22th day of hunger strike

Source: Reuters

Ivory Coast hunger strike prisoners receiving medical treatment ( UN )

Abidjan ( Ivory Coast ) - About 150 suspected supporters of Ivory Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo are receiving medical treatment in prison after starting a hunger strike this month, an official from Gbagbo's political party and a UN document said.

More than 300 detainees at the main prison in the commercial capital Abidjan, many of whom have been held for more than two years, began their hunger strike on 1 December, calling for Ivorian authorities to either start their trials or free them on bail.

 Critics say President Ouattara has pursued a policy of "victor's justice", jailing opponents since the conflict while ignoring abuses committed by his own supporters.

The human rights division of Ivory Coast's UN mission, UNOCI, visited the prisoners on 11 December.

"UNOCI Human Rights observed that about 150 detainees were admitted at the prison infirmary, including six in a serious condition and three of whom required medical evacuation to a hospital," an internal UN report said after the visit.

Michel Gbagbo, the son of the former president and head of his FPI party's prisoner affairs committee, said many were suffering from dehydration and others had seen a worsening of health problems linked to their treatment since their arrests.

Asked about the inmates on Wednesday, government spokesperson Bruno Kone said he was not aware any were suffering from health problems.

Political prisoners on hunger strike, near-critical after 19 days

Political prisoners on hunger strike, near-critical after 15 days

As the political prisoners’ hunger drags on into its third week, the risks to their health tick upwards with each passing day. The prisoners stopped eating food on Dec. 1, 2014 in protest against being held without charge or trial for "nearly" 4 years.

Relatives and members of the opposition media who visited these prisoners of opinion  this week at their prison infirmary, say these detainees are beginning to lose weight. Others say they appear weak, though alert.

"It shows you that this government is willing to let people die in detention rather than give them a fair trial. Our relatives have been deprived of life and liberty" said a family member.

Hunger-Strike in Ivory Coast

 In a volatile political terrain, where anger against Ouattara's regime is rampant and long-simmering political tensions dominate public debate, the Ivorian political prisoners' hunger strike, has emerged as a symbol of resistance for people of Ivory Coast whose lives have changed for the worse since President Ouattara came to power in April 2011. The hunger-strikers are now in critical condition near death in a prison infirmary after refusing food for more than 12 days. These political prisoners began a mass, open-ended hunger strike in a number of Ivorian jails on December 1, 2014 in protest against being held without charge or trial for "almost" 4 years.

Hunger Strike In IvoryCoast

More than 481 political prisoners and their spouses are currently observing an open-ended hunger strike in defense of basic human rights: The right not to be detained without charge or trial. 
These political prisoners began a mass, open-ended hunger strike in a number of Ivorian jails on Monday in protest against being held without charge or trial. Several  prisoners of opinions have been on hunger strike for more than 4 days and have been widely reported to be "near death.
The hunger strikers unanimously echoed  the hunger strike declaration of Tiananmen Square of June 1989, telling the local opposition media, "we are not in search of death, we are looking for real life". 

Hunger Strike

Wives of prisoners of opinion in Ivory Coast started a hunger strike Monday in front of Cathedrale Saint Andre, urging the government to free their spouses after "nearly" four years of incarceration without any formal charges brought against them. 

The protesters began gathering early Monday morning at Yopougon's main Cathedral, complaining that 400 political prisoners who remain imprisoned without trial, do not even know the charges against them.

"we have no other way when facing a broken government and a dictatorship , but to let go our bodily desires", said some of the protesters interviewed by the local opposition media.

Rebellion against Ouattara

Ivory Coast government opens talks with disgruntled soldiers

(Reuters) - Ivory Coast's government opened negotiations with disgruntled soldiers on Wednesday, promising to pay back wages and overdue benefits to thousands of ex-rebels now serving in the army in a bid to quell unrest.

The soldiers, who on Tuesday erected barricades in the commercial capital Abidjan and the second city Bouake as well as in Korhogo, Odienne, and Daloa returned to barracks as they awaited the outcome of the meeting.

