Amnesty International has raised alarm over the human rights situation in Côte d'Ivoire. The population lives under an atmosphere of terror. Informed sources have reported looting and virtually no civilians but only armed men in some parts of the country. These armed men wander in the bush, many of them without food and without medication.
There has been evidence of rise in human rights violations many of them along ethnic lines. Before the conflict, Blolequin had a population of between 25,000 and 30,000 people, but the city is almost empty. In the Catholic mission in Duekoue, there are 27,500 people and there is only one water well and it has started to dry up. The local authorities had requested the displaced persons to return home but they are too scared. In Duekoue, atrocities hit the population believed to be close to Gbagbo, causing over 2,000 deaths with a peak of more than 800 deaths on 28 and 29 March. During the attack on the village of Doke, the village chief and 10 notables were slain by the rebels.
During Mass at the Cathedral of San Pedro on Sunday, April 3, 2011, the rebels broke into a church opening fire which resulted into 10 deaths. In Daloa, Lakota, Bayot, Ouragahio, Issia, Sinfra and many other areas in the country, lootings committed by republican forces and freed and armed prisoners, were followed by physical removal of civilians and the burning of entire villages and homes in the cities. These massacres and lootings were committed not only in the west but also in the central and eastern regions of the Ivory Coast including some neighbourhoods of Abidjan where shots could be heard.
What the Security Council of the United Nations wants
The UN is also concerned about the situation in the streets of Abidjan and has asked President Ouattara to begin a reconciliation and stabilization process with the supporters of Laurent Gbagbo.
According to Alain Leroy, the head of the peacekeepers, the situation remains dangerous in Abidjan, where 130,000 people have been displaced. "We know, he said, that many weapons have been distributed in recent weeks, these months the young patriots to many militiamen. There are still 3,000 to 4,000 people who have weapons and are involved in looting and contributing to insecurity in Abidjan itself. So we will patrol to the best of our abilities as soon as President Ouattara's police and gendarmerie start to patrol. We are ready to patrol with them, all is top priority right now. "
When the Security Council asks Alassane Ouattara to form a government of national unity to include supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, it also expects the Ivorian president to shed light on the atrocities attributed to his supporters in the west. The humanitarian coordinator Valerie Amos requested that 300 million dollars be released to cover the necessary emergency aid to 800,000 people who fled the violence in Côte d'Ivoire.
Alassane Ouattara's desire about this situation
Alassane Ouattara wants the International Criminal Court to be involved in investigating crimes committed in Côte d'Ivoire. He asked the prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to initiate investigations into the massacres that occurred in the western region at the end of March. On this, technical elements are yet to be defined so that prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team can open investigations into the crimes committed in Côte d'Ivoire during the four months of post-election crisis. According to Ouattara, the investigation should not only be about the massacre in the West, where his forces are accused of killing people but also the deaths of protesters in Abobo, where there was heavy gunfire from the Gbagbo camp.
But is the procedure feasible?
Indeed, a few years ago, President Gbagbo had agreed in writing to the ICC jurisdiction over crimes committed since the start of the rebellion in 2002. Alassane Ouattara did the same last December. To go beyond this stage, to "preliminary examination" and open a real investigation; the prosecutor may give permission to judges to investigate, but it will take time.
The desire of the prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, would be that one or more West African Countries that are signatories of the Rome Statute be in charge of the investigation.
Insecurity remains a concern, the republican forces on a rampage
Even if life is gradually picking up in some neighbourhoods in Abidjan, and the security situation remains a very serious concern in Côte d'Ivoire. Gunmen terrorize the population by increased looting, violence and rape. Residential areas and Cocody, 2-Plateaux and Angré have been the scenes of looting. Many corroborating witnesses report the looting and vandalism of villas in the area by men armed with machine guns and Kalashnikovs. The home of Yacouba Doumbia, vice president of MIDH (Ivorian Movement for Human Rights) was also vandalized "It's groups of five, ten people who begin by forcing the gat), armed with knives, guns. You, you have no weapon, you are at their mercy, "said Yacouba Doumbia.
According to a witness who is traumatized and confused by these scenes of violence. "We tried calling the UN peacekeepers and the French Licorne. Nobody responded to our distress call "says a resident of Cocody that says that after several hours of waiting and insistence, armed men came to patrol at last. "It was the same men who had beenl ooting," she adds.
Human Right and the ICC
The prosecution by the ICC may take a while because Luis Moreno Ocampo, the ICC court prosecutor is yet to open investigations into the Human rights violations in Cote d'Ivoire