2010–2011 Ivorian crisis
Encyclopedia
The 2010–11 Ivorian crisis was a political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire
which began after Laurent Gbagbo
, the President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in the country in 10 years. The opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara
, and a number of countries, organisations and leaders worldwide claimed Ouattara had won the election. After months of attempted negotiation and sporadic violence, the crisis entered a decisive stage as Ouattara's forces began a military offensive
in which they quickly gained control of most of the country and besieged key targets in Abidjan
, the country's largest city. International organizations have reported numerous human rights violations, and the UN undertook its own military action with the stated objective to protect itself and civilians.
A significant step in bringing an end to the crisis occurred on 11 April 2011 upon the capture and arrest of Gbagbo in Abidjan
by pro-Ouattara forces backed by French forces.
, head of the Ivorian Commission Electorale Indépendante (CEI), announced provisional results showing that Alassane Ouattara had won the Ivorian election of 2010 in the second round with 54.1% of the vote, against 45.9% for Laurent Gbagbo; he reported that turnout was 81.09%. Results had been expected and then postponed for days, beyond the deadline, and Bakayoko's appearance to announce the results—at an Abidjan hotel heavily guarded by the UN—took the press by surprise. Bakayoko reportedly chose to announce the results at the hotel, which Ouattara had been using as "his base", because he wanted to have the security of UN protection when doing so.
Paul Yao N'Dre
, the President of the Constitutional Council (a body that was viewed by the opposition as favoring Gbagbo, because N'Dre was considered an ally of the President), then took to the airwaves to say that the CEI had no authority left to announce any results, because it had already missed its deadline to announce them, and consequently the results were invalid. According to N'Dre, the passing of the deadline meant that only the Constitutional Council was "authorised to announce decisions on the contested results." It was widely presumed that the Court would issue a ruling favoring Gbagbo, although the CEI's results indicated that Gbagbo could only be credited with victory if hundreds of thousands of votes were invalidated.
At the heart of the dispute lies article 94 of the Constitution of Côte d’Ivoire, which reads:
Shortly after the announcements, the military sealed the country's borders.
On the basis of the CEI's results, Ouattara maintained that he was "the elected President" and said that the Constitutional Council had "abused its authority, the whole world knows it, and I am sorry for my country's image". He had the clear backing of the international and regional community for his claim to victory, but top officers in the military appeared to stand firmly behind Gbagbo.
The New Forces
and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro
both supported Ouattara's claim to victory; Soro said that he considered Ouattara the rightful President and offered his resignation to Gbagbo on 4 December.
Gbagbo was sworn in for another five-year term on 4 December, defiantly declaring: "I will continue to work with all the countries of the world, but I will never give up our sovereignty." Sporadic violence and gunfire were reported in various parts of the country, including Abidjan. Gbagbo appointed a new Prime Minister, Gilbert Aké
, on 5 December; Aké, an economist and university president, was already regarded as close to Gbagbo.
Ouattara himself was sworn in separately shortly after, saying that "Ivory Coast is now in good hands". Ouattara then re-appointed Soro as his prime minister.
There had been rallies from pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara sides. Simone Gbagbo
, wife of Laurent Gbagbo, gave a speech in the pro-Gbagbo rally on 15 January 2011. Ivorian forces have fired live bullets to disperse protesters. In Abobo
, an Abidjan suburb and a stronghold of Ouattara's supporters, there were many violent clashes between security forces and civilians.
Aya Virginie Toure
organized over 40,000 women in peaceful protests that were violently repressed. In an impassioned interview on BBC News
, Toure compared the ongoing Second Ivorian Civil War
to the 2011 Libyan civil war
and asked for support from the international community
. She called for military intervention to remove Laurent Gbagbo from power the same way Charles Taylor was removed in the Second Liberian Civil War
.
United Nations
On 18 December, a United Nations spokesperson said in response to a Gbagbo demand that foreign armed troops leave the country that the UN did not consider Gbagbo to be the president, and that peacekeepers would continue to support and protect both Alassane Ouattara and Ivorian citizens.
On 23 December 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Council
passed a resolution that "strongly condemned human rights violations that had taken place in Côte d’Ivoire...that occurred in different parts of Côte d’Ivoire in relation to the conclusion of the 2010 presidential election." The resolution was criticized by Amnesty International
as having insufficiently addressed the situation.
International
Angola and Lebanon were the only countries to send their ambassadors to Gbagbo's swearing-in. The African Union
—which, like the United Nations, formally recognised Ouattara as the duly elected President—warned that the conflicting results and subsequent political crisis could result in "incalculable consequences", and sent former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki
to mediate the issue. The US, UN, EU, ECOWAS, as well as former colonial power France affirmed their support to Ouattara.
On 5 December, former President Thabo Mbeki held separate talks with Gbagbo and Ouattara, acting as a mediator. The African Union had appointed Mbeki to lead an emergency mission to Côte d'Ivoire "to facilitate the rapid and peaceful conclusion of the electoral process and the efforts to find a way out of the crisis." However, he left the next day without a deal.
Gabon
ese opposition leader Andre Mba Obame
cited the events in Ivory Coast and the international recognition of Ouattara as Ivorian President as inspiration for declaring himself winner of the controversial 2009 Gabonese presidential election
, sparking an ongoing political crisis in Gabon.
On 28 December, presidents Yayi Boni
of Benin
, Ernest Bai Koroma
of Sierra Leone
and Pedro Pires
of Cape Verde
arrived in the country on behalf of ECOWAS, to convince Gbagbo to resign and go into exile for the sake of his country, while declaring it was Gbagbo's last chance before the deployment of military force against him.
