Ivory Coast president’s forces continuing extrajudicial killings: UN News
Ivory Coast president’s forces continuing extrajudicial killings: UN
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[JURIST] A representative for the UN Mission in the Ivory Coast (MINUCI) [official website] confirmed that forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara [BBC profile; political website, in French] are continuing to kill civilians and opposition members in his name, with 26 killings reported between July 11 and August 10. There were also 85 arbitrary detentions by members of the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast (FRCI) reported. Both the UN and rights groups [JURIST reports] have alleged that Outtara’s forces have continued the violence of the post-election civil war [JURIST news archive], even after Ouattara took power. Although Ouattara has insisted that all those responsible for war crimes will be prosecuted [JURIST report], none of his supporters has been charged or arrested. On Wednesday, the son of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile], Michel Gbagbo, and 12 other Gbagbo allies were charged with committing acts of post-election violence [JURIST report]. With the arrest of his son and the 12 others, all Gbagbo’s political allies have been charged except for him and his wife.

Earlier this month, Ouattara set up a commission of inquiry [JURIST report] to investigate crimes and human rights violations that took place during the violence following the presidential elections in which former president Gbagbo refused to leave office after losing the election. In April, Gbagbo was captured and forced from office [JURIST report] after refusing to leave despite losing last November’s election to Ouattara, which resulted in months of fighting between Ouattara’s and Gbagbo’s forces. Also that month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged Ouattara to conduct an investigation [JURIST report] into alleged atrocities carried out by his forces in its attempts to secure the presidency. According to the report, the FRCI killed more than 100 civilians, raped at least 20 supporters of Gbagbo and burned at least 10 villages in March. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] also reported the deaths of at least 800 civilians [JURIST report] in the Ivory Coast town of Duekoue as a result of intercommunal violence.