Saturday, April 28, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
HOLLANDE EST LA RISEE DU PALAIS IVOIRIEN
COTE D'IVOIRE - ABIDJAN LE 20 AVRIL 2012 © koaci.com - Alors que ce vendredi matin Alassane Ouattara et la cour présidentielle s'en vont à l'ouest du pays et que les émissaires du président battent campagne pour Sarkozy à Paris, l’élection présidentielle en France ne laisse pas le palais d'Abidjan indifférent. Au contraire le scrutin français, dont le premier tour se déroulera ce dimanche, suscite un fort enthousiasme au centre du pouvoir ivoirien très marqué à droite et clairement en faveur du candidat Nicolas Sarkozy par ailleurs ami intime du locataire du palais présidentiel d'Abidjan.
Si l'élection présidentielle en France est de tous les débats actuellement, au cabinet du président ivoirien ce dernier semble avoir trouvé sa tête de turc, le challenger de Sarkozy, François Hollande. En effet, selon nos informations, le candidat du parti socialiste, est conspué à un point d'en être devenu la risée du palais, pas un jour sans que n'apparaisse une nouvelle ironie à son encontre jusqu'à la moquerie parfois acerbe.
Pour preuve ce jeudi encore nous surprenions plusieurs collaborateurs du président s’esclaffer au sujet de la médiocrité de celui qu'ils jugent incapable de battre le chouchou du camp Alassane Ouattara.
Par ailleurs une autre tendance est perceptible, celle de la crainte d'une défaite de celui qui aura permis l'ascension au sommet de l'Etat ivoirien d'Alassane Ouattara après une intervention de l'armée française en avril 2011. Si l'aveuglement pour Sarkozy est réel, sa défaite pourrait créer une psychose chez un grand nombre d’aficionados du président ivoirien.
Notons pour finir, que plane sur cette campagne française de gros soupçons d'aide financière d'Abidjan en faveur du candidat de l'UMP. Nous y reviendrons.
Amy, KOACI.COM ABIDJAN, copyright © koaci.com
Si l'élection présidentielle en France est de tous les débats actuellement, au cabinet du président ivoirien ce dernier semble avoir trouvé sa tête de turc, le challenger de Sarkozy, François Hollande. En effet, selon nos informations, le candidat du parti socialiste, est conspué à un point d'en être devenu la risée du palais, pas un jour sans que n'apparaisse une nouvelle ironie à son encontre jusqu'à la moquerie parfois acerbe.
Pour preuve ce jeudi encore nous surprenions plusieurs collaborateurs du président s’esclaffer au sujet de la médiocrité de celui qu'ils jugent incapable de battre le chouchou du camp Alassane Ouattara.
Par ailleurs une autre tendance est perceptible, celle de la crainte d'une défaite de celui qui aura permis l'ascension au sommet de l'Etat ivoirien d'Alassane Ouattara après une intervention de l'armée française en avril 2011. Si l'aveuglement pour Sarkozy est réel, sa défaite pourrait créer une psychose chez un grand nombre d’aficionados du président ivoirien.
Notons pour finir, que plane sur cette campagne française de gros soupçons d'aide financière d'Abidjan en faveur du candidat de l'UMP. Nous y reviendrons.
Amy, KOACI.COM ABIDJAN, copyright © koaci.com
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
PRESIDENT OUATTARA IS A CRIMINAL
IVORYCOAST: 3/29/12
One year ago today, forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara captured the western town of Duékoué as they swept through Côte d’Ivoire before ultimately arresting former President Laurent Gbagbo. After taking over the town, pro-Ouattara forces committed horrific abuses, killing several hundred people.
A year later, no one has been credibly investigated, much less arrested, for these crimes
After several days of fighting, pro-Ouattara forces – including the Republican Forces and several allied militia groups – took effective control of Duékoué on March 29. Some members of these forces proceeded to retaliate viciously against certain groups presumed to support the former president, and particularly targeted male youth from the Guéré ethnic group who had formed the core of Gbagbo’s militias in the West.
Human Rights Watch interviewed eight women who watched the execution of their family members during the Duékoué massacre. A 29-year-old woman described how a 4x4 drove up as her family was fleeing the Carrefour neighborhood, and three men jumped out in military fatigues, armed with Kalashnikov rifles. The men pulled her husband away, as she was carrying a 6-month-old baby, and chanted, “You are all Guérés, you who voted Gbagbo! You didn’t vote ADO [Alassane Dramane Ouattara], we are going to kill you all.” All three men opened fire on her husband, killing him instantly. The attackers then abducted the woman’s 15-year-old brother, forcing him into a truck where several other youth were already held.