On 20 December, White House Press Secretary
Robert Gibbs
told a news briefing that it was "time for [Gbagbo] to go" and that "We stand ready to impose targeted sanctions, individually and in concert with our partners around the world, on President Gbagbo, on his immediate family, on those who are associated with him and those who continue to cling to power illegitimately." On 21 December, the United States Department of State
announced that it had imposed travel sanctions against Gbagbo and 30 allies. William Fitzgerald, the deputy assistant secretary for African affairs, said that trade sanctions may be imposed against individuals. On 22 December, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley
said that Ouattara's victory was irrefutable and reiterated U.S. demands that Gbagbo step down.
left 44 people dead. It was alleged that mass grave of opposition supporters had been dug in a pro-Gbagbo neighborhood in Abidjan, but security forces prevented UN investigators from going to the site to check the allegations. Another mass grave was reported to exist in the village of N'Dotre, guarded by government militias.
Clashes between rival tribes seen as being pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara killed 33 people in the central Ivorian city of Duékoué 3 January and 6 January 2011. Between 11 January and 12 January, 11 more people were killed when fighting broke in Abidjan out between security forces and Ouattara supporters, some of whom were using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, after the police attempted to conduct a raid in a pro-Ouattara district of Abidjan. The same area was the scene of further clashes on 21–22 February when police again attempted to raid it. 12 opposition supporters were killed when security forces fired machine guns and launched rocket-propelled grenades in the neighbourhood; the next day, opposition fighters ambushed government gendarmes
(paramilitary police) and killed 10-15 of them.
Gbagbo's supporters carried out a number of attacks during March, attacking foreign businesses and UN offices in Abidjan on 1 March and killing at least six people attending a pro-Ouattara rally in the city. The northern suburb of Abobo was attacked by Gbagbo's forces on 13 March in a bid to drive out pro-Ouattara supporters, and mobs were also reported to be roaming the city looking for their opponents and attacking or killing them. The violence resulted in 10 confirmed deaths and scores more wounded. Abobo came under heavy attack on 17 March, killing 30 people, when shells were into a crowded market from a nearby military barracks. It was unclear whether Gbagbo or Outtara supporters were responsible, though Abobo is generally pro-Ouattara. On 18 March, the UN issued a statement saying that the shelling was "an act, perpetrated against civilians, [that] could constitute a crime against humanity." Another 52 people were killed in continuing violence in Abidjan between 21–26 March.
Opposition figure Guillaume Soro charged that Gbagbo's security forces and Liberian mercenaries had waged a campaign of terror, and that death squad
s had been responsible for 200 deaths, 1,000 people wounded from gunfire, 40 disappearances
and 732 arrests. He told The Guardian
that "women have been beaten, stripped, assaulted and raped. When will the international community realise that a murderous insanity has begun in Ivory Coast?" Amnesty International
said it had received increasing reports of atrocities in the country. By March 2011, an estimated 450,000+ Ivorians had left the country, of which 370,000 were from the capital city of Abidjan
.
On 10 March 2011, it was announced that Gbagbo had banned all French and UN aircraft from Ivorian airspace, with exceptions only if the transport ministry approved. The ban was not challenged by the UN, which continued to fly helicopters despite the order; allies of Ouattara said Gbagbo had no legal authority with which to enforce the ban.
Approximately 1,800 people, including children and civil servants, have taken refuge in Abidjan's Saint Paul's Cathedral
since the beginning of the crisis.
Both pro-Outtara and pro-Gbagbo forces were accused of having participated in the March 28–29 Duékoué massacre, where hundreds of civilians were killed. When asked by U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Outtara denied the accusation against his force but agreed to conduct an investigation.
have been organized in the Ivory Coast and internationally in support of a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis.
In December 2010, several street protests were held in Abidjan. Hundreds of women joined the protests and banged pots as a warning about the arrival of the militias. The protesters were met with heavily armed security forces firing into the crowd and killing civilians.
In February, 2011, hundreds of youth protested in Abobo
, a neighborhood of Abidjan. One man and one woman were killed by security forces who opened fire and used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
On March 3, 2011, 15,000 women held a peaceful protest in Abidjan. Some were dressed in black, some were wearing leaves, and some were naked, all signs of an African curse
directed toward Laurent Gbagbo. In the neighborhood of Abobo, they were met by security forces with tanks that opened fire on the women. Seven women were killed and approximately 100 were wounded.
On March 8, International Womens Day, 45,000 women held peaceful protests across the country. The women were met with youth armed with machetes and automatic weapons firing into the air at Koumassi
. One woman and three men were killed in Abidjan by the army.
, from where Gbagbo was reported to have recruited numerous fighters. A series of western towns fell to the RFCI between 25 February and 21 March as it advanced beyond the ceasefire line from the previous civil war. On 28 March the RFCI launched a country-wide military offensive as Ouattara declared that all peaceful solutions had been "exhausted". After heavy fighting in some central Ivorian towns, the RFCI advanced rapidly across the country to seize towns along the eastern border with Ghana, the political capital Yamoussoukro
and the key port of San Pédro. By 31 March the RFCI had reached Abidjan as fighting broke out in the city, with Gbagbo loyalists falling back to the area around the presidential palace. United Nations and French forces joined the fighting on 4 April with helicopter attacks on heavy weapons being used by Gbagbo's forces.
