Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire: Amnesty International Annual Report 2013

Published by on May 23, 2013

Amnesty International 23 May 2013 Throughout the year people were arbitrarily detained and tortured against a backdrop of continued insecurity and attacks by unidentified armed combatants. Many people were displaced as a result. Freedom of the press was under attack and newspapers banned. Legal proceedings at national and international levels were slow; many detainees remained in detention without trial. Impunity continued, notably for supporters of the authorities who committed international crimes during the 2011 post-election crisis. The dialogue and reconciliation process was stalled. Background Insecurity persisted throughout the year, with attacks launched by unidentified armed combatants against military targets. There Read the full article…

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Côte d’Ivoire: Freedom in the World 2013

Published by on May 9, 2013

Freedom House 9 May 2013 Overview In 2012, Côte d’Ivoire continued to recover from an early 2011 conflict – sparked by a disputed presidential election – that left about 3,000 dead and an estimated one million displaced. A new parliament was successfully seated, and the government of President Alassane Outtara made halting progress in reforming the judiciary and curbing abuses by the national army. Likewise, several important laws were adopted on transparency and corruption. However, despite some improvements to the security situation, lawlessness and impunity continued in many parts of the country. Follow the hyperlink to access the full Freedom Read the full article…

Cote D’Ivoire: “A Long Way from Reconciliation”

Published by on November 19, 2012

Human Rights Watch November 19, 2012 This 73-page report details the brutal crackdown that followed a series of violent attacks on military installations around the country in August. The attacks were allegedly committed by militants loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo. The resulting crackdown recalled the grave crimes committed during the 2010-2011 post-election crisis, in some cases under the same commanders previously identified as responsible for brutal abuses, Human Rights Watch found. The government of President Alassane Ouattara needs to ensure the prompt investigation and prosecution of forces who committed serious human rights abuses, including torture and inhuman treatment, in Read the full article…

Cote D’Ivoire: Crackdown sparks rights abuse allegations

Published by on October 22, 2012

IRIN, 22 October 2012 Since a spate of attacks on Côte d’Ivoire’s army and police bases in August, several civilians have been rounded up, beaten and detained for ransom, say rights groups and ex-detainees who accuse the Côte d’Ivoire Republican Forces (FRCI – also part of the army) of violation and mistreatment. In recent months, armed gangs the authorities say are suspected supporters of ousted president Laurent Gbagbo have raided military and police bases in and around the commercial capital Abidjan as well as a power station and a border post. The attack on the power station in mid-October was the first Read the full article…

Cote d’Ivoire: Abidjan army attack kills seven

Published by on August 6, 2012

BBC News World News - Africa 6th August 2012 At least six soldiers have been killed in an attack by gunmen on an army base in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan. One assailant was also killed in the gun battle which lasted several hours in the Riviera district of Abidjan. This follows the shooting of five soldiers on Sunday in an attack on a police station and an army checkpoint in Yopougon to the east of the city. It is not clear who was behind the attack. Ivory Coast is recovering from months of unrest after a disputed poll. The Read the full article…

Cote d’Ivoire: Hundreds of armed youths storm Côte d’Ivoire’s last camp for the displaced

Published by on July 31, 2012

IRIN UN News Network 31st July 2012 DUEKOUE, 31 July 2012 (IRIN) - Hundreds of armed youths stormed Côte d’Ivoire’s last camp for the displaced outside Duékoué city in the turbulent western region on 20 July. They killed at least six civilians, torched the camp and drove off the 5,000 people staying there in what has been described as an ethnically motivated attack. Bah Léontine, who managed to escape with her family, sought refuge at the town hall in Duékoué. Suspected members of the Malinké ethnic group, together with traditional hunters known as Dozos, attacked the Nahibly camp hosting 5,083 mainly Guéré Read the full article…

Cote D”Ivoire: Arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and torture by armed groups and government forces

Published by on July 20, 2012

Hard Road to Reconciliation IRIN, UN News Service 20 July 2012 Arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and torture by armed groups and government forces since the end of Côte d’Ivoire’s bloody 2010-2011 post-election unrest are stifling national reconciliation and causing fear and mistrust among civilians. A local human rights group estimates that around 200 supporters of ousted president Laurent Gbagbo have been detained, mostly in northern Côte d’Ivoire. Gbagbo, who is being held by the International Criminal Court, refused to concede defeat to current president Alassane Ouattara in the 2010 polls, sparking clashes that killed some 3,000 people. In the western and central Read the full article…

Cote d’Ivoire: Refugees fear an “anti-Guéré genocide”

Published by on July 19, 2012

IRIN United Nations News Network 19th July 2012 “There is no way I could go back”   ZWEDRU, 19 July 2012 (IRIN) - Like most of his fellow refugees in Grand Gedeh county in the far east of Liberia, “Da Tatouwa” is from the Guéré ethnic group, and fear of an “anti-Guéré genocide” made him flee his home town of Bloléquin in the far west of Côte d’Ivoire in March 2011, as forces loyal to incoming President Alassane Ouattara overran the region. “What we are still waiting for is for Ouattara to offer his own mea culpa [admission that it Read the full article…

Côte d’Ivoire: Stuck between refuge and risk

Published by on June 27, 2012

Côte d’Ivoire : Stuck between refuge and risk Publisher: Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) 27 June 2012 Available at UNHCR RefWorld Intermittent violence and widespread insecurity have left thousands of villagers in western Côte d’Ivoire stuck between fleeing their villages for the greater safety of refuge with host families in bigger towns, and the risk of being attacked if they return to the farms where they earn their livelihood. “It’s the same thing every time. We hear gunfire, we take the kids with us, walk in the bush all night long to reach Tai [town]. Once there, after two or Read the full article…

Côte d’Ivoire: UNHCR Interim Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers

Published by on June 15, 2012

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Interim Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Côte d’Ivoire 15 June 2012, available at UNHCR RefWorld Introduction These interim Guidelines are issued in the context of an evolving security and human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire, following the inauguration of Alassane Ouattara as President on 6 May 2011, legislative elections in December 2011 and the announcement of a new government on 13 March 2012. These Guidelines focus on the main profiles of persons who may, depending on the individual details of the case, be in need of international refugee protection Read the full article…