The world's top cocoa-producing state is still emerging from a decade of political upheaval and a 2011 civil war that saw French- and U.N.-backed rebels topple President Laurent Gbagbo. 

The protesting troops were part of the New Forces rebellion that fought with U.N. and French backing to bring Gbagbo's rival, current President Alassane Ouattara, to power three years ago.

Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko, speaking on national television late on Tuesday, said the government had agreed to the soldiers' demands.

But following Wednesday's talks, which included Bakayoko and other government ministers, and the heads of the army and the national security council, the soldiers said that the process by which the payments would be made were still being finalized.

The negotiations did not involve another group of protesting soldiers who claimed they had been promised 5 million CFA francs($9,564) to help drive Gbagbo from power.

While Tuesday's demonstrations remained largely calm and most of the soldiers were unarmed, they sharpened towards nightfall, with sporadic gunfire in Bouake, Daloa and Korhogo.

In Bouake, the rebels' former stronghold, they looted the central police station overnight and unsuccessfully tried to break into the armoury.

Interior Minister Bakayoko promised that the protesters would not be punished.

Having spent years burnishing his credentials as Africa's peacemaker, Burkina Faso's longtime ruler Blaise Compaoré did not get a chance to broker a peace deal in his own country.

The troublemaker and The peace broker

A former coup leader, Compaoré has steered an unlikely course from regional troublemaker to peace broker.

“Handsome Blaise”, as he is known to Burkinabes, was aged just 36 when he seized power in a putsch, replacing his erstwhile companion Captain Thomas Sankara, who was killed in mysterious circumstances.

Both had allegedly been trained at Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's "World Revolutionary Centre" in Libya, whose other pupils included Liberian warlord Charles Taylor and his proxy in Sierra Leone, Foday Sankoh.

Years later, Compaoré was accused of sending arms and mercenaries to fight UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone – in exchange for diamonds.

The Burkinabe leader has also been linked to a 2002 rebellion in neighbouring Ivory Coast, which left thousands dead and split the country in two.Ultimately, the Ivorian crisis gave Burkina Faso’s strongman a chance to reinvent himself as a mediator.

Diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed in Ivory Coast, home to three million Burkinabes, resulted in a 2007 peace deal signed in Ouagadougou.Compaoré has also been described as a point man for negotiators seeking the release of Western hostages held by Islamist groups and other rebel militia in the restive Sahel region.

In 2009, talks led by Compaoré helped secure the release of two Canadian envoys for the United Nations, Robert Fowler and Louis Guay, who were held captive in Niger for 150 days.

Incidentally, a decade earlier Fowler had penned a scathing UN report that publicly accused the Burkinabe ruler of funding Angola’s bloody 1990s civil war.

Having spent years burnishing his credentials as Africa's peacemaker, Burkina Faso's longtime ruler Blaise Compaoré did not get a chance to broker a peace deal in his own country.

France24

Schools in IvoryCoast

Côte d’Ivoire ( Ivory Coast ): Lack of facilities, children struggle to access basic education.

The place of children is in a school where they can learn and feel secure. Unfortunately, since April 2011, the education crisis in Côte d’Ivoire ( Ivory Coast ) has worsened. Education of children has in many instances become a secondary concern for Ouattara's government, as witnessed by these children in a deprived town in the Western part of Ivory Coast who are pleading with Ouattara's government for a school facility. Ouattara's unwillingness to inject resources and infrastructural development into the educational system,  undermines the fundamental right of children to education.

War Crimes

Civitas Maxima, a non-profit organisation of international lawyers and investigators, is working on cases relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ivory Coast. . Most of the cases relate to the period after May 2011, the official end of the civil conflict, but Alain Werner, a Swiss Lawyer who established the group, believes they should still be characterised as war crimes because they occurred "under the guise of the war".

One such case occured in another district of Bouaké, one of Ouattara's militias stronghold. A teenage girl recalls the night she visited a maquis, an open-air restaurant, with her school friends after the official end of the conflict. Two "military men" wearing "green camouflage clothes and carrying guns" approached the group and told her she had to go with them. They put her in a car, took her to a house and raped her. She was 16 at the time. A very clear example of attacks against civilians when there could be no military advantage because, basically, they had won the war.

