Covering events from January-December 2001

Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
Head of state:
Laurent Gbagbo
Head of government: Pascal Affi N'Guessan
Capital: Yamoussoukro
Population: 16.3 million
Official language: French
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes


Despite some unrest following an alleged coup attempt in January, political tension reduced significantly compared to the previous year. In March, municipal elections were held peacefully with the participation of the opposition party, the Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR), Republican Assembly. The RDR had boycotted the October and December 2000 presidential and legislative vote after its leader, Alassane Ouattara, was barred from standing in the polls because his Ivorian nationality was challenged. In December, a national forum aimed at resolving political and ethnic problems concluded that Alassane Ouattara should be given Ivorian nationality papers. President Laurent Gbagbo took official note of this recommendation and said that the issue should be dealt with by the courts. There appeared to be a marked lack of willingness by the authorities to investigate the serious human rights violations committed by security forces during the previous two years.

Background

Public debate continued on the concept of nationality following the introduction of a new Constitution in July 2000 which stipulated that presidential candidates must be born of Ivorian parents and have never held another nationality. This focused attention on Alassane Ouattara and his right to stand for presidential and legislative elections. The debate led to land disputes between migrants, mostly from Burkina Faso, who had lived for decades in Côte d'Ivoire, and local people who challenged the right of foreigners to own land. Despite calls from the authorities to end these disputes, several deaths resulted and more than 1,000 people from Burkina Faso returned to their country of origin.

Possible prisoners of conscience

Several leaders of the RDR were arrested or remained detained for several months before being acquitted or provisionally released. They appeared to have been prisoners of conscience.

  • In January, Jean-Jacques Béchio, the RDR foreign affairs adviser, was arrested without a warrant by members of the security forces and severely ill-treated (see below). He was charged with plotting against the state. The security forces alleged that weapons were found in his home. He was provisionally released in May but the charges were believed to remain.
  • In July, two RDR leaders, including Aly Coulibaly, party spokesman, were acquitted of "complicity in the destruction of private and public property and disrupting public order". They had been arrested in December 2000 and held for five months.
Torture and ill-treatment

Torture and ill-treatment of both civilians and military by the security forces were reported following the alleged coup attempt in January. No inquiry appeared to have been conducted into the allegations.
  • Jean-Jacques Béchio was arrested in January and taken to a building in the Presidency compound. He was threatened with death and severely beaten by up to eight members of the security forces before being provisionally released.
Military accused of attempted coup

Following the alleged coup attempt in January, up to 50 people, mostly members of the military, were arrested and detained without trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Most remained in detention at the end of the year.
  • In October, six military, including captain Fabien Coulibaly, the aide-de-camp of former Head of State General Gue, were arrested and charged with "threatening state security and plotting an assassination". They were all provisionally released 10 days after their arrest; their trial had not begun by the end of the year.
  • In March, a special military court sentenced General Lansana Palenfo, a former government minister, to one year's imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow General Gue. Another defendant, General Abdoulaye Coulibaly, was acquitted. In July, General Palenfo was released after the Supreme Court cancelled all legal proceedings against him on the grounds that the military tribunal sentencing him did not have the authority to try a government minister.
Harassment of journalists

Several journalists were briefly detained, harassed or threatened during the year. Security forces broke into the premises of a newspaper, apparently in search of weapons.
  • In January, Mohammed Junior Ouattara, a well-known reporter working for the French news agency Agence France Presse, was arrested by several police officers in plain clothes and accused of involvement in the attempted coup. He was released without charge five days later.
  • In February, police broke into the printing office of the independent newspaper Le Jour, in search of "weapons and mercenaries". They made death threats against the newspaper's financial director, Biamari Coulibaly, who was not on the premises.
Impunity

Despite firm public commitments by the government to bring to justice security force members responsible for the serious human rights violations during the previous two years, most of the violations were not independently investigated. A legal action was launched in Belgium by an association of some 150 Ivorian victims against current and former government leaders, including President Gbgabo, for crimes against humanity.
  • In August a military trial acquitted eight gendarmes (paramilitary police) of charges of homicide and murder in relation to the Youpougon mass grave. In October 2000, 57 bodies were found in a mass grave in Youpougon, on the outskirts of Abidjan. Investigations by the UN and non-governmental organizations, including AI, concluded that the massacre had been committed by gendarmes. At the trial, the military prosecutor recommended life sentences for the eight gendarmes but the trial concluded that there was a lack of evidence. It was conducted in a highly tense atmosphere, and many witnesses failed to appear because they feared for their safety. Although the military prosecutor said that he would appeal against the acquittal, it was unclear at the end of the year whether an appeal had been lodged.
  • Despite a report ordered by President Gbagbo which confirmed that women had been raped in December 2000 in the presence of security forces who did nothing to protect them, no independent investigation was opened to bring to justice those responsible. Other serious cases of torture and sexual violence committed by the security forces in December 2000 remained uninvestigated.
AI country reports/visits

Visit

An AI delegation visiting Côte d'Ivoire in June met government officials, including President Gbagbo, and carried out research into the human rights situation.

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