IVORY COAST
IVORY COAST: Amnesty International press release on post-election violence
AILRC-F press release of November 16, 2020 Côte d’Ivoire. Use of machetes and firearms testifies to horror of post-election violence
1-Dozens of people killed since the election of October 31
2-Hundreds of injured during clashes
3-Dozens of opposition members arrested
4-Opposition leader Pascal Affi N’Guessan detained incommunicado
Authorities in Côte d’Ivoire must investigate the killings of dozens of people killed with guns, pistols and machetes since the presidential election, Amnesty International said on November 16, 2020.
Witnesses she spoke to recounted scenes of post-election violence amid growing clashes between supporters of the opposition and the ruling party since October 31. In some cases, security forces have been overwhelmed, unable to stem violence from both sides.
“We call on the Ivorian authorities to investigate this bloody violence and bring those responsible for these acts to justice. The long-standing impunity in Côte d’Ivoire provides fertile ground for those who commit killings and violate human rights without fear of being held to account, said Samira Daoud, director for the West and Central Africa to Amnesty International.
“This is the second time in 10 years that elections in Côte d’Ivoire have been peppered with violence. Steps must be taken without delay to protect the public and make it clear that these killings will not go unpunished. “
Violence erupted in several cities across the country in the run-up to the presidential election and continued after the poll. According to the National Council for Human Rights, between October 31 and November 10, the death toll was 55 dead and 282 injured.
In addition, dozens of opposition party members have been arrested, including leader Pascal Affi N’Guessan, arrested on the night of November 6-7.
Last week, violence escalated in central Côte d’Ivoire, especially in the towns of Mbatto, Elibou and Daoukro.
In Mbatto, between 9 and 10 November, an opposition demonstration left at least two dead and dozens injured, five of whom are in critical condition, according to information received by Amnesty International. .
Witnesses said ruling party sympathizers attacked the protesters by throwing stones at them, which subsequently sparked violent clashes with machetes and pistols, while the forces security were overwhelmed.
A witness told Amnesty International:
“They started with stones, then machetes and finally we heard gunshots […] We were violently attacked […] They started setting fire, ransacking and shooting at us. The gendarmes who were in the middle to disperse the crowd with tear gas were discouraged. We found ourselves on our own. “
According to another witness, at least 24 people were injured by firearms on November 9 and 10. Five were in critical condition and could not be evacuated due to the violence. “We’ve never seen that, usually people take machetes, but this time around they all had guns,” he said.
In addition, Amnesty International noted the arrest of dozens of opposition members on the sidelines of the election, after the opposition called for civil disobedience, to boycott the poll, to create a National Transitional Council and to reject the re-election of President Alassane Ouattara.
Opposition leader Pascal Affi N’Guessan was arrested on the night of November 6 and held incommunicado until November 9. During those few days, he was unable to communicate with his family or his lawyer. Pascal Affi N’Guessan said he had not seen daylight for 60 hours. He is targeted by 30 counts, including “attack and conspiracy against state authority, assassination and acts of terrorism”. His lawyer only managed to see him when he appeared before the judge on November 9. Since then, neither his lawyer nor his family have been able to contact him. It is currently impossible to confirm the whereabouts of Pascal Affi N’Guessan. The authorities must allow him to communicate with his lawyer.
On November 3, 21 people were arbitrarily arrested at the home of opposition leader Henri Konan Bédié. Five are still in detention; they are Maurice Guikahué, number two in the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), senators Seri Bi N’Guessan and Bassy Koffi Bernard, and Narcisse N’dri Kouadio, chief of staff of Henri Konan Bédié . They are facing 16 counts, including “attack and conspiracy against state authority”. Security forces are still stationed around the homes of former minister Hubert Oulaye and Pascal Affi N’Guessan, and no one can enter or leave. Amnesty International considers this to be an arbitrary restriction on the right of free movement of all persons inside these buildings.
This wave of arrests of political opponents follows another round of arrests earlier this year. In August, Amnesty International reported a wave of arrests targeting political dissidents. Between August 13 and October 25, at least 41 people were arrested in Abidjan, Korogho, Toumodi and Alepe while demonstrating or after calling for a demonstration. These include five members of the opposition party GPS, arrested on August 13 while they were on their way to a demonstration, and Pulchérie Edith Gbalet, coordinator of the NGO Alternatives Citoyennes (ACI), arrested on August 15 August at the hotel where she had stayed with two colleagues after calling on the population to demonstrate against a third mandate of Alassane Ouattara.
“The growing crackdown on opposition leaders and government critics is an offensive against human rights. The Ivorian authorities must restore the right of free movement of people in the homes of opposition leaders by putting an end to the mission of the security forces stationed there, said Samira Daoud.
“They must immediately and unconditionally release Pascal Affi N’Guessan and all those detained solely for exercising their fundamental rights. Finally, they must commit to creating a space where citizens can freely express their opinions and demonstrate peacefully, without fear of being arrested, assaulted or killed. “
The Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la démocratie et la paix (RHDP) won the majority of Ivorian town halls and regional councils, after the double election on Saturday, according to the Independent Electoral Commission which proclaimed the final results on Monday, September 04, 2023.