 A document Werner's team is compiling to take to the international criminal court, which contains evidence from almost 200 witnesses, outlines grave acts of postwar violence committed by supporters of Ouattara. They include cases of gang rape, often stretching over days or even weeks, in which armed soldiers took dozens of women to their barracks. One involves an 11-year-old girl abducted by a soldier and forced to live with him as his wife; three years on, she is still living with him.

Adou Gnapi, the police captain in the town of Bouake, when asked why women frequently suffer sexual violence. "It's complicated," he said. "Nowadays women look too good."

Political Jockeying Puts Cote d’Ivoire’s Reconciliation in Jeopardy

Earlier this month, Cote d’Ivoire’s opposition parties rejected Youssouf Bakayoko’s re-election as the head of the country’s election commission. Bakayoko, a member of President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling coalition, has served as head of the commission since it was set up in 2010. The rejection was a reminder of both the fractious nature of Ivorian politics and the deep ambivalence within the opposition Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) about reaching agreement with the Ouattara administration.
Reform of the electoral commission, which parliament approved in May 2014, was meant to be a further step in political reconciliation and normalization, but the new makeup provides a majority of seats on the commission for the ruling party. The dispute over Bakayoko’s re-election also reflects an ongoing power struggle within the FPI between the party’s president, Pascal Affi Nguessan, who favors re-engagement in mainstream Ivoirian politics, and hardline supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo, who still want to boycott the upcoming 2015 elections. The FPI has signaled that it is seeking new concessions from the government. A party congress at the end of the year will need to agree on the FPI’s new leadership and whether it will compete in the 2015 elections. If not resolved, those issues could result in a splitting of the party.
Many of the divisions that fueled Cote d’Ivoire’s earlier civil war persist. An official reconciliation effort through a commission, Verite et Reconciliation (Truth and Reconciliation), completed its mandate in September 2013. It was, however, a complete failure, in part because, despite Ouattara’s promise to hold his supporters to account for human rights abuses in 2010-2011, not one of his supporters was tried.
In this respect, Ouattara has staked out a position that is confusing to many Ivorians. He has refused to transfer Simone Gbagbo, the wife of the former president, to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, saying that the Ivoirian judicial system is competent to judge her. It seems Ouattara fears that by transferring her, he would come under additional pressure to deliver some of his own supporters to the ICC. This would be deeply destabilizing for him and his coalition in the short term, as prominent Ouattara supporters—such as Guillaume Soro, a former prime minister and rebel leader now serving as the president of the National Assembly—are known to be of interest to the court. 
Nevertheless, in March 2014, the government allowed Charles Ble Goude, a close ally of Gbagbo, to be transferred to The Hague and tried. Ble Goude was already in Ivoirian custody; handing him over to the ICC was politically timed to warn the opposition FPI of the power of incumbency.
Meanwhile, Cote d’Ivoire has maintained good relations with France under Ouattara. Although the U.N.-sponsored French peacekeeping mission is winding down, the bilaterally agreed French military presence will expand to an 800-soldier unit based in Abidjan. That could become an issue in the 2015 election, as the opposition FPI is ambivalent about deepening ties with France. The force is also a statement of support for Ouattara by France in the event of pre- or post-election violence.
Yet there is one other serious potential contender to the presidency: Guillaume Soro. As the former head of the rebel FN, he enjoys support in the north. And although Ouattara, as president, is technically also the minister of defense, in reality Soro enjoys the loyalty of the military because so many of the armed forces’ soldiers are former FN rebels. Soro’s support of Ouattara would further guarantee his re-election and might come as part of a deal by which Ouattara would stand aside and back Soro in 2020. The battle for power, therefore, is less over who will win the 2015 election than over who will succeed Ouattara in 2020.


Source: WPR ( World Politics Review )

Jerry Rawlings

 No Western president should position himself as to summon African leaders. International rules of diplomatic and political engagement are unambiguous about sovereign nations being one amongst equals, irrespective of how powerful or weak they may be. While Western countries have preserved the essence of moral values within their countries, their interests and not morality, counts more when dealing with other countries.....Africa sat and watched France misuse UN troops to oust a patriot out of Ivory Coast.

