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French take over Abidjan airport

BBC News

France has sent extra troops to Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, and taken control of its airport.

It comes as fighting continued between forces loyal to the UN-recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, and his rival, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.

The city’s pro-Gbagbo TV station called for people to mobilise against the French ‘”occupation”.

An adviser to Mr Ouattara said his forces were preparing a final push to depose Mr Gbagbo, AP reports.

France has sent an extra 300 soldiers to Ivory Coast, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard said, taking the total French force to about 1,400.

The airport had been secured by UN troops since Friday, but the French move meant the airport was now able to re-open, Mr Burkhard said.

He said there were no immediate plans to start evacuating foreigners.

More than 1,500 foreigners are sheltering in a French army camp.

They include about 700 French nationals, some 600 Lebanese citizens and 60 Europeans of assorted nationalities, French media report.

‘Lives at stake’

Ivorian state TV, which is controlled by Mr Gbagbo, accused the French troops of preparing a genocide like the one in Rwanda in 1994, when more than 800,000 people were killed.

A strap line on state TV on Sunday read: “[French President Nicolas] Sarkozy’s men are preparing a Rwandan genocide in Ivory Coast. Ivorians, let us go out en masse and occupy the streets. Let us stay standing.”

Mr Sarkozy has called a cabinet meeting for Sunday afternoon to discuss the crisis in Ivory Coast.

On Saturday, heavy artillery fire was heard in Abidjan as the two sides fought for key sites including the presidential palace, the headquarters of state TV and the Agban military base.

Four UN soldiers were seriously wounded when special forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a UN armoured personnel carrier.

Duekoue ‘massacre’

The west of Ivory Coast has also seen vicious battles between rival militias and ethnic groups. On Saturday, the Caritas aid agency said its staff had found the bodies of hundreds of people in Duekoue, and estimated that 1,000 may have died.

The killings occurred between 27 March and 29 March in the Carrefour district, which was controlled at the time by fighters loyal to Mr Ouattara, spokesman Patrick Nicholson told the Associated Press.

“Caritas does not know who was responsible for the killing, but says a proper investigation must take place to establish the truth,” he said.

Most of the 1,000 peacekeepers based in Duekoue had been protecting about 15,000 refugees at a Catholic mission there, Mr Nicholson added.

The International Committee of the Red Cross put the death toll at about 800, while the UN said more than 330 people were killed as Mr Ouattara’s forces took over Duekoue, most of them at the hands of his fighters. However, more than 100 of them were killed by Mr Gbagbo’s troops, it added.

Sidiki Konate, a spokesman for Mr Ouattara’s government, said that while some people had been killed in the fighting between the two sides in recent days, there had been no deliberate killings of Gbagbo supporters.

ICRC staff who visited Duekoue on Thursday and Friday to gather evidence said the scale and brutality of the killings were shocking.

Tens of thousands of women, men and children have fled the fighting.

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The Ivorian Conflict and the Peace Process in Liberia

Ivorian fleeing their country have sought refuge on the Liberian border.

The Ivorian political situation between President- Elect Allasane Quattara and Laurent Gbagbo has led to a huge flow of many refugees into the northeastern and eastern parts of Liberia, especially to the border towns of Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties. The fighting between the two arch rivals Quattara and Gbagbo is too graved to the extent that it could lead to the instability of Liberia despite the presence of huge United Nations Mission in Liberia. What is unfortunate to note is that Liberians are combating each other in Ivory Coast. The wounds from the Liberian civil conflict between some ethnic groups has not being resolved. For instance, there is a history of confusion between the Gios and the Manos on the one hand and the Krahns on the other hand. In fact, there is an intrinsic psychological problem that has developed between the two ethnic groups as the result of the killing of Thomas Qwinonkpa of Nimba County by the Krahn ethnic group and the killing of President Samuel Kanyon Doe by Prince Johnson of the Gio ethnic group and many more situations. It is stated that the two tribes are seriously engaging each other in Ivory Coast. This fighting could lead to an offshoot to another round of the Liberia conflict which will hinder the peace process. When will this intrinsic psychological conflict end between these two ethnic groups? How could Liberians be engaged in another country’s conflict? Interestingly, there is a similarity of ethnic relationship that exists in Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Despite the disarmament of 103, 109 ex-fighters with 27,000 weapons destroyed, there is still challenge of illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the Liberian society. The Liberian National Security Document (2008) stated that 9,000 ex-fighters did not benefit from the Rehabilitation and Reintegration phase of the program. Some of the fighters did not disarm and others crossed the borders to Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Unfortunately, the international borders with these countries are porous and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons are very much likely. The Government of Liberia and the International Community should exert every effort to ensure the Ivory Coast conflict is speedily resolved because there are many variables that could interplay to another Liberian war if the conflict remains unsettled.

