Amnesty International Report 1994 - Cote d'Ivoire

More than 40 students were arrested and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, and a teacher was held incommunicado for over 40 days: all were possible prisoners of conscience. At least 100 prisoners died in the main prison in Abidjan as a result of extremely harsh conditions. Four people were sentenced to death but there were no executions. In December Henri Konan Bédié, President of the National Assembly, became President of the Republic following the death of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. During the first half of the year the government faced pressure, including demonstrations and public meetings, from students and teachers' trade unions after it changed the qualifications necessary to enter university. In August more than 20 students went on hunger-strike for 15 days. The protest ended when the government promised to satisfy most of the students' demands. On 19 April more than 40 students were arrested following a public meeting called by the Fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI), Ivorian Federation of Students and School Pupils, at the University of Cocody in the capital, Abidjan. The meeting started peacefully but violence erupted when the security forces intervened to break up the meeting, which they claimed had been banned. Student leaders stated that they had obtained permission to hold the meeting on the campus. Cars and other property were damaged during the violence. Although the perpetrators of the damage were not clearly identified, 44 students were arrested shortly after the protest. On 9 May Angenor Gballou, FESCI's Information Secretary, was arrested on the grounds that he had organized the 19 April meeting. The 45 students were charged with assault and wilful destruction of public property and vehicles. They were the first people to be charged under a new law introduced in 1992 which provides for the prosecution of anyone who calls or leads a gathering that becomes violent, irrespective of whether they are personally responsible for inciting or perpetrating violence. The use of similar legislation in the past has led to the conviction of prisoners of conscience (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The 45 students were provisionally released on 22 May and tried in September. Only one received a court summons, however, and was in court; the 44 others were tried in absentia. The 44 were sentenced to heavy fines and a term of imprisonment which corresponded exactly to the time they had already spent in prison although the prosecution did not establish individual responsibility for specific acts of violence. They subsequently lodged an appeal. The one student who was present in court was acquitted for lack of evidence. It appeared that the controversial new law of shared responsibility was not invoked. In a related case, a teacher arrested in late April was detained incommunicado for 43 days although the maximum period allowed by law is a total of no more than 96 hours. Koné Bakary, an activist of the Syndicat national des Enseignants du Secondaire de Côte d'Ivoire, National Union of Secondary School Teachers, was held at the Direction de la sécurité territoriale (DST), the security headquarters in Abidjan, apparently because he was suspected of helping to organize the 19 April students' meeting. A prisoner of conscience, he was eventually referred to an examining magistrate who decided that he had no case to answer and ordered his immediate release. Koné Bakary was reportedly harassed after his release by members of the security forces. Sylvain Gokou, another student, may also have been a prisoner of conscience although he was arrested in July at a meeting on the Cocody University campus in Abidjan which became violent. There was no evidence to suggest that he was involved in the violence. He was sentenced to two months' imprisonment for allegedly resisting arrest but provisionally released in early September. As in past years, a large number of common law prisoners held at the Maison d'Arrêt et de Correction d'Abidjan ("MACA"), the main prison in Abidjan, died as a result of extremely harsh prison conditions. During the year, at least 100 prisoners died apparently as a result of gross medical neglect, poor hygiene and malnutrition. An average of about 3,500 prisoners were held in the jail, around a third of whom had been awaiting trial for long periods. In June Bakary Sidibé was sentenced to death after being convicted of murder; three Liberian refugees were sentenced to death after being convicted of cannibalism. No executions were carried out. Amnesty International expressed concern to the government about the arrest in April of students who had not used or advocated violence and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience. It once again expressed concern that if the authorities were to hold peaceful demonstrators responsible before the law for the violent actions of others, they would effectively be violating the right to freedom of association. No response was received from the government.