In Visit To UN, Ivorian President Promises Justice

Ivory Coast’s new President Alassane Ouattara says his government will spare no efforts to investigate crimes that were committed during the country’s post electoral crisis, even if they implicate his own supporters or troops, he told a press conference at UN headquarters in New York. 

 “We don’t want to accept impunity in Cote d’Ivoire, we will have reconciliation on one track but the judicial system will do its work on the other track. Justice will be for everyone the same, no distinction.” he told reporters.

 Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s 2010 election, made his first visit to the world body since UN backed forces help drive out his opponent and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo in April. 

 Gbagbo refused to recognize the results of the country’s November 2010 Presidential elections, and for more than five months his security forces directed attacks against opponents and the UN presence in Ivory Coast. Ouattara’s forces were eventually able to capture Gbagbo in April, after a French military unit carried out a strikes against his compound.

 During the crisis, humanitarian groups documented serious rights violations and war crimes, allegedly carried out by militias loyal to both Presidential candidates.

Ouattara told reporters he’s already asked the Hague based International Criminal Court for help investigating possible crimes against humanity committed after the November 2010 election but said investigations into economic crimes committed by the former President and his entourage would be held in an Ivorian based court.

He said that only crimes and rights abuses carried after the November 2010 election would be investigated. 

Initial reports following Gbagbo’s capture indicated he and his wife had been mistreated, but Ouattara told reporters he was being held respectfully and awaiting trial at one of his former Presidential residences. 

 Ouattara says that besides the reconciliation of his country’s political factions, his government will need to work hard to rebuild the economy and organize new elections before the end of the year.

“This year, because of the post electoral crisis, our economy will drop by 7 %, so this needs massive support.” said Ouattara, a former IMF official.  “From developing savings, good governance to better spend our money and also financial support from the world.“

Ouattara is scheduled to meet President Obama on Friday to discuss how the US can best support Ivory Coast in its transition. 

Ivory Coast: Peacekeeping Chief Defends UN Role In Gbagbo Ouster

The head of the UN’s peacekeeping operations says the world body had “no other option” when it intervened in Ivory Coast this week, even if that move paved the way for the arrest of hold out president Laurent Gbagbo by his opponent Alassane Ouattara’s forces.

 Alain Le Roy told reporters at a news conference UN actions were within the framework of the Security Council resolution allowing UNOCI to take “all necessary means” to prevent the use of heavy weapons against civilians.

 Less than a week after Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest, the UN continues to draw criticism from those who say it went beyond its mandate and effectively took sides in a civil war.

 The United Nations and France have repeatedly tried to distance themselves from Gbagbo’s arrest, insisting all week that Ouattara’s forces had carried out the final raid on the former President’s compound without outside help.

Le Roy did however concede that UN and French intervention to protect civilians from heavy weapons set the stage for Gbagbo’s ousting.

 “ I agree, it is clear that the forces loyal to President Ouattara took advantage of that, and attacked the residence.” said Le Roy “Our intention was not any kind of regime change, that is not our mandate. Our mandate is to target heavy weapons when they are used, they were used every day of that week. So we had no option but to do it.

Le Roy said Gbagbo should have known UN retaliation against heavy artillery could give Ouattara’s forces an important advantage.

 “The fact that the forces loyal to Ouattara took advantage of it, there nothing we can do about it.” said Le Roy.“If Ouattara had heavy weapons targeting us or targeting the civilian population, we would have done the same.”

 The new Ouattara government may have trouble moving to its goal of national reconciliation if domestic opinion perceives it is in power thanks to outside intervention by the UN and especially by France, the former colonial power in the country.

 The Ouattara government’s prosecution of Laurent Gbagbo will also likely be a key aspect of the reconciliation process. 

 Although many of Gbagbo’s supporters defected to the Ouattara camp in the past few weeks, the former President still has a considerable support through out the country.

 Le Roy said President Ouattara’s forces were guarding Gbagbo and his family inside an apartment at the Golf Hotel and that UN officers were also positioned outside to ensure his safety.

 The UN peacekeeping chief confirmed that Mr. Gbagbo’s wife and son Michel were physically abused when first taken into custody, but UN officials had since received assurances from the Ouattara camp that they would be treated “in a correct manner”. 

 One of Gbagbo’s minister’s, Desire Tagro , died under mysterious circumstances hours after he was taken into custody by Ouattara supporters. Le Roy said UNOCI officials transported the former interior minister to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment on a gun shot wound to the jaw, but were unable to prevent his death. 

 Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies have voiced serious concern over the plight of the population displaced by armed clashes. More than 800 000 people have fled their homes since the start of the fighting, over 120 000 of whom have crossed into neighboring Liberia.