Electricity and water to the northern half of the country were also cut 2 March, with no immediate explanation for either event.
and LICORNE forces in Ivory Coast and is opposed to any renewal of their mandate." In January 2011, Gbagbo requested a recount of the votes, along with the creation of a committee composed of international members that would oversee the recount. He also engaged in a diplomatic campaign to gain support from countries like Zimbabwe
, while at the same time expelling ambassadors from the United Kingdom and Canada
, countries that did not recognize his leadership. After the election, Gbagbo initially retained control of the country's armed forces and the state media, but in part due to the international sanctions which limited Gbagbo's financing abilities, this control gradually crumbled and the offensive by Ouattara forces caused much of Gbagbo's armed forces to defect.
Ouattara was at the first floor of the Golf Hotel in Abidjan while Gbagbo remained at the presidential palace. Ouattara has held Cabinet meetings in a tent on the hotel's lawn and is using the fax
machine in the hotel manager's office to communicate with foreign embassies. The hotel is guarded by about 800 UN peacekeepers, who have encircled the site with coiled razor wire and guard the premises with white UN armored personnel carriers and security checks for visitors.
According to local UN mission chief Choi Young-jin, troops loyal to Gbagbo (about 3,000 militiamen according to a Ouattara spokesman) have occupied the neighborhood surrounding the Golf Hotel and set up a blockade
that is preventing UN trucks from bringing food, water and medicine to the hotel; UN trucks are sent each day but have been turned back every time. A spokesman for the local UN mission said that "We're still trying to find alternative ways in." Ouattara has a pirate radio
station inside the hotel that broadcasts campaign songs, speeches from Ouattara, and statements by his spokesman. Technicians working for Gbagbo have been jamming the signal
and so the station has been changing frequencies
several times a day.
During early March 2011, Ouattara traveled to Ethiopia to meet with an African Union (AU) council tasked with finding a solution to the conflict. Gbagbo refused to attend the meeting, which resulted in the AU confirming Ouattara as the victor in the elections. It was the first time he had left the Golf Hotel since the election was held.
observed that public media had been neutral in its coverage of the candidates, but it also noted that Gbagbo's campaign had received a substantially larger amount of coverage. Reporters have been threatened by armed forces sympathetic to Gbagbo.
International radio stations, including France 24
, BBC
and RFI
, were stopped from broadcasting on 2 March.
(French: Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO)). The governor of BCEAO, Philippe-Henry Dacoury-Tabley, seen as an ally of Gbagbo, was forced to resign by West African leaders on 21 January 2011.
Outtara said that the continuing crisis hurts the economy. As a declining economy threatens the status of Côte d'Ivoire, as the largest producer of cocoa in the world, a revival hinged on the outcome of the election.
The internationally traded price for cocoa and white sugar fell in the week prior to the election on speculation that the election would spur production.
On 24 January 2011, the cocoa price soared following Ouattara's announcement that coffee and cocoa exports would be banned for a month in hope to cut off the funding for Gbagbo.
Ivory Coast was also forced to default on a $2.3 billion bond as a result of the crisis.
On 9 February 2011 onwards the Abidjan stock exchange
remained closed after Gbagbo's loyalist forces invaded its offices. The following day it reopened. The regional stock exchange Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres moved "temporarily" to Bamako
, Mali after Gbagbo's troops attacked its office in Abidjan.
During the week from 14 to 18 February, four banks had suspended their operations, and Gbagbo in response nationalized them on 17 February. Most of the cash machines in Abidjan had been empty or out of service and people rushed to the banks to withdraw their cash.
Reports suggested a cash crisis in the country due to a lack of capital inflows and runs on banks forcing national financial institutions to also deplete their reserves. Several banks ceased operations in the country. The move led to Gbagbo loyalist forces to have "nationalised" those banks and "requisitioned" cash from the Central Bank's Abidjan bureau. The opposition said these actions amounted to robbery.
, a "One Thousand Women March" was organised by peace activists in West Africa in support of the women in the Ivory Coast. They wore white t-shirts
and represented countries across West Africa including Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana
, Liberia
, Nigeria
, Sierra Leone
and Togo
.
On April 6, in Canada
outside the French consulate in Montreal
, demonstrators protested against France's military intervention in Ivory Coast and asked for humanitarian corridors to be opened in Abidjan.
On April 8, in Ireland
outside the French embassy in Dublin, demonstrators protested against the international community’s “military invasion” of Ivory Coast.
Reporters Without Borders
asked for the release of a detained pro-Gbagbo journalist. The personnel director of the company that published Le Temps, a newspaper close to FPI, was briefly arrested on May 24 and then released in the same day. The Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire occupied the seat of Notre Voie, a newspaper close to FPI, from April to the beginning of September.
On September 28, Commission dialogue, vérité et réconciliation (CDVR) (English: Dialogue, Truth, and Reconciliation Commission) was inaugurated in Yamoussoukro. It is a 11-member commission headed by former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny. The commission includes religious leaders, regional representatives, and Chelsea footballer Didier Drogba to speak for Ivorians living abroad. It is modelled after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. However, Konan Banny expressed that the commission would not have amnesty powers nor powers to absolve anyone.
A legislative election was announced to be held on December 15 at latest. It would be the first legislative election since 2000, due to the crisis in 2002. Ouattara hoped that new legislators could be elected before the major development projects announced in the presidential campaign start.
(AGOA), which gives trade preferences to eligible countries.
, who had been accused of being involved in extrajuricial executions by UN.
and Laurent Gbagbo to Korhogo. Simone Gbagbo, on August 16, and Laurent Gbagbo, on August 18, were charged with economic crimes. The charges included looting, armed robbery and embezzlement. The government, citing its incompetence, has requested the involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the investigation of violence related crimes.
