2010”.
The report of the Commission of Inquiry is scheduled to be presented to the 17th session of the Human Rights Council, probably during the week of 6 June 2011.
The UN Security Council has requested the UN Secretary General to transmit the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the Security Council and other relevant international bodies.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Right is also to report to the 17th session of the Human Rights Council about the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire
8. RECOMMENDATION
DO-
for crime to constitute war crime within jurisdiction of the ICC, don’t have to be “genocide.” E.g. “killing three people”
Clear distinction b/w IHL and international criminal law