Yesterday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) appealed for 160 million dollars to address humanitarian needs over the next nine months. OCHA says aid agencies have been able to reach affected areas in the west of the country, but security concerns were preventing greater humanitarian access to Abijan, were a large portion of the population is without water, food and electricity. 

 The UN says its troops are actively patrolling the city and that calm is slowly returning to the country’s economic capital, with ports and banks scheduled to re-open sometime next week. 

Ivory Coast: UN Forces Help Flush Out Gbagbo

After more than five months of fighting and posturing in Ivory Coast, the former President Laurent Gbagbo was arrested by forces loyal to his opponent Allassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the country’s November 2010 election.

Ouattara troops entered Gbagbo’s compound early this morning after UN and French peacekeepers launched a final offensive against the former President’s heavy artillery. 

UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky says the decision to undertake further military action was made after Gbagbo’s forces continued to shell UN and Ouattara headquarters through out the weekend. 

 UN peace keeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters Gbagbo decided to surrendered only after Ouattara’s Force Republicaine had entered his compound. 

The former President and his wife are currently being held at the Golf Hotel in Abijan, the same place where Ouattara sought UN protection after Gbagbo refused to concede power in December. 

While Gbagbo is under the custody of Ouattara’s forces, guards for the UN mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) are nevertheless ensuring his physical integrity and safety. 

Le Roy said it would ultimately be up to Ouattra and his legal team to decide what to do with the former President.  

Youssoufu Bamaba , Ouattara’s envoy at the UN, told reporters that Gbagbo would be brought to justice but was unable to offer further details into any possible prosecution.

While Gbagbo ouster is an important step, Le Roy warned that the humanitarian crisis in Cote d”Ivoire was far from over and that armed clashes continued in pockets through out the country. 

 “The crisis is not over at all. Our(UNOCI) main task is to contribute to restore law and order inside Abijan and the whole country.” said Le Roy “President Ouattara’s forces have a big role to play, he must call the police and the gendarmerie to restore law and order. ”

Le Roy says that negotiations with troops loyal to the former President are ongoing and that most of Gbagbo’s Republican Guard want to surrender.

“So far the chief of Gbagbo forces, Geberal Dogbo Ble, called us to say he wants to surrender his weapons. I hope this is going on as I speak. “ 

 Over the past few weeks, reports of mass killings and human rights violations committed by both Ouattara and Gbagbo have increased dramatically. 

 Human Rights Watch’s most recent humanitarian update details hundreds of killings and other abuses in the Western part of the country, many of which were carried out along ethnic lines, by forces loyal to both leaders. The rights organization has called on the Ouattara government to carry out credible investigation into all incidents. 

 Ivan Simonovic, United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, told reporters today that President Ouattara has called on his forces to refrain from retaliation against Gbagbo supporters and had agreed to fully cooperate with a Human Rights Council mandated investigation into the killings.

Former Ivory Coast President Rejects Calls To Recognize Opponent After UN, French Military Offensive

It looks like the discredited outgoing president of Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa is digging in his heels. Laurent Gbagbo, whom international agencies agree lost the election for president in November, denied he was negotiating conditions of his surrender and departure, in an interview with a French news channel.

 Gbagbo has been trying to hang on ever since the UN and international observers certified that his opponent Alassane Ouattara was the winner of the elections.

 Gbagbo’s statement comes after the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) said Gbagbo forces and allies were deserting him. 

The former Ivorian leader is reportedly holding out in a bunker below the Presidential Palace in Abijan, surrounded by forces loyal to Ouattara.

 Since the beginning of the standoff last November, the UN Security Council and UNOCI have repeatedly condemned Gbagbo and his forces for targeting Ouattara supporters as well as the civilian population and have expanded the capabilities of international peacekeeping forces. 

 But France, Cote d’Ivoire’s former colonial power, has come under fire for the active military role its peacekeepers have taken over the past weeks. 

French officials have maintained they are working in tandem with the United Nations and within the framework UN Security Council resolution 1975, which allows for the use of force to protect civilians and destroy heavy artillery in Cote d’Ivoire.

Yet Paris has seemingly taken the lead in interpreting and implementing the resolution. On Monday, French forces opened fire on the Presidential Palace where Gbabgo is believed to be hiding, an offensive the UN did not take part in. 

Some have suggested it might be difficult to reconcile such military action with a Security Council mandate that focuses on civilian protection, rather than regime change.

Human rights organization estimate that fighting between both factions has displaced over 1 million from their homes, with tens of thousands of people seeking refuge in neighboring countries. 

Over the weekend, the Red Cross Committee reported that the town of Duekoue had been the site of a large scale massacre believed to have been carried out by forces loyal to Ouattara. The number of casualties has yet to be confirmed, but initial reports from the Red Cross indicate that over 800 people were killed.  Ouattara has since denied his forces were involved.