On October 3, the judges of ICC authorized its prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to probe post-election war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by forces loyal to both Gbagbo and Ouattara. With an arrest warrant issued on November 23 and made known to the public on November 29, Laurent Gbagbo was sent from Côte d'Ivoire on November 29 and arrived in a prison in Scheveningen, a suburb of the Hague
, on November 30.
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
which began after Laurent Gbagbo
Laurent Gbagbo
Laurent Koudou Gbagbo served as the fourth President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian by profession, he is also an amateur chemist and physicist....
, the President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in the country in 10 years. The opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Dramane Ouattara is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2011. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of West African States , and he was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from November 1990 to...
, and a number of countries, organisations and leaders worldwide claimed Ouattara had won the election. After months of attempted negotiation and sporadic violence, the crisis entered a decisive stage as Ouattara's forces began a military offensive
Second Ivorian Civil War
The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2000, and supporters of the internationally recognised president-elect Alassane Ouattara...
in which they quickly gained control of most of the country and besieged key targets in Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...
, the country's largest city. International organizations have reported numerous human rights violations, and the UN undertook its own military action with the stated objective to protect itself and civilians.
A significant step in bringing an end to the crisis occurred on 11 April 2011 upon the capture and arrest of Gbagbo in Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...
by pro-Ouattara forces backed by French forces.
Announcement of results and post-election conflict
On 2 December 2010, Youssouf BakayokoYoussouf Bakayoko
Youssouf Bakayoko is a politician and diplomat from Cote d'Ivoire. He served in the Ivorian government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 3 January 2006 to March 2010. Since 2010, he has been President of the Independent Electoral Commission , presiding over the 2010 presidential...
, head of the Ivorian Commission Electorale Indépendante (CEI), announced provisional results showing that Alassane Ouattara had won the Ivorian election of 2010 in the second round with 54.1% of the vote, against 45.9% for Laurent Gbagbo; he reported that turnout was 81.09%. Results had been expected and then postponed for days, beyond the deadline, and Bakayoko's appearance to announce the results—at an Abidjan hotel heavily guarded by the UN—took the press by surprise. Bakayoko reportedly chose to announce the results at the hotel, which Ouattara had been using as "his base", because he wanted to have the security of UN protection when doing so.
Paul Yao N'Dre
Paul Yao N'Dré
Paul Yao N'Dré is an Ivorian politician and magistrate who was President of the Constitutional Council of Côte d'Ivoire from 2009 to 2011...
, the President of the Constitutional Council (a body that was viewed by the opposition as favoring Gbagbo, because N'Dre was considered an ally of the President), then took to the airwaves to say that the CEI had no authority left to announce any results, because it had already missed its deadline to announce them, and consequently the results were invalid. According to N'Dre, the passing of the deadline meant that only the Constitutional Council was "authorised to announce decisions on the contested results." It was widely presumed that the Court would issue a ruling favoring Gbagbo, although the CEI's results indicated that Gbagbo could only be credited with victory if hundreds of thousands of votes were invalidated.
At the heart of the dispute lies article 94 of the Constitution of Côte d’Ivoire, which reads:
The Constitutional Council controls the regularity of the operations of the referendum and proclaims the results.
The Council decides on:
- - the eligibility of the candidates to the presidential and legislative elections;
- - the disputes concerning the election of the President of the Republic and of the Deputies.
The Constitutional Council proclaims the definitive results of the presidential elections.
Shortly after the announcements, the military sealed the country's borders.
Double victory claims
On 3 December, the Constitutional Council declared Gbagbo winner. N'Dre announced that the results in seven northern regions were cancelled, and on that basis declaring the outcome narrowly in favor of Gbagbo, who was credited with 51.45% of the vote while Ouattara had 48.55%.On the basis of the CEI's results, Ouattara maintained that he was "the elected President" and said that the Constitutional Council had "abused its authority, the whole world knows it, and I am sorry for my country's image". He had the clear backing of the international and regional community for his claim to victory, but top officers in the military appeared to stand firmly behind Gbagbo.
The New Forces
Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire
The Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire is a political coalition that was formed in December 2002, in the wake of the first peace accords of the Ivorian Civil War.-Composition:FNCI includes these political parties:...
and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro
Guillaume Soro
Guillaume Kigbafori Soro has served as the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire since 4 April 2007...
both supported Ouattara's claim to victory; Soro said that he considered Ouattara the rightful President and offered his resignation to Gbagbo on 4 December.
Gbagbo was sworn in for another five-year term on 4 December, defiantly declaring: "I will continue to work with all the countries of the world, but I will never give up our sovereignty." Sporadic violence and gunfire were reported in various parts of the country, including Abidjan. Gbagbo appointed a new Prime Minister, Gilbert Aké
Gilbert Aké
Gilbert Marie N'gbo Aké is an Ivorian academic and politician. He was named Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire by Laurent Gbagbo after the latter claimed victory in the disputed 2010 presidential election.-External links:*...
, on 5 December; Aké, an economist and university president, was already regarded as close to Gbagbo.
Ouattara himself was sworn in separately shortly after, saying that "Ivory Coast is now in good hands". Ouattara then re-appointed Soro as his prime minister.
Reactions
DomesticThere had been rallies from pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara sides. Simone Gbagbo
Simone Gbagbo
Simone Ehivet Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician. She is the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front and is a Vice-President of the FPI...
