Covering events from January - December 2004

Two years after the January 2003 Linas-Marcoussis Agreement sought to end the internal conflict, no real sign of a political solution was noticeable. In November government forces broke the 18-month ceasefire with an attack in which dozens of civilians and nine French soldiers died, leading to armed reprisals by French peacekeeping forces. Reliable sources indicated that French troops used excessive force against government supporters. Violent anti-French protests, which included looting and alleged rapes, led to the departure of more than 8,000 foreign nationals from the country. Xenophobic hate speech in the broadcast and print media supportive of President Laurent Gbagbo continued to fuel tensions between Ivorian and foreign nationals. In the north of the country held by former armed opposition groups, renamed New Forces (Forces nouvelles), human rights abuses continued, particularly in the context of fighting between rival factions. By the end of the year, an arms embargo and the threat of individual sanctions imposed by the UN, as well as mediation by the African Union, led to a calming of the situation which nevertheless remained very tense.

Background

After a three-month boycott the New Forces resumed participation in the National Reconciliation Government in January and talks were held in preparation for the disarmament of combatants. In February the UN Security Council adopted a resolution establishing a 6,000-strong peacekeeping force, the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), with a mandate to oversee the disarmament and reconciliation process in conjunction with the French forces. However, the situation seriously deteriorated in March after government forces violently broke up a banned demonstration organized by opposition parties. As a result, some opposition parties pulled out of the government and in May President Gbagbo dismissed three opposition ministers including one of the leaders of the New Forces, Guillaume Soro.

Under heavy pressure from the international community – including the UN, France and key African countries – a new agreement was reached in Accra, Ghana, at the end of July. Under the terms of the deal, the New Forces were to start disarming by 15 October after certain political reforms agreed to previously had been adopted, including laws on land ownership, the eligibility of presidential candidates and a new code of nationality. However, these conditions were not met by the deadline, leading to political deadlock.

At the beginning of November, government warplanes broke an 18-month ceasefire and bombed the New Forces stronghold of Bouaké, killing dozens of civilians and nine French soldiers. The African Union and the Francophonie strongly condemned the strikes. The French forces retaliated by destroying most of the government air force. This in turn provoked anti-French protests in Abidjan, during which foreign businesses were looted and French and other non-Ivorian civilians were attacked in their homes and in some cases reportedly raped. French troops opened fire on the protesters, killing at least 20 and injuring several hundred in what appeared to be an excessive use of force. In the wake of these violent anti-French protests more than 8,000 foreign citizens, mostly French nationals, left the country. The Ivorian government reportedly contemplated filing a suit against France before the International Court of Justice, although this was denied by President Gbagbo. The November outbreak of violence led to pressure by the UN and mediation by the African Union. As a result, key laws on nationality, naturalization and presidential eligibility were adopted by the National Assembly in December. However, disagreement remained between the President and some opposition parties and the New Forces over the rules on eligibility for presidency.

Extrajudicial executions and 'disappearances'

On 25 March security forces broke up a banned demonstration in Abidjan with excessive force by using automatic weapons and heavy ammunition, including guns mounted on vehicles. In the nights following the demonstration there were a number of extrajudicial executions and "disappearances".

  • On the night of 26 March security forces raided houses in Abobo, a district on the outskirts of Abidjan. They shot at several people, including a pregnant woman and a young Hausa from Niger, Abdou Raouf, who was shot at point-blank range and later died from his wounds. Several people were arrested at their homes and subsequently "disappeared", including Koné Abdoulaye, known as Diaby, and Soumahoro Mustafa, a taxi driver.

Abuses by the New Forces

Armed elements of the New Forces were responsible for human rights abuses including deliberate and arbitrary killings and the abduction of a journalist.

  • In June, following gun battles between two rival New Forces factions, at least 100 people were arbitrarily killed in Korhogo in the north of the country. Their bodies, some riddled with bullets, were found in July in three mass graves by a UN human rights team. They had reportedly been arrested by Guillaume Soro's armed supporters and put in containers where some of them died from suffocation. Others appeared to have been decapitated or killed with their hands bound behind their backs.
  • In August, Amadou Dagnogo, the Bouaké correspondent of the Abidjan-based daily L'Inter, was held in Bouaké and reportedly beaten and tortured by supporters of Guillaume Soro. He managed to escape after six days and flew back to Abidjan.

Allegations of excessive use of force by French troops

On 6-7 November French troops allegedly used excessive force against civilians in Abidjan. The events occurred against a backdrop of anti-French protests following the destruction of the Ivorian air force. Senior members of the Ivorian security forces accused French troops of firing directly at an unarmed crowd without warning. They said that 57 civilians were killed and more than 2,200 injured. The French authorities acknowledged that troops may have been responsible for at least 20 casualties but stated that the soldiers had acted in totally legitimate self-defence and that they had fired warning shots. However, independent sources indicated that during the night of 6 November French troops fired from helicopters in an attempt to deter protesters from crossing a bridge in Abidjan. Other sources mentioned cases of injured people who had feet and hands torn off, probably by grenade explosions.

Attacks on journalists

Ivorian and foreign journalists and media organizations were harassed and attacked by security forces and pro-government militias.

  • At least 10 journalists covering the banned demonstration in March were physically assaulted by security forces and civilian supporters of President Gbagbo.
  • On the same day in November that government forces broke the ceasefire, supporters of President Gbagbo set fire to the offices of three opposition newspapers, including Le Patriote, a paper supportive of former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. International radio networks had their transmissions cut and were unable to resume broadcasting for some three weeks.

Refugees and humanitarian concerns

The two-year conflict in Côte d'Ivoire continued to destabilize the humanitarian situation in the country and the region.

  • After breaking the ceasefire in November, the government cut off water and power supplies in the opposition-held north. Humanitarian non-governmental organizations and UN agencies expressed fears that there would be outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea. The supplies were restored after a week.
  • Following the outbreak of violence in November an estimated 19,000 people, mostly women and children, fled to Liberia. They began returning from the end of November.

UN response

Throughout the year, the UN condemned human rights abuses in Côte d'Ivoire and denounced the xenophobic hate speech disseminated by some parts of the media. The UN also set up two missions of inquiry. The first, in April, concluded that security forces and pro-government militia were responsible for killing at least 120 people during the banned demonstration in March. The second led a three-month investigation into human rights abuses committed by all sides since the armed uprising in September 2002. The report of this commission was delivered in October to the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights but had not officially been made public by the UN by the end of 2004.

After the end of the ceasefire in November the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution imposing an immediate 13-month arms embargo and calling for selected individuals to have assets frozen and travel bans imposed. A list of the people to be sanctioned was reportedly prepared but had not been published by the end of the year. A UN expert on the prevention of genocide also called on the authorities to condemn hate speech and put an end to broadcasts of hate messages on national television and radio.

AI country visits

In July, an AI delegation visited Burkina Faso to collect information about planters who had been expelled from or had to flee Côte d'Ivoire.

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