 The Ivory Coast conflict has the propensity to hinder the peace process in Liberia. Liberians should be cautious about their role in the Ivorian crisis and learn to live in peace and harmony with their neighbor. Every Liberian should know by now that the fourteen years of war brought total destruction and suffering to the people of the country. There will always be socio-economic opportunities for a stable country.

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Togo and Ghana Receiving More Ivorian Refugees as Crisis Spreads

UN Refugee Agency
Refugees from Côte d'Ivoire walk along a forest trail to find safety and shelter in eastern Liberia.

GENEVA, March 29 (UNHCR) – The Ivorian refugee crisis is spreading further across West Africa, with Ghana and Togo receiving a growing number of new arrivals. While the southern city of Abidjan has been relatively calm in recent days, fresh clashes were reported Monday in Côte d’Ivoire’s west, centre-west and east.

In the west, renewed fighting has been reported in the town of Duékoué, which has experienced several waves of violence since December. Hostilities have also spread to the town of Daloa, some 100 kilometres east of Duékoué, and to Bondoukou near the Ghanaian border.

“UNHCR continues to advocate with both forces for civilians to be protected from harm,” said the UN refugee agency’s chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, at a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

In neighbouring Liberia, Grand Gedeh County in the east has registered over 10,000 newly arriving Ivorians in the last week alone, mostly in the Gbarzon and Tchein districts. Around 300 to 400 people are still arriving every day, and refugees tell UNHCR that many more are on their way.

“Several people say they left family members behind in their panic, including children. To reach Liberia, they cross the Cavally River with very few possessions and usually no money. Some could only carry bundles on their heads,” said Fleming.

The remote locations, rough terrain and long travel time between locations mean that UNHCR staff can only register refugees and distribute at one place at a time. The agency has dispatched relief items and is working with the World Food Programme to ensure food distribution and provision of high energy biscuits for all new arrivals. Additional staff have been deployed from Saclepea further north to strengthen the response.

A total of 24,507 refugees are now in Grand Gedeh, accounting for 22 per cent of the total 112,000 Ivorian refugees who have fled to Liberia since the crisis erupted after a presidential election in late November.

On Côte d’Ivoire’s eastern flank, Ghana has received 3,129 new refugees, mainly from Abidjan and its suburbs. UNHCR has set up a transit centre at the Elubo border crossing, as well as a refugee camp in the town of Ampain that can hold 3,000 people. The agency is providing food and relief items while racing to complete works on water, health and sanitation facilities.

The search is on to identify a second, bigger camp with the authorities. Fleming noted, “Although the number of refugees in Ghana is relatively small, the rapidly deteriorating conditions in Côte d’Ivoire require that we be prepared for a major influx. In the coming days, we will be deploying a team of six emergency staff to Ghana.”

Further east still, in Togo, some 857 Ivorians – over 60 per cent of them male – have also found safety in the capital Lomé. They fled through Ghana from Abobo, PK-18, Adjame, Williamsville and Yopougon, which are among the most populous and dangerous districts of Abidjan. Some in the group told UNHCR their properties were looted, others that they had been physically assaulted. Several women said they were raped.

In total, some 116,000 Ivorians have fled to eight West African countries since the post-election crisis started. In addition to Liberia, Ghana and Togo, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria are also hosting Ivorian refugees.

Of the US$97 million UNHCR needs for this emergency response, donors have thus far funded US$20 million.

By Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba
In Geneva

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Up to 1 Million People Driven From Homes by Violence in Côte d’Ivoire, UN Reports

25 March 2011 –As many as 1 million people have been driven from their homes in Côte d’Ivoire in the months-long turmoil stemming from the outgoing president’s refusal to leave office, with violence mounting and his loyalists using heavy weapons against civilians, a top United Nations official said today.

“The deteriorating security situation and the escalation in the use of heavy weapons has had a serious toll on the lives and well-being of the Ivorian people,” Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Atul Khare told the Security Council, ascribing most of the violence to forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who lost a UN-certified and internationally recognized election to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara last November.