, wife of Laurent Gbagbo, gave a speech in the pro-Gbagbo rally on 15 January 2011. Ivorian forces have fired live bullets to disperse protesters. In Abobo
Abobo
Abobo is a northern suburb of Abidjan and urban commune of this city in Côte d'Ivoire. Abobo is one of the most populated communes in the country with about 1,500,000 inhabitants in an area of 9,000 ha , a density of 167 inhabitants per hectare. It is home to a railway station located on the road...
, an Abidjan suburb and a stronghold of Ouattara's supporters, there were many violent clashes between security forces and civilians.
Aya Virginie Toure
Aya Virginie Toure
Aya Virginie Toure is a peace activist in Côte d'Ivoire , West Africa. She became known for organizing women in nonviolent resistance against President Laurent Gbagbo who refused to step down since he lost the presidential election to Alassane Ouattara...
organized over 40,000 women in peaceful protests that were violently repressed. In an impassioned interview on BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, Toure compared the ongoing Second Ivorian Civil War
Second Ivorian Civil War
The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2000, and supporters of the internationally recognised president-elect Alassane Ouattara...
to the 2011 Libyan civil war
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
and asked for support from the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
. She called for military intervention to remove Laurent Gbagbo from power the same way Charles Taylor was removed in the Second Liberian Civil War
Second Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
.
United Nations
On 18 December, a United Nations spokesperson said in response to a Gbagbo demand that foreign armed troops leave the country that the UN did not consider Gbagbo to be the president, and that peacekeepers would continue to support and protect both Alassane Ouattara and Ivorian citizens.
On 23 December 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
passed a resolution that "strongly condemned human rights violations that had taken place in Côte d’Ivoire...that occurred in different parts of Côte d’Ivoire in relation to the conclusion of the 2010 presidential election." The resolution was criticized by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
as having insufficiently addressed the situation.
International
Angola and Lebanon were the only countries to send their ambassadors to Gbagbo's swearing-in. The African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
—which, like the United Nations, formally recognised Ouattara as the duly elected President—warned that the conflicting results and subsequent political crisis could result in "incalculable consequences", and sent former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
to mediate the issue. The US, UN, EU, ECOWAS, as well as former colonial power France affirmed their support to Ouattara.
On 5 December, former President Thabo Mbeki held separate talks with Gbagbo and Ouattara, acting as a mediator. The African Union had appointed Mbeki to lead an emergency mission to Côte d'Ivoire "to facilitate the rapid and peaceful conclusion of the electoral process and the efforts to find a way out of the crisis." However, he left the next day without a deal.
Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
ese opposition leader Andre Mba Obame
André Mba Obame
André Mba Obame is a Gabonese politician. After serving as an adviser to President Omar Bongo in the 1980s, he was a minister in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1997 to 2009; during that time, he was identified with the reformist wing of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party...
cited the events in Ivory Coast and the international recognition of Ouattara as Ivorian President as inspiration for declaring himself winner of the controversial 2009 Gabonese presidential election
Gabonese presidential election, 2009
A presidential election was held in Gabon on 30 August 2009 after the incumbent President Omar Bongo Ondimba died on 8 June 2009. While the constitution stated that Interim President Rose Francine Rogombé should organise elections within 30 to 45 days, the Constitutional Court accepted the...
, sparking an ongoing political crisis in Gabon.
On 28 December, presidents Yayi Boni
Yayi Boni
Dr. Thomas Yayi Boni , a Beninese banker and politician, is the current President of Benin. He took office on 6 April 2006 after winning elections held in the previous month.-Biography:...
of Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
, Ernest Bai Koroma
Ernest Bai Koroma
Ernest Bai Koroma is the fourth and current President of Sierra Leone. He was sworn in as President on 17 September 2007 at the State House in the capital Freetown, shortly after being declared the winner of a tense run-off in the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election with 54.6% of the vote over...
of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
and Pedro Pires
Pedro Pires
Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires was the President of Cape Verde from March 2001 to September 2011. Before becoming President, he was Prime Minister from 1975 to 1991....
of Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
arrived in the country on behalf of ECOWAS, to convince Gbagbo to resign and go into exile for the sake of his country, while declaring it was Gbagbo's last chance before the deployment of military force against him.
On 20 December, White House Press Secretary
White House Press Secretary
The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the government administration....
Robert Gibbs
Robert Gibbs
Robert Lane Gibbs was the 28th White House Press Secretary. Gibbs was the communications director for then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama and Obama's 2008 presidential campaign...
told a news briefing that it was "time for [Gbagbo] to go" and that "We stand ready to impose targeted sanctions, individually and in concert with our partners around the world, on President Gbagbo, on his immediate family, on those who are associated with him and those who continue to cling to power illegitimately." On 21 December, the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
announced that it had imposed travel sanctions against Gbagbo and 30 allies. William Fitzgerald, the deputy assistant secretary for African affairs, said that trade sanctions may be imposed against individuals. On 22 December, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley
Philip J. Crowley
Philip J. “P.J.” Crowley is the former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, having been sworn into office on May 26, 2009. He resigned on March 13, 2011, following comments he made about the treatment of Bradley Manning. Crowley was named the 2011-2012 recipient of the...
said that Ouattara's victory was irrefutable and reiterated U.S. demands that Gbagbo step down.