Another woman said: “They went house-to-house and took the men out to kill them. Two of them broke down my door and entered the house; they forced my husband outside. Several others were carrying a flame and set the house on fire. I came out screaming behind them, and they shot my husband at point-blank range with a large gun.”
Photos seen by Human Rights Watch, taken by someone who helped bury the bodies, show that elderly men and a pregnant woman were among the victims. The findings from a UN investigation that began on April 1 reported that “certain victims were clearly executed while fleeing…. Bodies were [also] discovered laying on their stomach, likely indicating that they had been killed from behind. Others had had their throats slit or been burned alive. Women, children, and the elderly also figured among the victims.”
Pro-Ouattara forces effectively burned the Carrefour neighborhood to the ground, along with several other Guéré villages around Duékoué. Indeed, throughout their military offensive, pro-Ouattara forces razed villages and committed executions and rape.
Despite its promise to provide impartial justice, the Ouattara government has not accounted for what happened during the Duékoué massacre, a disconcerting omission given the scale and symbolic significance of the abuses. At the same time, more than 120 people from the Gbagbo camp have been charged by military or civilian prosecutors.
It’s not as if the government doesn’t know where to start in investigating the Duékoué massacre. Amadé Ouérémi has been individually named as having been involved in the Duékoué massacre, either directly or through command responsibility, in reports published by Human Rights Watch and the UN Operations in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI). The Ivorian government’s own state-owned Fraternité-Matin wrote an article in September 2011 stating that there were “suspicions” of Amadé’s role in the “Duékoué massacres.” It continued, “The villagers clearly recognized members of his group in the attack on the Carrefour neighborhood of Duékoué. An attack during which the chief of Bagohouo, 41 people from the same village, and hundreds of others perished.”
Why, then, is Amadé still at large one year later? He is not directly associated with the Republican Forces (though Duékoué residents said Amadé’s forces sometimes fought alongside them). Amadé does not appear to command a large number of soldiers. He appears, on the surface, to be one of the easiest – and potentially most significant – targets for prosecution, were the government actually interested in acting on its promises of ensuring impartial justice.
In mid-January, a government minister told Human Rights Watch that it was not possible from a security perspective to credibly investigate Amadé’s role in the massacre. When asked about this, a high-level UNOCI official said, “If they wanted to arrest Amadé, they could arrest Amadé.” Five months earlier, on August 10, UNOCI disarmed about 90 members of Amadé’s group. In October, there was a “second phase” of the disarmament, in which additional munitions were collected and the men’s military-style uniforms were burned.
In meeting with government officials and some foreign diplomats, I have had the sense that they feel the status quo must not be shaken, lest security be negatively affected. Côte d’Ivoire’s history, however, shows that the failure to combat impunity and ensure an independent judiciary does not help national security, but rather foments discontent and division.
Investigations and prosecutions are essential for the return of the rule of law in Côte d’Ivoire. They would send a powerful message that the Ouattara government understands that the post-election conflict included grave crimes that caused the loss of life on both sides of the nation’s political and ethnic divide. The continued impunity for the Duékoué massacre provides a daily reminder that justice is serving only the victors.
The communal divides that have fueled Côte d’Ivoire’s massive human rights abuses will only be healed when people like Amadé are brought to justice.
Matt Wells is the Côte d’Ivoire researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the organization’s October 2011 report on the post-election crisis, “They Killed Them Like It Was Nothing”: The Need for Justice for Cote d’Ivoire’s Post-Election Crimes.
One year ago today, forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara captured the western town of Duékoué as they swept through Côte d’Ivoire before ultimately arresting former President Laurent Gbagbo. After taking over the town, pro-Ouattara forces committed horrific abuses, killing several hundred people.
A year later, no one has been credibly investigated, much less arrested, for these crimes
After several days of fighting, pro-Ouattara forces – including the Republican Forces and several allied militia groups – took effective control of Duékoué on March 29. Some members of these forces proceeded to retaliate viciously against certain groups presumed to support the former president, and particularly targeted male youth from the Guéré ethnic group who had formed the core of Gbagbo’s militias in the West.
Human Rights Watch interviewed eight women who watched the execution of their family members during the Duékoué massacre. A 29-year-old woman described how a 4x4 drove up as her family was fleeing the Carrefour neighborhood, and three men jumped out in military fatigues, armed with Kalashnikov rifles. The men pulled her husband away, as she was carrying a 6-month-old baby, and chanted, “You are all Guérés, you who voted Gbagbo! You didn’t vote ADO [Alassane Dramane Ouattara], we are going to kill you all.” All three men opened fire on her husband, killing him instantly. The attackers then abducted the woman’s 15-year-old brother, forcing him into a truck where several other youth were already held.