“The human rights situation is very grave, with a high number of human rights violations reported,” he said of the violence that has beset Abidjan, the commercial capital, and the western regions as a result of Mr. Gbagbo’s refusal to respect the results of a democratic election that was meant to reunite a country split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-held south and rebel-controlled north.

The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fueled by fears of all-out war,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva today. “This week, we have seen panic in Abidjan as thousands of youths have responded to the call for civilians to join the ranks of forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo.”

Showing slides, Mr. Khare detailed some of the worst attacks of the past three months, including an attack by pro-Gbagbo security forces loyal using heavy machine guns against a group of women demonstrating peacefully in Abidjan’s Abobo neighbourhood in support of President Ouattara, killing seven and seriously wounding many more.

In another instance Gbagbo loyalists fired several mortar shells into an Abobo market, killing more than 25 people and wounding more than 40 others. In all, 462 people have been killed since violence erupted in September. More than 93,000 people have fled across the western border into Liberia, while up to 1 million others have been internally displaced, Mr. Khare said.

Just yesterday UN peacekeepers, intervening in Abobo where Gbagbo loyalists were raining mortars down on civilians, opened fire, putting the attackers to flight. The 9,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), which has been supporting the stabilization efforts over the past seven years, is mandated to protect civilians.

Earlier this year the Security Council not only rebuffed Mr. Gbagbo’s demand for its withdrawal but also authorized the immediate deployment of 2,000 additional troops and three armed helicopters.

Gbagbo loyalists continue to obstruct UNOCI’s activities by blocking access and attacking personnel, Mr. Khare said. The mission has increased the number of patrols in vulnerable neighbourhoods, is arranging for round-the-clock patrols in Abobo, and is conducting aerial surveillance of Abidjan and the rest of the country. “We believe these measures have prevented further killings,” he added.

He also noted reported attacks by President Ouattara’s supporters, including an alleged assault by so-called “invisible commandos” in which 5,000 people were driven from their homes outside Abidjan.

He warned that an $87 million appeal for aid in Côte d’Ivoire and five neighbouring countries to face a potential major humanitarian crisis was seriously under-funded, “hampering the ability of the United Nations to provide much needed services to those forced to flee their homes.

“Access to those impacted by the ongoing crisis remains a serious concern. It is essential that all sides allow unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach those in need,” he added.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said today it had received reports, as yet unconfirmed, that an additional 200 nationals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including people from Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea and Togo, had been killed in the Guiglo area in western Côte d’Ivoire. ECOWAS supports Mr. Ouattara.

“In general, we are extremely concerned about the worsening situation, particularly given the continuing incitement by the outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo,” OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.

The UNHCR office in Guiglo was attacked and plundered on Wednesday and three vehicles, two motorbikes and all office equipment and furniture were stolen. “We condemn this plundering of our premises and reiterate our call to all parties to protect civilians and refrain from any further deliberate targeting of humanitarian organizations,” Ms. Fleming said, noting that vehicles were also stolen from several other humanitarian agencies in the area.

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council today decided to send an independent international commission of inquiry to Côte d’Ivoire to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding allegations of serious rights abuses.

Yesterday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos voiced serious concern over the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation. “I call on those involved in the violence to respect civilians, including aid workers, and to allow rapid, safe and unimpeded access by humanitarian organizations,” she said.

UN News Service

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UN Official: Ivory Coast Death Toll up to 462

Voice of America

A U.N. official in Ivory Coast says forces loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo are “indiscriminately” shelling areas seen as backing Mr. Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara.

Human rights official Guillaume Ngefa told a news conference Thursday that the shelling and other attacks have killed at least 50 people in the last week, including five children, and wounded dozens more.

Ngefa, who was speaking in Abidjan, said the attacks bring the confirmed death toll from post-election violence in Ivory Coast up to 462.

The Gbagbo government has denied using heavy weapons against civilians, and accuses the U.N. of siding with Mr. Ouattara in the Ivory Coast political crisis.

Mr. Gbagbo has rejected calls from the U.N., African Union, and the west African bloc ECOWAS to give up power. All three bodies recognize Mr. Ouattara as the winner of last November’s presidential election.

Fighting between Ouattara and Gbagbo supporters has intensified in recent weeks, sparking fears that Ivory Coast will fall back into civil war.