Threats, violence and human rights violations
Between December 2010 and March 2011, there was a series of sporadic outbreaks of violence between Gbagbo's militias and security forces and Ouattara's supporters, primarily in the city of Abidjan where both sides had large numbers of supporters. On 16 December 2010, clashes between opposition supporters and security forces in Abidjan and YamoussoukroYamoussoukro
The District of Yamoussoukro is the official political capital and administrative capital city of Côte d'Ivoire, while the economic capital of the country is Abidjan. As of 2010, it was estimated to have 242,744 inhabitants...
left 44 people dead. It was alleged that mass grave of opposition supporters had been dug in a pro-Gbagbo neighborhood in Abidjan, but security forces prevented UN investigators from going to the site to check the allegations. Another mass grave was reported to exist in the village of N'Dotre, guarded by government militias.
Clashes between rival tribes seen as being pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara killed 33 people in the central Ivorian city of Duékoué 3 January and 6 January 2011. Between 11 January and 12 January, 11 more people were killed when fighting broke in Abidjan out between security forces and Ouattara supporters, some of whom were using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, after the police attempted to conduct a raid in a pro-Ouattara district of Abidjan. The same area was the scene of further clashes on 21–22 February when police again attempted to raid it. 12 opposition supporters were killed when security forces fired machine guns and launched rocket-propelled grenades in the neighbourhood; the next day, opposition fighters ambushed government gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
(paramilitary police) and killed 10-15 of them.
Gbagbo's supporters carried out a number of attacks during March, attacking foreign businesses and UN offices in Abidjan on 1 March and killing at least six people attending a pro-Ouattara rally in the city. The northern suburb of Abobo was attacked by Gbagbo's forces on 13 March in a bid to drive out pro-Ouattara supporters, and mobs were also reported to be roaming the city looking for their opponents and attacking or killing them. The violence resulted in 10 confirmed deaths and scores more wounded. Abobo came under heavy attack on 17 March, killing 30 people, when shells were into a crowded market from a nearby military barracks. It was unclear whether Gbagbo or Outtara supporters were responsible, though Abobo is generally pro-Ouattara. On 18 March, the UN issued a statement saying that the shelling was "an act, perpetrated against civilians, [that] could constitute a crime against humanity." Another 52 people were killed in continuing violence in Abidjan between 21–26 March.
Opposition figure Guillaume Soro charged that Gbagbo's security forces and Liberian mercenaries had waged a campaign of terror, and that death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
s had been responsible for 200 deaths, 1,000 people wounded from gunfire, 40 disappearances
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
and 732 arrests. He told The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that "women have been beaten, stripped, assaulted and raped. When will the international community realise that a murderous insanity has begun in Ivory Coast?" Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
said it had received increasing reports of atrocities in the country. By March 2011, an estimated 450,000+ Ivorians had left the country, of which 370,000 were from the capital city of Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...
.
On 10 March 2011, it was announced that Gbagbo had banned all French and UN aircraft from Ivorian airspace, with exceptions only if the transport ministry approved. The ban was not challenged by the UN, which continued to fly helicopters despite the order; allies of Ouattara said Gbagbo had no legal authority with which to enforce the ban.
Approximately 1,800 people, including children and civil servants, have taken refuge in Abidjan's Saint Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral, Abidjan
St Paul's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The cathedral, which was designed by architect Aldo Spirito, serves as the motherchurch for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abidjan.Saint Paul's Cathedral served as a refuge for approximately 1,800...
since the beginning of the crisis.
Both pro-Outtara and pro-Gbagbo forces were accused of having participated in the March 28–29 Duékoué massacre, where hundreds of civilians were killed. When asked by U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Outtara denied the accusation against his force but agreed to conduct an investigation.
Peaceful protests
Numerous peaceful protests of nonviolent resistanceNonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other methods, without using violence. It is largely synonymous with civil resistance...
have been organized in the Ivory Coast and internationally in support of a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis.
In December 2010, several street protests were held in Abidjan. Hundreds of women joined the protests and banged pots as a warning about the arrival of the militias. The protesters were met with heavily armed security forces firing into the crowd and killing civilians.
In February, 2011, hundreds of youth protested in Abobo
Abobo
Abobo is a northern suburb of Abidjan and urban commune of this city in Côte d'Ivoire. Abobo is one of the most populated communes in the country with about 1,500,000 inhabitants in an area of 9,000 ha , a density of 167 inhabitants per hectare. It is home to a railway station located on the road...
, a neighborhood of Abidjan. One man and one woman were killed by security forces who opened fire and used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
On March 3, 2011, 15,000 women held a peaceful protest in Abidjan. Some were dressed in black, some were wearing leaves, and some were naked, all signs of an African curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
directed toward Laurent Gbagbo. In the neighborhood of Abobo, they were met by security forces with tanks that opened fire on the women. Seven women were killed and approximately 100 were wounded.
On March 8, International Womens Day, 45,000 women held peaceful protests across the country. The women were met with youth armed with machetes and automatic weapons firing into the air at Koumassi
Koumassi
Koumassi is a town and commune in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.It is one of four communes of Abidjan south of Ébrié Lagoon, the others being Treichville, Marcory and Port-Bouët.-References:*This article was initially created from the French Wikipedia....
. One woman and three men were killed in Abidjan by the army.