Another woman said: “They went house-to-house and took the men out to kill them. Two of them broke down my door and entered the house; they forced my husband outside. Several others were carrying a flame and set the house on fire. I came out screaming behind them, and they shot my husband at point-blank range with a large gun.”
Photos seen by Human Rights Watch, taken by someone who helped bury the bodies, show that elderly men and a pregnant woman were among the victims. The findings from a UN investigation that began on April 1 reported that “certain victims were clearly executed while fleeing…. Bodies were [also] discovered laying on their stomach, likely indicating that they had been killed from behind. Others had had their throats slit or been burned alive. Women, children, and the elderly also figured among the victims.”
Pro-Ouattara forces effectively burned the Carrefour neighborhood to the ground, along with several other Guéré villages around Duékoué. Indeed, throughout their military offensive, pro-Ouattara forces razed villages and committed executions and rape.
Despite its promise to provide impartial justice, the Ouattara government has not accounted for what happened during the Duékoué massacre, a disconcerting omission given the scale and symbolic significance of the abuses. At the same time, more than 120 people from the Gbagbo camp have been charged by military or civilian prosecutors.
It’s not as if the government doesn’t know where to start in investigating the Duékoué massacre. Amadé Ouérémi has been individually named as having been involved in the Duékoué massacre, either directly or through command responsibility, in reports published by Human Rights Watch and the UN Operations in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI). The Ivorian government’s own state-owned Fraternité-Matin wrote an article in September 2011 stating that there were “suspicions” of Amadé’s role in the “Duékoué massacres.” It continued, “The villagers clearly recognized members of his group in the attack on the Carrefour neighborhood of Duékoué. An attack during which the chief of Bagohouo, 41 people from the same village, and hundreds of others perished.”
Why, then, is Amadé still at large one year later? He is not directly associated with the Republican Forces (though Duékoué residents said Amadé’s forces sometimes fought alongside them). Amadé does not appear to command a large number of soldiers. He appears, on the surface, to be one of the easiest – and potentially most significant – targets for prosecution, were the government actually interested in acting on its promises of ensuring impartial justice.
In mid-January, a government minister told Human Rights Watch that it was not possible from a security perspective to credibly investigate Amadé’s role in the massacre. When asked about this, a high-level UNOCI official said, “If they wanted to arrest Amadé, they could arrest Amadé.” Five months earlier, on August 10, UNOCI disarmed about 90 members of Amadé’s group. In October, there was a “second phase” of the disarmament, in which additional munitions were collected and the men’s military-style uniforms were burned.
In meeting with government officials and some foreign diplomats, I have had the sense that they feel the status quo must not be shaken, lest security be negatively affected. Côte d’Ivoire’s history, however, shows that the failure to combat impunity and ensure an independent judiciary does not help national security, but rather foments discontent and division.
Investigations and prosecutions are essential for the return of the rule of law in Côte d’Ivoire. They would send a powerful message that the Ouattara government understands that the post-election conflict included grave crimes that caused the loss of life on both sides of the nation’s political and ethnic divide. The continued impunity for the Duékoué massacre provides a daily reminder that justice is serving only the victors.
The communal divides that have fueled Côte d’Ivoire’s massive human rights abuses will only be healed when people like Amadé are brought to justice.
Matt Wells is the Côte d’Ivoire researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the organization’s October 2011 report on the post-election crisis, “They Killed Them Like It Was Nothing”: The Need for Justice for Cote d’Ivoire’s Post-Election Crimes.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
GENOCIDE IN IVORYCOAST
Summary Executions of Detained Civilians, Primarily the Elderly As the Republican Forces of president Ouattara swept through, those who were elderly or ill, as well as family members who refused to leave loved ones who were unable to flee, often remained behind in their houses. In at least several instances, Republican Forces locked these people in one or several village houses and then killed them in the days that followed.
Human Rights Watch documented the killing of more than 30 Guérés who had been unable to flee with their families; in the vast majority of cases, the Republican Forces shot elderly victims at point-blank range. Scores of other refugees interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they left behind elderly loved ones in other villages around Toulepleu and Bloléquin, suggesting that this death toll could be even higher.
A 21-year-old Guéré woman from a village near Toulepleu described how in early March, she, her family, and five other villagers were detained. She was raped, her husband was killed for trying to defend her, and others were executed:
Human Rights Watch documented the killing of more than 30 Guérés who had been unable to flee with their families; in the vast majority of cases, the Republican Forces shot elderly victims at point-blank range. Scores of other refugees interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they left behind elderly loved ones in other villages around Toulepleu and Bloléquin, suggesting that this death toll could be even higher.