All Africa is asking for, is the boldness to defy that, which is wrong and is an affront to our sovereign African right and authority. Unfortunately, a few too many of us on this continent have allowed the West, with their double standards to intimidate us. If they were intimidating us from a position of right, that would be easier to tolerate. There is a loss of international morality and values. There is a monetization of morality.

Ebola

Ebola: Le sous-préfet de Tiobli, Kouassi Koffi, accuse les Pro-Gbagbo de l'Ouest de la Côte d'Ivoire, d'etre parfois réfractaires aux messages du gouvernement Ouattara:

« On va dans un village où il y a un passage pour aller au Liberia, un passage clandestin. Les gens sont de la même ethnie de part et d'autre de la frontière et, il y a quelques jours, sept Libériens ont été accueillis non loin de là. Les populations sont tellement difficiles qu'il faut vraiment être au contact avec elles. Politiquement parlant c'était une population acquise à la cause de l'ancien régime, donc tout ce que nous faisons très souvent a des connotations» explique-t-il. 

IMPUNITY OF OUATTARA'S REGIME

Sexual violence cases in Ivory Coast a challenge to justice

In an area of Bouaké, a former rebel stronghold, a teenage girl recalls the night she visited a maquis, an open-air restaurant, with her school friends after the official end of the conflict. Two "military men" wearing "green camouflage clothes and carrying guns" approached the group and told her she had to go with them. They put her in a car, took her to a house and raped her. She was 16 at the time. She told her parents, and they went to the hospital and then to the police. After investigating, the police told them the two soldiers had been moved to a neighbouring city beyond their jurisdiction. "It is not normal that the police did nothing," she said. "Maybe if I meet these men again in the town, they will do it again."

Alain Werner, the Swiss lawyer who established the group, said heinous acts of sexual violence took place during and after the country's recent conflict, but identified a lack of "impartial willingness from the Ivorian [government] to try or investigate these crimes".
Werner believes the case - a "very clear example of attacks against civilians when there could be no military advantage because, basically, they had won the war" – could be characterised as a war crime. A document his team is compiling to take to the international criminal court, which contains evidence from almost 200 witnesses, outlines grave acts of postwar violence committed by supporters of Ouattara. They include cases of gang rape, often stretching over days or even weeks, in which armed soldiers took dozens of women to their barracks. One involves an 11-year-old girl abducted by a soldier and forced to live with him as his wife; three years on, she is still living with him.

In Ivory Coast, the chances of getting the cases of rape by Ouattara's soldiers to court are slim, even with documented evidence. Adou Gnapi, the police captain, when asked why women frequently suffer sexual violence, answered. "It's complicated," he said. "Nowadays women look too good."


The Guardian ( UK)  6/11/2014 

Temoignage de l'Imam sur les microbes

 A Attécoubé, ce sont les éléments de la Marine. Lorsque les deux groupes s’affrontaient, au lieu de les séparer, ils choisissaient de tirer sur ceux qui ne travaillent pas pour eux. Je suis allé voir la commissaire (de police) pour lui demander les raisons de cette situation. Elle m’a fait savoir que quand on arrête ces enfants, des hommes en armes, en treillis, viennent les libérer sous prétexte que ces enfants ont combattu avec eux. Pour aller plus loin, je vous informe que le chef des microbes de Boribana dormait à la Marine.
Un civil qui dormait à la Marine au vu et au su de tous. Quand les gens de la Cie (Compagnie ivoirienne d'électricité, Ndlr) sont venus à Boribana pour couper le courant parallèle, ces enfants ont coupé le bras d’un élément Frci du ‘’commandant Barbu’’. Cela n’a pas été sanctionné. 
Il y a ce qu’ils appellent ‘’Opération ville propre’’. Ils peuvent se mettre à près de cent. Ils occupent une voie. Et ce jour-là, tous ceux qu’ils rencontrent sur cette voie, sont dépouillés de tout. Il y a deux semaines à Attécoubé, il y a un microbe qui a foncé sur moi. Arrivé à mon niveau. Il a crié ‘’Eh vieux père, c’est toi’’ et il est parti. Il avait sa machette et son pistolet en main.
Je ne crains pas pour ma vie. Je suis guide religieux. Imam de la mosquée Ifpg au Plateau, qu’on appelle la mosquée Aemci. Je me dis que c’est une mission de Dieu. Ils peuvent me tuer s’ils le veulent. Mais, qu’ils sachent que tout ce qu’ils sèment, ils le récolteront un jour.
 Il faut les  autorités soient à l’écoute des populations. Depuis la fin de la crise, les portes nous sont fermées. A l’époque du Golf (hôtel), c’est moi que l'ex-ministre Guikahué appelait pour avoir des informations sur les morts et les blessés. Toutes les portes sont fermées parce que les gens ont obtenu ce qu’ils voulaient, et se foutent du reste. L’histoire est un témoignage. Aujourd’hui, nous demandons au président de la République de revoir au niveau de ses ministres. Même pour les témoignages à la Cpi dans le cas du procès de l'ex-président Gbagbo, on prend des proches, les amis. 

