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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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DR Congo: UN Report Details Suffering of Rape Victims, Recommends Reparations

 3 March 2011 –A United Nations report unveiled today highlights the deprivations endured by thousands of victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including poverty, denial of justice and lack of access to medical and psychological treatment, and recommends the establishment of a reparations fund.

“Remedies and Reparations for Victims of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” prepared by a special high-level panel appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, reveals that the survivors of sexual violence have no recourse to compensation and other forms of remedies or reparations.

During the panel’s visit to DRC from 27 September to 13 October 2010, its members heard from 61 survivors of sexual violence, ranging from a girl raped when she was three years old to a 61-year-old grandmother, about what they perceived their actual needs to be.

The panel met with some individuals and groups, the report says, “including victims who had contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of rape, victims who had become pregnant and had children as a result of rape, victims whose husbands had rejected them following their rape, child victims of rape, victims of rape who had taken their cases to court seeking justice, and victims of rape by civilian perpetrators.

“Among the victims with special needs whom the panel met were a girl with sensory disabilities, a young woman who is blind, and four men, two of whom were raped and two of whom were sexually assaulted in other ways,” the report states.

Health care and education were among the highest priorities conveyed to the panel by victims.

“They are determined, but in many cases unable, to send their children to school. Those who have contracted HIV/AIDS are deeply troubled by concern over what will happen to their children when they die. Many victims who met with the panel have been displaced from their homes. They expressed the need for socio-economic reintegration programmes.”

Many women never report the rapes, either due to fear of stigmatization or lack of faith in the judicial system. “There is no point in making an accusation,” one woman said. “I learned by example from most people raped before me that there is no justice,” she said.

The report notes that “these victims expressed great frustration because their perpetrators have escaped from prison while they have not been paid the damages … even in those cases where the State has been held liable.”

The report notes that most victims interviewed were unable to seek justice through the courts because they cannot identify their perpetrators, or in some cases, because perpetrators have not been arrested.

The panel recommends that a fund to support reparations be established as a matter of priority, and that the management of the fund include representatives of the Government of the DRC, the UN, donors, civil society, and survivors themselves.

The panel was comprised of Kyung-wha Kang, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights; Elisabeth Rehn, former Minister of Defense of Finland; and Denis Mukwege, Medical Director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, the capital of DRC’s South Kivu province.

Commenting on the report, Anthony Lake, the Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), who is currently visiting victims in the eastern DRC city of Goma, said sexual violence undermined the social fabric and reinforced a vicious cycle of violence.

(UN News Center)

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Victims of Sexual Violence in DR Congo Face Bleak Situation, UN Report

Congo has been described as the rape capital of the world

GENEVA (3 March 2011) – A new UN report, based on testimonies by some of the hundreds of thousands of victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, paints an extremely stark picture of the at best inadequate, and at worst non-existent, resources and efforts to meet their needs, ranging from medical and psychological treatment, to their socio-economic situation, and lack of access to justice, compensation and other forms of remedies and reparations.

The 55-page report, published Thursday by a special high-level panel appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, is the product of a 17-day field visit by the panel’s three members and their support team to seven locations in three different provinces and the capital Kinshasa.

During their visit, the panel heard directly from 61 survivors of sexual violence, ranging from a girl raped when she was three years old to a 61-year-old grandmother, about what they perceived their actual needs to be, and what they felt about the remedies and reparations currently available to them. Many of them also described in graphic detail to the panel members what had happened to them and to other victims in their neighbourhoods. In each location, the panel held talks with provincial and local government officials, and convened roundtables with officials in the justice sector, members of civil society and UN representatives.

The panel met with some individuals and groups, the report says, “including victims who had contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of rape, victims who had become pregnant and had children as a result of rape, victims whose husbands had rejected them following their rape, child victims of rape, victims of rape who had taken their cases to court seeking justice, and victims of rape by civilian perpetrators. Among the victims with special needs whom the panel met were a girl with sensory disabilities, a young woman who is blind, and four men, two of whom were raped and two of whom were sexually assaulted in other ways.”

Peace and security are seen as the precondition to any restoration of normal life, the report says, noting that “victims expressed concern that whatever they are given now to restore their lives can be again destroyed if there is no peace.”

Health care and education were among the highest priorities conveyed to the panel by victims. “They are determined, but in many cases unable, to send their children to school. Those who have contracted HIV/AIDS are deeply troubled by concern over what will happen to their children when they die. Many victims who met with the panel have been displaced from their homes. They expressed the need for socio-economic reintegration programmes.”

“The panel was struck by the difference between the urban centres and the villages it visited,” the report says. “In remote areas there is so little infrastructure that access to any form of assistance or reparation is virtually non-existent. Most women outside the cities are unable to get medical assistance within 72 hours of rape. Nor are there prisons and courts within reachable distance, making detention and trial of perpetrators very challenging and rendering justice unattainable.”

Even in Bukavu, the main city in South Kivu, the panel noted that “the police officer responsible for sexual violence investigations has only a motorcycle, which makes it impossible for her to transport arrested persons to detention facilities.”

Many women never report the rapes, either due to fear of stigmatization or lack of faith in the judicial system. “There is no point in making an accusation,” one woman said. “I learned by example from most people raped before me that there is no justice.”

The panel also met victims who have been able to overcome the many challenges of bringing a case to court and getting a judgment that condemns the perpetrators and awards them reparations in the form of damages and interest.

However the report says “these victims expressed great frustration because their perpetrators have escaped from prison while they have not been paid the damages…even in those cases where the state has been held liable.”

“This is a matter of widespread concern to judicial officers and provincial government authorities, as well as civil society and the victims themselves. The failure to pay these awards is undermining the judiciary and the confidence of victims in the justice system,” the report states, calling for immediate action to pay awarded damages.

The report notes, however, that most victims interviewed were unable to seek justice through the courts because they cannot identify their perpetrators, or in some cases, because perpetrators have not been arrested. “Victims have a right to reparations, which include restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition. There is a need to highlight the responsibility of the government in this regard, with support from the international community.”

The panel heard many views on the relative benefits and drawbacks of individual vs. collective reparations, and repeatedly the suggestion was made that both collective and individual reparations should be provided for. The panel recommends that a fund to support reparations be established as a matter of priority, with the governance of the fund to include representatives of the Government of the DRC, the United Nations, donors, civil society, and survivors themselves. Such a fund should benefit victims of sexual violence in all parts of the country.

“Shifting the stigma from the victims to the perpetrators would have a great impact on the ability of victims to reclaim their dignity and rebuild their lives,” the report says. “Breaking the silence and mobilizing public support for these victims could be the single most important form of reparation.”

The organization of the hearings, including the identification and selection of victims who met with the panel, was undertaken jointly by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Panzi Hospital, in consultation with the Joint Human Rights Office of the UN mission in DRC (MONUSCO). The potential security risks to each victim were assessed, and measures were taken to ensure their safety and confidentiality. Psychologists were hired to pre-screen each witness and to be available to the witnesses before, during and after the hearings.

The panel was composed of Kyung-wha Kang, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Elisabeth Rehn, former Minister of Defense of Finland and co-author of the UNIFEM report on Women, War and Peace, and Dr. Denis Mukwege, Medical Director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu.

(UNHCR)

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