A 21-year-old Guéré woman from a village near Toulepleu described how in early March, she, her family, and five other villagers were detained. She was raped, her husband was killed for trying to defend her, and others were executed:
The village was attacked by rebels [around March 7]. The loyalists [pro-Gbagbo troops] had been in the village for some time before, but they fled right before the rebels arrived. My husband, two children, and I hid in our house. The rebels found us and took us to the village chief's house, where we were held for around a week, together with five other villagers, including two women.A 67-year-old woman from Doké, where fighting between Ouattara and Gbagbo forces took place on March 13, similarly described to Human Rights Watch the execution of 20 Guéré civilians, the majority elderly men and women:
Every day they took someone out and shot him in front of the house. The rebels would enter, take the person out, and then a shot would be fired and the person never came back. On the fifth day I was raped inside the house by one of the rebels. He raped me right in front of my children. When my husband tried to defend me, they took him outside, fired a shot, and he never came back.
Soon after, something was flying overhead. It went over twice, and all of the rebels left the village. That's when I took my children and came across to Liberia.
I woke up to gunfire the first day that they attacked Doké. I was in my house, and when I heard the shooting I ran outside. The rebels caught me immediately. Some of them were in military camouflage; some were in t-shirts with military pants. There were military cargo trucks and 4x4s around town. Six of them trapped me along with four other people. They locked us in one of the bigger houses in the village. When they put us there, one said, "We didn't come here for you. We didn't come here to kill you."An 84-year-old man held in another house in Doké with six other Guérés described how on the fifth day of their captivity, uniformed members of the Republican Forces locked the one-room house in which they were being detained and then opened fire through the walls. Five of the seven captives died immediately, all of them over age 50, and the witness had three gunshot wounds in his left leg.
The second day, they brought more people to the house. Some of them were from the village, mostly other aged or sick people that couldn't flee. And then there were similar people from neighboring villages that they brought there. Altogether we were more than 30, more than 40 people even. We were all over 45 years old.
It was this day that they started to kill. The rebels pulled people out of the house and then executed them right in front. I could look out and watch it all. I was so surprised the first time, we all cried out knowing then we were going to die. They grabbed an elderly man - it was three of them that came in - they pulled him outside, told him to start walking away, and then shot him from two, three meters away. His body just went down to the ground. Then they came in and grabbed another person. That day they killed our village chief. They demanded 100,000 CFA [about US$210] from him, but he said he didn't have any money. They shot him three times; it was the third shot that killed him.
In total they killed more than 20 people that were held there. I saw them all with my own eyes. This was over three days; they killed some every day. A few they killed by slitting the person's throat with a machete, but most [killings] were by gunshot. They killed mostly men, but they executed a few women as well. We the old and the sick couldn't flee from war. What fight did they have with us?
Once I overheard one of them say to another rebel, "These are people we're going to kill. These are the Guéré who brought on this war." But other than that, they didn't speak to us. There were many of them that did the executions. It changed every day. New 4x4s of rebels were always coming through, bringing new people. Doké became their base as they were looking to attack Bloléquin.
After three days of killings, they brought some of the bodies together and burned them. The smell was horrible from all the decaying bodies outside the house.
They'd slammed my foot with a Kalash that first day, so my foot was really inflamed. A young rebel came to me because of my injury and said that I was to go into the bush and collect wood to cook for them later. He told his friend that I couldn't run away because my foot was so inflamed. They didn't realize I was still strong, that I knew if I stayed I would be killed. So when I went into the bush to get that wood I made my escape.
I was in the bush for two weeks, arriving here nine days ago. I still don't know where my husband and children are. They fled when the fighting started, and I don't know if they escaped. I ask new refugees every day, but I still haven't heard.
Pro-Ouattara forces left the village - which was briefly taken back over by pro-Gbagbo forces without a fight that day - allowing the man to escape with the other survivor. They found a car that took them to Guiglo, where the Red Cross treated him. Faced with another imminent attack by the Republican Forces in Guiglo, the 84-year-old man spent two weeks traveling more than 100 kilometers on foot to cross
PRO-OUATTARA FORCES ETHNIC CLEANSING IN IVORYCOAST
In a few towns and villages, the Republican Forces of Ouattara arrived sooner than expected, before most people had taken flight, and frequently opened fire as the panicked population tried to flee into the surrounding bush. Human Rights Watch documented dozens of killings during such instances in Toulepleu, Diboké, Doké, and Bloléquin.