Outbreak of violent conflict
As the violence continued in Abidjan, heavy fighting broke out in western Côte d'Ivoire at the end of February 2011 as the newly renamed Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (RFCI) sought to close the border with LiberiaLiberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, from where Gbagbo was reported to have recruited numerous fighters. A series of western towns fell to the RFCI between 25 February and 21 March as it advanced beyond the ceasefire line from the previous civil war. On 28 March the RFCI launched a country-wide military offensive as Ouattara declared that all peaceful solutions had been "exhausted". After heavy fighting in some central Ivorian towns, the RFCI advanced rapidly across the country to seize towns along the eastern border with Ghana, the political capital Yamoussoukro
Yamoussoukro
The District of Yamoussoukro is the official political capital and administrative capital city of Côte d'Ivoire, while the economic capital of the country is Abidjan. As of 2010, it was estimated to have 242,744 inhabitants...
and the key port of San Pédro. By 31 March the RFCI had reached Abidjan as fighting broke out in the city, with Gbagbo loyalists falling back to the area around the presidential palace. United Nations and French forces joined the fighting on 4 April with helicopter attacks on heavy weapons being used by Gbagbo's forces.
Electricity and water to the northern half of the country were also cut 2 March, with no immediate explanation for either event.
Status of Gbagbo and Ouattara
On 18 December 2010, Gbagbo ordered peacekeeping forces from the United Nations and France to leave the country; the government issued a statement saying that it " demands the departure of the UNOCIUnited Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire
The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire is a peacekeeping mission whose objective is "to facilitate the implementation by the Ivorian parties of the peace agreement signed by them in January 2003"...
and LICORNE forces in Ivory Coast and is opposed to any renewal of their mandate." In January 2011, Gbagbo requested a recount of the votes, along with the creation of a committee composed of international members that would oversee the recount. He also engaged in a diplomatic campaign to gain support from countries like Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, while at the same time expelling ambassadors from the United Kingdom and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, countries that did not recognize his leadership. After the election, Gbagbo initially retained control of the country's armed forces and the state media, but in part due to the international sanctions which limited Gbagbo's financing abilities, this control gradually crumbled and the offensive by Ouattara forces caused much of Gbagbo's armed forces to defect.
Ouattara was at the first floor of the Golf Hotel in Abidjan while Gbagbo remained at the presidential palace. Ouattara has held Cabinet meetings in a tent on the hotel's lawn and is using the fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
machine in the hotel manager's office to communicate with foreign embassies. The hotel is guarded by about 800 UN peacekeepers, who have encircled the site with coiled razor wire and guard the premises with white UN armored personnel carriers and security checks for visitors.
According to local UN mission chief Choi Young-jin, troops loyal to Gbagbo (about 3,000 militiamen according to a Ouattara spokesman) have occupied the neighborhood surrounding the Golf Hotel and set up a blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
that is preventing UN trucks from bringing food, water and medicine to the hotel; UN trucks are sent each day but have been turned back every time. A spokesman for the local UN mission said that "We're still trying to find alternative ways in." Ouattara has a pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station inside the hotel that broadcasts campaign songs, speeches from Ouattara, and statements by his spokesman. Technicians working for Gbagbo have been jamming the signal
Radio jamming
Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...
and so the station has been changing frequencies
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
several times a day.
During early March 2011, Ouattara traveled to Ethiopia to meet with an African Union (AU) council tasked with finding a solution to the conflict. Gbagbo refused to attend the meeting, which resulted in the AU confirming Ouattara as the victor in the elections. It was the first time he had left the Golf Hotel since the election was held.
Media
Reporters Without BordersReporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
observed that public media had been neutral in its coverage of the candidates, but it also noted that Gbagbo's campaign had received a substantially larger amount of coverage. Reporters have been threatened by armed forces sympathetic to Gbagbo.
International radio stations, including France 24
France 24
France 24 is an international news and current affairs television channel. The service is aimed at the overseas market, similar to BBC World News, DW-TV, NHK World and RT, and broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the channel started broadcasting through...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and RFI
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
, were stopped from broadcasting on 2 March.
Economy and financial markets
The West African Economic and Monetary Union (French: Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine (UEMOA)) recognises Ouattara as the winner of the 2010 election. The bank of issue of UEMOA is the Central Bank of West African StatesCentral Bank of West African States
The Central Bank of West African States is a central bank serving the eight west African countries which comprise the West African Economic and Monetary Union:*Benin*Burkina Faso*Cote d'Ivoire*Guinea Bissau*Mali*Niger*Senegal*Togo-See also:...
(French: Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO)). The governor of BCEAO, Philippe-Henry Dacoury-Tabley, seen as an ally of Gbagbo, was forced to resign by West African leaders on 21 January 2011.
Outtara said that the continuing crisis hurts the economy. As a declining economy threatens the status of Côte d'Ivoire, as the largest producer of cocoa in the world, a revival hinged on the outcome of the election.
The internationally traded price for cocoa and white sugar fell in the week prior to the election on speculation that the election would spur production.
On 24 January 2011, the cocoa price soared following Ouattara's announcement that coffee and cocoa exports would be banned for a month in hope to cut off the funding for Gbagbo.
Ivory Coast was also forced to default on a $2.3 billion bond as a result of the crisis.
On 9 February 2011 onwards the Abidjan stock exchange
Bourse des Valeurs d'Abidjan
The Abidjan Stock Exchange , Côte d'Ivoire, was the only stock exchange in the francophone West African countries until the formation of BRVM in 1998. It was established in 1974, started trading in 1976, and was closed at the end of December 1997....
remained closed after Gbagbo's loyalist forces invaded its offices. The following day it reopened. The regional stock exchange Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres moved "temporarily" to Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
, Mali after Gbagbo's troops attacked its office in Abidjan.
During the week from 14 to 18 February, four banks had suspended their operations, and Gbagbo in response nationalized them on 17 February. Most of the cash machines in Abidjan had been empty or out of service and people rushed to the banks to withdraw their cash.