A brief war in 2002 left Ivory Coast split into a rebel-controlled north and a government controlled south. The former rebels are now backing Mr. Ouattara, and have captured several towns in the country’s west.

VOA
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Before Egypt and Libya, There was Ivory Coast

Libya (left), Ivory Coast (right)

Foreign Policy Hypocrisy of Our Generation

Over the past two months, the world has keenly being following the political events in Egypt and Libya. Television screen at homes, schools, workplaces and major airport had one item on the waiting list: when the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would make his next statement and what would be the response of the US President Barack Obama. Facebook and Twitter were and are still floating in traffic like hell. Journalists who were hitherto unknown are now household names because of their coverage of the North African revolution. Some journalists were happily beaten up just to cover the news and they still enjoy it. Some risked their very lives just get their stories out.

The situation in Egypt and Libya ‘needed’ to be covered; the two countries play strategic roles in the US and European countries’ foreign policies. Both countries hold sweet big oil in their bosoms and the West likes that milk. Egypt does not directly make a momentous contribution to the global oil supply but it hosts the Suez Canal which is a major boulevard for oil transport to the US and other western countries. It’s also an excellent vacationer destination for the most westerners who periodically need to take a break. Libya, on the other hand, is a big player in the global oil market. The country is a swollen with pride for being a member of the OPEC and is the world’s 17th largest oil producer, the third-largest producer in Africa and holds the continent’s largest crude oil treasury. About 85% of Libya’s oil is exported to Europe. The penalty of the crisis in the two countries need not be recounted. In the US, regular fuel is now nearly $4 per gallon. Doesn’t this explain why twitter, Facebook, CNN, MSNBC and BBC are on Libya 24/7?

Another country, on the same continent, which is on the threshold of civil war and perhaps genocide, is the Ivory Coast. In fact the situation in the Ivory Coast started several months before there was a single protest in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. How much on Ivory Coast can we find on Facebook feeds? How much is atwitter? When was the last time you heard somebody call the US too weak for not calling on Laurent Gbagbo to hand over to the constitutionally elected president? In fact, how many even know who that man is?

Two weeks ago, six women were killed in the Ivory Coast by forces supporting the incumbent tyrant Laurent Gbagbo, while on a peaceful demonstration. How much coverage did the western media bestow to that story? Actually, have you heard it? How many American reporters have questioned the President of the US or his Press Secretary where US stands on the Ivory Coast crisis?

Well, the truth is unlike Egypt and Libya, the Ivory Coast has not yet had a dream of producing oil for their local consumption, how much less to export to Europe or North America. The nation has no strategic importance to either the US or UK. Genocide in Ivory Coast will not result in one cent increase in fuel price. Will it? Ivory Coast is by far the world’s leading producer of cocoa beans, and that where your chocolate comes from. The Ivory Coast crisis may lead to some increase in the price of chocolate, but don’t we celebrate Valentine Day only once a year?

Why does the Ivory Coast deserve less than Egypt and Libya. The silence demonstrated by the World’s powers towards the Ivory Crisis is deafening, and even embarrassing.

Thanks for reading?

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Human Rights in Ivory Coast Deteriorating, Warns Top UN Official

 10 March 2011 – A top United Nations official warned today that human rights violations, including rapes, abductions and killings, are escalating amid the ongoing post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, with at least 27 people killed in just the past week. 

According to investigations conducted by UN human rights officers in the country, at least 392 people have been killed in Côte d’Ivoire since mid-December amid the unrest resulting from Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to leave office after his UN-certified defeat by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara in last November’s presidential election.

“Overall, the situation appears to be deteriorating alarmingly, with a sharp increase in inter-communal and inter-ethnic confrontations,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

“Human rights abuses, including rapes, abductions and killings, are being committed by people supporting both sides,” she added. In addition, families of high-profile individuals known to be politically active have been targeted, media groups seen as pro-Ouattara have been threatened, and the residences of members appointed to the Ouattara Government have been the targets of looting and ransacking.

Ms. Pillay cited the killing last week of seven women by security forces supporting Mr. Gbagbo at a peaceful demonstration in Abobo in support of Mr. Ouattara, saying video footage of the slayings was shocking and could be used to prosecute the individuals responsible.