Witnesses said pro-Ouattara forces went house-to-house after taking over a village, killing many who remained. A 23-year-old from Diboké told Human Rights Watch that fighters from the Republican Forces entered her house and killed her mother, father, and younger brother. She escaped through a window, ultimately fleeing to Liberia. A 25-year-old from Bloléquin hid under her bed as pro-Ouattara forces entered her house and killed her 20-year-old sister. In at least four cases documented by Human Rights Watch, victims had parts of their arms cut off and then their insides cut out with long knives - two while they were still living, two others after they had been shot.
After working through the towns and villages, some Republican Forces fanned out on foot on the smaller roads into areas where residents work on their cocoa plantations - killing additional people who believed they had fled to safety. In one of several such accounts, a 47-year-old woman told Human Rights Watch:
Witnesses said pro-Ouattara forces went house-to-house after taking over a village, killing many who remained. A 23-year-old from Diboké told Human Rights Watch that fighters from the Republican Forces entered her house and killed her mother, father, and younger brother. She escaped through a window, ultimately fleeing to Liberia. A 25-year-old from Bloléquin hid under her bed as pro-Ouattara forces entered her house and killed her 20-year-old sister. In at least four cases documented by Human Rights Watch, victims had parts of their arms cut off and then their insides cut out with long knives - two while they were still living, two others after they had been shot.
After working through the towns and villages, some Republican Forces fanned out on foot on the smaller roads into areas where residents work on their cocoa plantations - killing additional people who believed they had fled to safety. In one of several such accounts, a 47-year-old woman told Human Rights Watch:
When we heard that the rebels were coming, my family fled to our campement (small cocoa plantation). It's two kilometers outside of Doké, on a road you can only get to on foot or motorbike. We thought we would be safe there, even if there was fighting in the town. On March 16, I was with my father, husband, and 10-year-old son. My sister and her children were also there. We were preparing food when two rebels came across us in the bush. One of them was dressed in full military camouflage with a white bandana; the other one had on military pants and a black t-shirt. Perhaps they'd seen the fire, that's how they found us.After summarily killing Guéré civilians found in a village, the Republican Forces often proceeded to pillage and burn houses, dozens of witnesses told Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch documented the partial burning of at least 10 Guéré villages around Toulepleu and Bloléquin. Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that while hiding in the bush they saw structures used to store the village's rice and rice seed being burned by pro-Ouattara forces.
They saw me first, and they opened fire on me from 20 or 30 meters away. I went down to the ground and pretended I was dead. They hadn't hit me. Then they saw the others and went toward them. They opened fire again, and they killed my family - my son, my husband, and my father were all killed. They were shooting with big guns, guns that fired quickly like "boom-boom-boom." I lay there, watching as my boy fell down dead, but I couldn't cry. If I cried they would know that I was still alive, and they would have killed me. But why am I still alive? They have taken my son, my husband, and my father. I have nothing. I'm no longer alive anyway.
They left again and after a little time I got up and looked at the bodies. Blood had run into the ground, but none of them were moving anymore. My boy had been hit with two bullets, one in the chest and the other one in the stomach. I held him and cried silently. My sister then came out of hiding - they'd been a little distance away when the rebels came and had been able to hide in the bush - and said we needed to go.
We went toward Bloléquin, but when we got there we found out in the bush that the rebels had taken over the town. So we passed through the bush toward Guiglo. When we got there we discovered that the loyalist troops had left, so we took flight again, this time toward Tai. We went 20 kilometers on the bush road there and then crossed over into Liberia on a pirogue.
PRO-OUATTARA FORCES MASS KILLINGS IN IVORYCOAST
Widespread Killing, Pillaging by Republican Forces Of President Allassane Ouattara of ivorycoastArmed clashes in the far west between pro-Ouattara and pro-Gbagbo forces began on February 25 around the town of Zouan-Hounien. After quickly taking Zouan-Hounien and Bin-Houyé along the Liberian border in late February, Ouattara's Republican Forces, under Soro's overall command, faced much greater resistance in Toulepleu, Doké, Bloléquin, and Duékoué. On March 10, Soro acknowledged Commander Fofana Losséni as leader of the "pacification of the far west" for the Republican Forces, with the mandate "to protect the populations in the name of Ouattara's government." Witnesses and Ouattara officials also identified Capt. Eddie Medi as leader of the military offensive around Toulepleu and Bloléquin in particular.
As combat waged in and around these towns throughout March, the Republican Forces systematically targeted alleged pro-Gbagbo civilians, despite repeated public pronouncements by Soro and Ouattara spokespersons that their fight was only against Gbagbo's armed forces. Soro's visits to the Republican Forces in Toulepleu on March 9 and 10 do not appear to have reduced their abuses.