Reports suggested a cash crisis in the country due to a lack of capital inflows and runs on banks forcing national financial institutions to also deplete their reserves. Several banks ceased operations in the country. The move led to Gbagbo loyalist forces to have "nationalised" those banks and "requisitioned" cash from the Central Bank's Abidjan bureau. The opposition said these actions amounted to robbery.
International
On March 23, at the ECOWAS Summit in NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, a "One Thousand Women March" was organised by peace activists in West Africa in support of the women in the Ivory Coast. They wore white t-shirts
Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace
Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace is a peace movement started by women in Liberia, Africa thatbrought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Organized by social worker Leymah Gbowee, the movement started with local women praying and singing in a fish market...
and represented countries across West Africa including Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
.
On April 6, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
outside the French consulate in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, demonstrators protested against France's military intervention in Ivory Coast and asked for humanitarian corridors to be opened in Abidjan.
On April 8, in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
outside the French embassy in Dublin, demonstrators protested against the international community’s “military invasion” of Ivory Coast.
Human rights
Human rights remained as an issue. In May, Amnesty International reported that both pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara sides had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict. On July 20, Ouattara inaugurated a commission to investigate the violation of human rights during the conflict.Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
asked for the release of a detained pro-Gbagbo journalist. The personnel director of the company that published Le Temps, a newspaper close to FPI, was briefly arrested on May 24 and then released in the same day. The Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire occupied the seat of Notre Voie, a newspaper close to FPI, from April to the beginning of September.
Continuance of violence
According to Human Right Watch, the violence still persisted. Pro-Gbagbo militias had killed at least 220 people during the days immediately before or after the arrest of Gbagbo. In June 2011, it was reported that at least 149 actual or suspected pro-Gbagbo partisans had been killed by the force of Ouattara since April. In August, similar events committed by the force of Ouattara were reported again by the media. A summary of a press conference of UNOCI in August reported several confrontations between FRCI and youths in Ores-Krobou, Abadjin-Kouté, Abadjin-Doumé, Akoupé-Zeudji, and Biéby.Politics
On June 1, 2011, Guillaume Soro formed a new government. No one in the cabinet came from the pro-Gbagbo camp. Guillaume Soro is the prime minister and minister of defence. The mandate of Choi Young-ji ended on August 31, and Albert Gerard Koenders became the new UN Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire on September 1.On September 28, Commission dialogue, vérité et réconciliation (CDVR) (English: Dialogue, Truth, and Reconciliation Commission) was inaugurated in Yamoussoukro. It is a 11-member commission headed by former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny. The commission includes religious leaders, regional representatives, and Chelsea footballer Didier Drogba to speak for Ivorians living abroad. It is modelled after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. However, Konan Banny expressed that the commission would not have amnesty powers nor powers to absolve anyone.
A legislative election was announced to be held on December 15 at latest. It would be the first legislative election since 2000, due to the crisis in 2002. Ouattara hoped that new legislators could be elected before the major development projects announced in the presidential campaign start.
Economy
On June 27, UN lifted the last sanctions against Ivorian enterprises, including Radiodiffusion télévision ivoirienne (RTI), Association des producteurs de caoutchouc naturel de Côte d'Ivoire (APROCANCI), and Société de gestion du patrimoine de l'électricité (SOGEPE). On July 8, IMF resumed the aid to Côte d'Ivoire. On October 25, the United States announced that Côte d'Ivoire, excluded since 2005, was again eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity ActAfrican Growth and Opportunity Act
In May 2000, the U.S. Congress approved legislation known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA . The purpose of this legislation was to assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and to improve economic relations between the United States and the region...
(AGOA), which gives trade preferences to eligible countries.
Military
On August 3, Ouattara promoted several important and controversial ex-chiefs in the New Forces who were said to have brought Ouattara to his position. Among those promoted was Martin Fofié Kouakou, appointed as the new commandant of KorhogoKorhogo
Korhogo is a town in Korhogo Department in the north-central region of Côte d'Ivoire. It has a population of 174,000 . It produces and/or processes goods such as cotton, kapok, rice, millet, peanuts, corn, yams, sheep, goats and diamonds. The town was on an important pre-colonial trade route to...
, who had been accused of being involved in extrajuricial executions by UN.
Gbagbo
Laurent Gbagbo was arrested on April 11. From April to August he and his wife, Simone Gbagbo, were under house arrest in separate locations in northern Côte d'Ivoire. Simone Gbagbo was sent to OdiennéOdienné
Odienné is the chief town of Odienné Department of Côte d'Ivoire, lying in the northwestern part of the country. West of Odienné is the Deng Kele Massif. The town of Odienné was founded by Malinké people under Vakaba Tourié . Later, Samory Touré founded a support base in the town. Features of...
and Laurent Gbagbo to Korhogo. Simone Gbagbo, on August 16, and Laurent Gbagbo, on August 18, were charged with economic crimes. The charges included looting, armed robbery and embezzlement. The government, citing its incompetence, has requested the involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the investigation of violence related crimes.
On October 3, the judges of ICC authorized its prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to probe post-election war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by forces loyal to both Gbagbo and Ouattara. With an arrest warrant issued on November 23 and made known to the public on November 29, Laurent Gbagbo was sent from Côte d'Ivoire on November 29 and arrived in a prison in Scheveningen, a suburb of the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, on November 30.
External links
- Thousands Flee Ivory Coast as President Gbagbo Refuses to Cede Power - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
- Statement of the African Union Observer Mission