MACA

MACA:Après une enquête interne, le président d'une ONG:" C’est un trafic à ciel ouvert.

 Les coûts des chambres varient entre 10.000 Francs Cfa et plus avant d’y avoir accès. Ce sont des cellules de 10 personnes dans lesquelles se retrouvent une cinquantaine voir une centaine de personnes. Les plus démunis se retrouvent dans les cellules de 80 personnes.

Quand vous avez les moyens, vous êtes dans les cellules de 2 à 15 personnes. Même les bureaux réservés aux gardes pénitenciers servent de cellules aux prisonniers. Ce sont des chambres où devaient dormir les gardes pénitenciers pour veiller sur les paliers. Aujourd’hui, ces gardes dorment en dehors de la prison et la prison est gérée par des prisonniers.C’est la corruption à haut débit. C’est un trafic à ciel ouvert. Il n’y a rien de légal à la Maca. Figurez-vous que le garde pénitencier n’y a accès que lorsqu’il est envoyé par un prisonnier. C’est un commissionnaire. La prison est gérée par celui qu’on appelle Yacou le Chinois. 

Il a écopé de 20 ans de prison. En 2011, après les évènements, quand ils ont cassé la Maca, il est revenu à Abidjan et à réussi à intégrer une unité de Wattao. Malgré cela, il a continué à braquer. Il a encore tué et a une nouvelle fois écopé de 20 ans de prison. Il a commis un autre délit qui lui a valu 3 ans. Donc, en tout, ça lui fait 43 ans de prison.

Les meurtres, j’en connais assez. Moi-même qui vous parle, Yacou le Chinois a failli me tuer. Parce que selon lui, j’avais filmé tout ce qu’il faisait. Il y a une ruelle qu’ils appellent là-bas ''Colombie'', où ils vendent de la drogue. Le chanvre indien, la cocaïne, la marijuana, sans compter les comprimés.

Selon nos informations, il y a des dealers qui sont déjà là-bas et chacun reverse une enveloppe à Yacou qui facilite l’entrée de toutes ces substances à la Maca. J’ai filmé, j’ai fait des photos lors de mes enquêtes. Mais Yacou qui m’a découvert est venu bloquer mes appareils. L’administration pénitentiaire qu’ils appellent greffe est en dehors de la prison. Ce qui se passe en prison est géré par Yacou.

Dans la prison, ce sont les hommes qui font la cuisine. Imaginez donc la qualité de la nourriture. Les démunis n’ayant pas de moyens sont obligés de manger ce riz qui n’est pas cuit et beaucoup en meurt. J’ai assisté à des décès. Par exemple, quand vous recevez de la visite, si vos parents ou amis vous apportent de la nourriture, ces gardes diminuent la ration parce qu’ils ont une autre boutique au sein de la prison pour vous obliger à vous ravitailler dans leur boutique où les prix des articles sont très élevés. Mais, vous êtes obligés de le faire. Des cas de mort liés à certaines maladies, la malnutrition parce que les gardes prennent la peine de priver les prisonniers d’eau.