Human Rights Watch documented the killing of civilians by pro-Ouattara forces in at least a dozen villages in and around Toulepleu and Bloléquin, including summary executions, dismemberment, and immolation. While the majority of the region's ethnic Guéré residents fled in anticipation of the Republican Forces' attack, those who remained were subjected to collective punishment for the group's perceived support for Gbagbo.
As combat waged in and around these towns throughout March, the Republican Forces systematically targeted alleged pro-Gbagbo civilians, despite repeated public pronouncements by Soro and Ouattara spokespersons that their fight was only against Gbagbo's armed forces. Soro's visits to the Republican Forces in Toulepleu on March 9 and 10 do not appear to have reduced their abuses.
Human Rights Watch documented the killing of civilians by pro-Ouattara forces in at least a dozen villages in and around Toulepleu and Bloléquin, including summary executions, dismemberment, and immolation. While the majority of the region's ethnic Guéré residents fled in anticipation of the Republican Forces' attack, those who remained were subjected to collective punishment for the group's perceived support for Gbagbo.
A 57-year-old Guéré man from Zoguiné, a village between Toulepleu and the nearby official border crossing into Liberian, described to Human Rights Watch how the Republican Forces executed a farmer walking home, set fire to his mother's house, burning her alive, and destroyed his village:
The rebels[1] arrived at my village on Monday, March 7, at 10 in the morning. The women in the village had already fled once we heard Toulepleu had been attacked. But my mother remained because she couldn't flee, and then there were 14 men who stayed as well. Most of us were in the village, but one was in his fields outside the village.
Seven of the rebels entered. When we heard the firing we all fled to the bush to hide. But the guy at his plantation didn't know they'd come. He came back to his house and when he did, they fired on him and hit him in his knee so he couldn't walk. They were in military fatigues, all of them, and they had white bandanas on their heads. Some of them had charcoal on their faces; others had put red paint on.
The rest of us were hidden in the bush and watched it all from 100, maybe 200 meters away. They shot him with a Kalash [AK-47 "Kalashnikov" assault rifle] in his knee from about 10, 20 meters. They came to him after that first shot and aimed their guns at him. Then [our neighbor] yelled out to us, "Come back from the bush! It's not the rebels who've come. It's our protectors [the pro-Gbagbo troops]." They tried to trick us. But we could see them, we could see them with their guns pointed at him. So we didn't move. After a couple minutes, they must have realized that we weren't coming back. They set fire to his house, and then several of them grabbed him and dragged him along the ground. They must have dragged him 85 meters, bringing him toward the main road that runs through the village. Then they shot him at point-blank range and cut out his insides with a long knife. They left his body there.
Then they went back into the village and started breaking into all the houses. They searched those close to the road and took everything of value. They set fire to the houses that had straw roofs. My mother was old and sick and couldn't leave her bed. They burned her house with her still in it. I found her burned body later, after they left. I watched as they burned my house after stealing everything. Since they'd come to the village on foot, they amassed all of the belongings along the main road. And then they called in their companions who arrived with a military cargo truck to take it all away. They took TVs, radios, anything they could get their hands on. They slaughtered all of our animals - just opened fire on them with their Kalashes - before getting into the truck.
TEMOIGNAGNE
Duékoué Massacre Involving Republican ForcesAfter Republican Forces took control of Duékoué in the early morning of March 29, hundreds of Guéré residents were massacred in the town's Carrefour neighborhood. Human Rights Watch interviewed eight women who witnessed the events, as well as several people who helped count or bury the bodies in the days after the massacre.
Five witnesses clearly identified Republican Forces among the attackers, saying they arrived in the neighborhood in trucks, 4x4s, and on foot in military uniforms. Others described seeing two pro-Ouattara militias that worked closely with the Republican Forces in committing abuses against the civilian population: a tribally based civil defense group known as the Dozo, generally armed with shotguns and identified by some witnesses as dressed in their traditional robes; and a group of Burkinabé militiamen who live in the region and are led by a man referred to primarily by his first name, Amadé.
The Carrefour neighborhood's residents have long had a concentrated presence of pro-Gbagbo militia. However, according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the pro-Ouattara forces there executed men not believed to be militia members, including boys and older men. Statements made by members of the pro-Ouattara forces as they took part in the massacre demonstrate that they were targeting the neighborhood's population as collective punishment against the Guéré, victims and witnesses said. A 39-year-old woman described the killing of her husband as well as dozens of others, in testimony similar to those of numerous others who witnessed the massacre:
Five witnesses clearly identified Republican Forces among the attackers, saying they arrived in the neighborhood in trucks, 4x4s, and on foot in military uniforms. Others described seeing two pro-Ouattara militias that worked closely with the Republican Forces in committing abuses against the civilian population: a tribally based civil defense group known as the Dozo, generally armed with shotguns and identified by some witnesses as dressed in their traditional robes; and a group of Burkinabé militiamen who live in the region and are led by a man referred to primarily by his first name, Amadé.