It is a tidal wave in favor of the Gathering of Houphouëtistes for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), the party of the president of Alassane Ouattara after the municipal and regional elections of September 2, 2023. The party obtained 125 municipalities out of 201 and 25 regions out of 30. We remember the victory of Prime Minister Patrick Achi, in the Mé, that of Mamadou Touré, the Minister of Youth in Haut-Sassandra; the victory of Anne Ouloto, the Minister of Public Service, in the Cavally (west), that of the minister Director of cabinet of the presidency, Fidèle Sarrassoro in the Poro (north).
The two main opposition parties, the African People’s Party-Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) and the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), allies in many localities, are gaining a region, Nawa, and ten communes like Lakota and Bloléquin. Although it has fewer communes compared to the 2018 election, the PDCI of Henri Konan Bédié remains in its fiefs: Yamoussoukro, Daoukro, Toumodi, the Iffou region or in Aries. Outside the alliance, Laurent Gbagbo’s PPA-CI gained two communes.
“Acceptable” Participation
The Ivorian Popular Front loses Moronou, the stronghold of Pascal Affi N’Guessan and comes out of this double election without any elected representatives.
The turnout remains substantially the same in the 2018 elections: it amounts to 44.61% for the regional election and 36.18% for the municipal elections. A rate that the President of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) considers “acceptable”.
Still removed from the electoral list three months before the local elections, Laurent Gbagbo tabled on Thursday, June 8, 2023 an appeal to the Independent Electoral Commission. Acquitted by the ICC of crimes against humanity committed during the 2010-2011 post-election crisis, he remains under a 20-year prison sentence in Côte d’Ivoire for the “robbery” of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in 2011. Pardoned by the presidency, but not granted amnesty, he is still deprived of his civil rights.
Laurent Gbagbo visited the office of the Abidjan Independent Electoral Commission in a small committee. The PPA-CI activists had been ordered not to move, and respected it.
The former president personally signed his appeal to the CIS. Before going out to make a statement to the press. He went back on his conviction by the Ivorian courts in the case of the BCEAO’s “robbery” in 2011, an accusation he says he “strongly refutes”.
I don’t know why I was judged. No one summoned me because in order to have a trial, the accused is summoned and given a summons where he resides. Everyone in the world knows where I was living at the time of this trial. I was at the ICC!”
Laurent Gbagbo ended his speech with a call for peace. “The time for the blows is over,” he argued, before urging Henri Konan Bédié and Alassane Ouattara to work together to “leave the younger generations a peaceful Ivory Coast.” But he won’t give up his civil rights, he promised, concluding, “I won’t let my name get dirty without a fight.”
Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo will not be able to participate in his country’s local elections scheduled for 02 September 2023. And for good reason, He is still removed from the electoral list published Saturday, May 20, 2023, a decision described as “unacceptable provocation” by his party. While Gbagbo was acquitted by international justice of crimes against humanity committed during the bloody post-election crisis of 2010-2011, he remains under a 20-year prison sentence in Côte d’Ivoire for the “robbery” the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in 2011. This conviction, pronounced in 2018 while he was imprisoned in The Hague, had resulted in the loss of his civil and political rights and thus his removal from the electoral lists.
And the pardon granted by President Alassane Ouattara last year in this case does not change this status. On Saturday, during the publication of the electoral list in Abidjan, Sébastien Dano Djédjé, an executive of the African Peoples Party-Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI), Gbagbo’s party, denounced an “unjust” decision. This calls into question the credibility of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The electoral process is losing credibility,’ he added, before leaving the ceremony with the party delegation.
“We are not picking on Laurent Gbagbo. There is a court decision that is not the work of the CIS. The CIS is simply carrying out what the law says,’ said Commission President Kuibiert Coulibaly, stating that “11,000 people” have been deprived of their civil and political rights.
On Saturday afternoon, the PPA-CI held a press conference to denounce an “unacceptable provocation”. Such stubbornness on the part of the Ivorian regime poses serious risks to peace and social cohesion,’ said Justin Koné Katinan, spokesman for Mr Gbagbo’s party. This omission from the electoral list “constitutes a casus belli”, he added.
The PPA-CI is based in particular on a decision of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights that ordered in 2020 the reinstatement of the former Ivorian president on the electoral list. The party authorities will meet shortly to consider possible remedies. Complaints can be made to the IEC until 8 June.
After the 2020 presidential election, which saw the re-election of Alassane Ouattara for a controversial third term and where violence had caused 85 deaths and 500 injuries, Côte d’Ivoire experienced a period of calm in the political climate. The 2021 legislative elections were held in calm and former president Laurent Gbagbo was able to return to Côte d’Ivoire in June 2021, after his acquittal by the ICC. On two occasions, he even met with President Ouattara to “describe the political climate” in Côte d’Ivoire.
But the last few weeks have been marked by tensions between the two opposing sides during the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, which caused 3,000 deaths.
In particular, the PPA-CI accused the authorities of “exploiting the justice system” after the arrest in February of 26 of its activists for “disturbing public order” on the sidelines of a demonstration in Abidjan. Sentenced in the first instance to two years in prison, they were given two years of suspended sentence on appeal.
Some eight million voters are called to the polls on September 2 in Côte d’Ivoire to renew municipal and regional councils. The next presidential election is scheduled for 2025.
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