JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Thursday, December 23, 2010

UN rights council condemns Ivory Coast post-election violence
Jaclyn Belczyk at 2:03 PM ET

Photo source or description
[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council [official website] on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning recent post-election violence in the Ivory Coast [JURIST news archive] that has resulted in more than 170 deaths. Alassane Ouattara defeated incumbent Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profiles] in a November 28 runoff election, but Gbagbo has refused to concede victory, and his supporters have been engaging in a campaign of violence and intimidation [WP report]. UN human rights officials said Thursday that more than 170 have been killed [UN News Centre report], hundreds have been arrested and dozens have been subjected to torture, ill treatment and forced disappearances. Also Thursday, Ouattara's prime minister Guillaume Soro [BBC profile] called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] to launch an investigation [DPA report] into possible crimes being committed by Gbagbo's supporters. Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday that he had not yet opened an investigation [statement] but that he would do so if crimes were committed in his jurisdiction.

Last week, the Council of the EU adopted a decision to institute sanctions [JURIST report] against the Ivory Coast until Gbagbo concedes victory. Earlier this month, ICC deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda urged those in the Ivory Coast to refrain from further violence [JURIST report]. In February, Gbagbo dissolved [JURIST report] the country's parliament and electoral commission based on allegations of voter fraud in the long delayed presidential elections, the first in a decade. On disbanding the government, Gbagbo charged Soro with creation of new government and new election format. Gbagbo had accused Beugre Mambe, the head of the independent electoral commission, of fraud by attempting to register more than 400,000 whom Gbagbo considers to be foreigners. Opposition parties such as the Ivory Coast Democratic Party (PDCI) and Republican Gathering Party (RDR) [party websites, in French] said that most of those voters are ethnic groups in the north of the country, who would likely have voted against Gbagbo. Gbagbo was elected president in 2000 to serve a five-year term, but he has managed to stay in office through delaying six successive elections.




Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 UN urges Afghanistan to approve women's rights legislation
9:02 AM ET, May 21

 Supreme Court declines to hear Alaskan village's greenhouse gas claim
8:41 AM ET, May 21

 Vermont governor signs physician-assisted suicide bill
7:18 AM ET, May 21

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

The War on Terror and the Need for Muslim Support
DOMESTIC
Faisal Kutty
Valparaiso University Law School

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org