The Carrefour neighborhood's residents have long had a concentrated presence of pro-Gbagbo militia. However, according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the pro-Ouattara forces there executed men not believed to be militia members, including boys and older men. Statements made by members of the pro-Ouattara forces as they took part in the massacre demonstrate that they were targeting the neighborhood's population as collective punishment against the Guéré, victims and witnesses said. A 39-year-old woman described the killing of her husband as well as dozens of others, in testimony similar to those of numerous others who witnessed the massacre:
It was Tuesday morning [March 29], right after the [pro-Ouattara] rebels took control of Duékoué, that they came into the neighborhood and started shooting everywhere. There had to have been 500 of them that descended on the neighborhood that morning.A 29-year-old woman from Carrefour likewise said her husband was killed in front of her because he was Guéré, followed by the forcible recruitment of her 15-year-old brother:
They went house-to-house and took the men out to kill them. Two of them broke down my door and entered the house; they forced my husband outside. Several others were carrying a flame and set the house on fire. I came out screaming behind them, and they shot my husband at point-blank range. It was with a large gun; one of them pulled him out and the other shot him. As my husband fell down no more than five meters from me, they said in French "We're here to kill Gbagbo, but since you the Guéré voted for Gbagbo, we'll kill you, we'll kill you until the last Guéré."
Then the rebels moved on to the next house, leaving me there screaming. My husband, my brother-in-law, several cousins, they were all killed by Alassane's [Ouattara] forces that day.
Most of the attackers throughout the neighborhood were in military uniform - the uniforms of the Republican Forces. Many had on red headscarves. Others were the Dozo in the traditional clothes and some Dioula youth who came with knives and machetes. The Republican Forces came in first on their cars and on foot, and then the rest followed. They killed unarmed people everywhere. I saw people who had their throats slit with machetes and knives, others who were executed by gunshot. You could see the blood marking the road from all those who were killed. Bodies were everywhere. You could just see lines of bodies from those they'd marched out and shot.
Most of those killed were males, but they killed boys like men like the elderly. I saw them kill boys, right in front of my eyes. One of them couldn't be more than 10 years old and as they had pulled him out he looked at me so scared and said, "Mama, please," and then they shot him. Everywhere there were people dead by gunshot. Our husbands, our brothers, our children were all killed.
Around 8 a.m. on Tuesday [March 29], they began attacking the Carrefour neighborhood where we live. They told the women they could leave but, "We're here to kill your men." There were many, many of them. There were Dozo, Amadé's men, armed youth in civilian clothes, and FN [Forces Nouvelles] soldiers. We were hiding in our house, my brother, my husband and our baby.
After the forces came to say "Women leave, men we'll kill you," everyone started trying to escape if they could. We did the same. At 1 p.m. we had fled our house and were on foot along the main route near the bridge.
There were many corpses in the streets, pro-Ouattara forces everywhere in the middle of killings. I saw people being shot with Kalashes around us in the streets as we fled, but I couldn't pay attention, I was too scared. A 4x4 passed us; one of them saw us and pulled over. They parked the vehicle right by us. There was a design of a serpent on it.
Three men got out and stopped my husband. They said, "We are looking for Guérés. You voted for Gbagbo, we are going to kill all of you. You are Guéré." He said "No, I voted for ADO [Ouattara's initials]," but they said "No you didn't, you are Guéré so you voted Gbagbo." We didn't vote in fact. They pulled my husband away from me. I had our 6-month-old baby in my arms. They were chanting "ADO! ADO! You are all Guérés, you who voted for Gbabgo! You didn't vote ADO, we are going to kill you all. They're all Gbagbos here."
Then they shot my husband in his stomach. All three of them fired their Kalashes at him, even when he was just in front of them. They looked at my 6-month-old baby and decided my baby couldn't be of use, but my 15-year-old brother was there too. He was crying, "Why did you kill him?" Killing my husband wasn't enough; they took my little brother as a soldier. They said, "Today you will become a soldier. We are going to take you to Man. In Man, you will become a soldier." Man is where their base is, those who are shooting us, the Forces Nouvelles. They took him by force to the truck. There were at least six other young boys inside waiting, including children that looked as young as 10. I didn't recognize them, but they were boys in civilian clothes, with fear on their faces. I heard the boys begging [for] forgiveness as the men came back, but the soldiers didn't reply. They pushed my brother in with the other boys, got back in and drove off. I've had no news of my little brother since.