Another four people were killed in clashes yesterday between the Forces de Défense et de Sécurité (FDS), loyal to Mr. Gbagbo, and the “Invisible Commando,” a previously unknown group which appears to be opposing pro-Gbagbo forces, after a peaceful demonstration to mourn and pay tribute to the seven women killed last week.

The High Commissioner condemned the reported use of civilians as human shields by the Invisible Commando, which is said to be actively preventing civilians from leaving Abobo and other tense areas of the commercial capital, Abidjan.

“I strongly urge all sides to respect the rights of civilians,” said Ms. Pillay. “Particularly worrying is the constant incitement to violence by influential leaders, most notably Blé Goude, who appear to be deliberately stimulating attacks against political opponents, other ethnic groups, nationals from other West African countries, as well as against the UN staff and operations working in Côte d’Ivoire.”

Warning of a risk of a resurgence of the civil war that in 2002 split the country into a Government-held south and a rebel-controlled north, she urged all parties to show utmost restraint to prevent it, and to resolve their differences peacefully.

Also today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed that the UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) will maintain its flight operations and take “all necessary measures” to protect its assets and fulfil its mandate, particularly with regards to protecting civilians.

This came after the Ouattara Government issued a statement invalidating a declaration by the authorities supporting Mr. Gbagbo that banned UN and French peacekeeping aircraft from flying over or landing in Côte d’Ivoire.

Mr. Ban deplored this latest attempt to disrupt UNOCI’s operations and warned all parties that any attempt to disrupt flights conducted by the impartial forces is “unacceptable,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

The 9,000-strong UNOCI has been supporting the stabilization and reunification efforts in the country over the past seven years. The Security Council has rejected Mr. Gbagbo’s demands for a withdrawal of the mission, instead extending its mandate and authorizing the deployment of an additional 2,000 troops and three armed helicopters.

The Secretary-General notes with satisfaction the statement issued by the Government of President Ouattara regarding as invalid a declaration by the authorities supporting Mr. Gbagbo, banning United Nations and Licorne flights inside Côte d’Ivoire.

He deplores this latest attempt to disrupt the operations of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and warns all parties that any attempt to disrupt flights conducted by the impartial forces is unacceptable.

The Secretary-General confirms that UNOCI will maintain its flight operations and take all necessary measures, as directed by unanimous Security Council resolutions, to protect its assets and fulfil its mandate, particularly with regards to protection of civilians.

UN News Center
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Amnesty Reports on Ivory Coast Abuses

Selah Hennessy, VOA

Human rights abuses have been committed by forces loyal to the incumbent leader of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo and by forces loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara, an Amnesty International investigation reported Tuesday.

Gaetan Mootoo is one of the Amnesty researchers who went to Ivory Coast to investigate human rights abuses there. The team stayed for four weeks.  “Human rights violations are being committed by both the security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo and by the Forces Nouvelles, an armed opposition group which is supporting Alassane Ouattara,” Mootoo said.

Alassane Ouattara is internationally recognized as the winner of the November election but Laurent Gbagbo, who has been president since the year 2000, is refusing to step down.

The Amnesty research has found that forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo have committed extrajudicial executions, rape, and used excessive force. Amnesty says a number of people have also disappeared after being arrested.

But Amnesty says the Forces Nouvelles, former rebels loyal to Mr. Outtara, have also been responsible for abuses.

Mootoo says they received credible testimonies of rape, arbitrary detention, and ill treatment by members of the Forces Nouvelles in the western region it controls. He says African leaders who arrived in Ivory Coast Monday in order to try to mediate the situation need to address violations on both sides of the political divide.

“What we would like the African Union to do is to put Human Rights on the agenda of both parties so that they are aware of what is happening in that country,” Mootoo said.

Rinaldo Depagne is a senior West Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group. He’s based in Dakar, Senegal.  He says Amnesty International should make a clear distinction between abuses carried out by either side. “It’s very important to highlight the abuse on both sides,” he said. “But it is also very important not to put them in the current circumstances on the same level because they are not.”

He says Mr. Gbagbo is carrying out what he calls a “real strategy of terror”. On Monday Ivorian troops broke up demonstrations calling for Mr. Gbagbo to step down – according to witnesses several people were killed.

Depagne says the situation in the West is specific to that region.  Human Rights Groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch, say the far western regions of Ivory Coast are characterized by a breakdown of the rule of law and that assaults, rapes, and robbery are regularly carried out with impunity.

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