The men who killed my husband were military men carrying knives, machetes, and Kalashes. They were wearing warriors' gris-gris [traditional amulets often worn by fighters from the north], jean pants, and military camouflage tops. It was clear they were pro-Ouattara forces; they were singing ADO. FN had taken over the city that day, with the Dozo and the Burkinabe who were out on the streets too, burning things and killing people, going house to house. There was not a single house left untouched in Carrefour. They burned the houses. My apartment doesn't exist anymore; it was burned like the others.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
'WHAT I HAVE DONE IN A YEAR, GBAGBO HAS NOT DONE IN TEN YEARS'
"What I have done in a year, Gbagbo has not done in ten years", said Ouattara. Is he wrong? Not at all! Actually in one year, it broke records. His achievement must be registered in the Guinness Book of Records. For it is unheard of in Ivory Coast. It has an extraordinarily fabulous balance. And for that he deserves credit. In one year under Ouattara, freedom of expression is forfeited. Journalists are imprisoned. Newspapers close to President Laurent Gbagbo are suspended. Executives and activists of the presidential majority are hunted. Their assets are frozen. Some are in prison in the North of the country, where president Ouattara's muslim militias hold concentration camps. Others are forced into exile. Ivorians are refugees in neighboring countries. The rule of law no longer exists. The opposition meetings are repressed, dispersed, attacked ... In one year under Ouattara, we saw everything. One must pull his hat to him. The housewoman shopping cart turned into a bag with holes. The food prices are experiencing a dramatic increase. Poverty and misery are gaining ground. People can no longer meet both hands. In some families, they practice the "sudden death". That is to say, they eat once a day. This is the biggest nightmare of families. In a year of Ouattara, the unemployment rate increases. The campaign slogan"Ouattara Solution" is running and running well. There has been waves of layoffs in companies, corporations and state institutions. Many executives are put on the streets. Then he made the promise during the presidential campaign, to create many jobs, it has instead destroyed more than 120,000 jobs in one year. A real achievement for Ouattara. And a so-called remedial policy is in operation. All appointments are made on ethnic, tribal and regional grounds. In one year under Ouattara, insecurity gained ground. The robberies have become the daily lot of Ivorians. It does not happen a day when honest citizens are not victims of robbery or rape. Meanwhile, he gets away. Its security is guaranteed by foreign forces (Licorne and UNOCI). There are daily fights to rows between his soldiers and people. Violence and impunity of Ouattara's militia and his forces are built in the golden rule.
"WHAT I HAVE DONE IN A YEAR, GBAGBO HAS DONE IT IN TEN YEARS'
"What I have done in two years, Gbagbo has not done it in ten years when he was president" said Allassane Ouattara, President of IvoryCoast. Is he wrong? Not at all! Actually in two years, it broke records. His achievement must be registered in the Guinness Book of Records. For it is unheard of in Ivory Coast. It has an extraordinarily fabulous balance. And for that he deserves credit. In two years of Ouattara's governance, freedom of expression is forfeited. Journalists are imprisoned. Newspapers close to former President Laurent Gbagbo are suspended. Executives and activists of the main opposition party ( FPI ) are hunted down. Their assets are wrongly frozen. Some are in prison in concentration camps in the North of IvoryCoast. Others are forced into exile. Ivorians are refugees in neighboring countries. The rule of law no longer exists. The opposition meetings are repressed, dispersed, attacked ... In one year under Ouattara, we saw everything. One must pull his hat to him. The food prices are experiencing a dramatic increase. Poverty and misery are gaining ground. People can no longer meet both hands. In some families, we practice the "sudden death". That is to say, we eat once a day. This is the biggest nightmare of families. In a year of Ouattara, the unemployment rate increases. The campaign slogan "Ouattara Solution" is running at its peak. There has been waves of layoffs in companies, corporations and state institutions. Many executives are put on the streets. Then he made the promise during the presidential campaign, to create many jobs, it has instead destroyed more than 120,000 jobs in one year. A real achievement. And a so-called remedial policy is in operation. All appointments are made on ethnic, tribal and regional basis. In two years under Ouattara, insecurity gained ground. The robberies have become the daily lot of Ivorians. It does not happen a day when honest ivorian citizens are not victims of robbery or rape. Meanwhile, he gets away. Its security is guaranteed by foreign forces (Licorne and UNOCI). Violence is built in the golden rule under Ouattara.
Source: L'ELEPHANT DECHAINE
Source: L'ELEPHANT DECHAINE
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