BIBLE

Psaume 123:2 (New International Version (NIV)): Voici, comme les yeux des serviteurs sont fixés sur la main de leurs maitres, et les yeux de la servante sur la main de sa maitresse, ainsi nos yeux se retournent sur l'Eternel  notre Dieu, jusqu'a ce qu'il ait pitié de nous..
Ephésiens 6:4-6: Pères, n'irritez pas vos enfants, mais élevez-les dans la formation et l'instruction du Seigneur. Esclaves, obéissez à vos maîtres selon la chair avec crainte et respect, et avec sincérité de cœur, comme vous le feriez obéir au Christ. Ne leur obéis pas seulement pour gagner leur faveur lors de leur oeil est sur vous, mais comme esclaves de Christ, en faisant la volonté de Dieu de votre coeur.
Ephésiens 6:05: Esclaves, obéissez à vos maîtres selon la chair avec crainte et respect, et avec sincérité de cœur, comme vous le feriez obéir au Christ.
Ephésiens 6:09: Et les maîtres, traitez vos esclaves de la même façon. Ne menacez pas, puisque vous savez que celui qui est à la fois leur maître et le vôtre est dans les cieux, et il n'y a pas de favoritisme avec lui.
Colossiens 3:22: Esclaves, obéissez à vos maîtres selon la chair en tout, et le faire, non seulement sous leurs yeux sur vous et de gagner leur faveur, mais avec sincérité de cœur et de révérence pour le Seigneur.
Colossiens 4:1 Maîtres, fournissent à vos esclaves ce qui est juste et équitable, parce que vous savez que vous avez aussi un maître dans le ciel.
Tite 2:09: Apprenez esclaves à être soumis à leurs maîtres en toutes choses, d'essayer de les s'il vous plaît, de ne pas parler de nouveau à eux,
1 Pierre 2:18 Serviteurs, soyez soumis à vos maîtres avec tout le respect, non seulement à ceux qui sont bons et doux, mais aussi à ceux qui sont d'un caractere difficile..

A Duékoué, l'impunité des pro-Ouattara

Les fidèles du président ivoirien n'ont jamais été jugés pour leurs crimes, commis lors de la crise qui a secoué le pays entre 2011 et 2012.

Qu'est devenu le corps d'Amédé ?

Il y a deux ans, il a été envoyé à Abidjan «pour autopsie». Depuis, son frère Julien n'a plus jamais eu aucune nouvelle. «C'est long, deux ans, pour une autopsie», note d'un air maussade cet homme trapu et musclé, assis sous un manguier, à 500 km à l'ouest de la capitale économique ivoirienne. D'un geste, il désigne les bâtisses en briques grises qui l'entourent, recouvertes de nouveaux toits en tôle : «Nos maisons ont été décoiffées ! Ici, pendant la crise [2011-2012, ndlr], tout a été détruit.» Amédé, le frère de Julien, est l'une des victimes des derniers soubresauts de cette crise sanglante.

Le 20 juillet 2012, lors de l'attaque d'un camp de déplacés, ce père de famille de 39 ans a été emmené par des hommes en armes, puis fusillé avant d'être jeté dans un puits abandonné. Lequel ne sera découvert, par hasard, que deux mois plus tard. On y retrouvera cinq autres cadavres, tous envoyés «pour autopsie» à Abidjan.

Après une période particulièrement sanglante, la Côte-d'Ivoire est désormais en paix. En accueillant pour la première fois, ce jeudi, François Hollande, le président Alassane Ouattara pourra légitimement se targuer d'avoir remis le pays au travail et rétabli la sécurité après dix ans de guerre civile.

«Verrou». Reste un sujet sensible : l'impunité dont continuent à bénéficier les forces fidèles à Ouattara qui ont conquis le pouvoir les armes à la main en 2011. Jusqu'à présent, seuls les partisans de son rival, l'ex-président Laurent Gbagbo, ont été mis en cause pour les violences commises en 2011 : trois ans après la crise, 700 sont toujours emprisonnés sans jugement, et parfois même sans connaître les charges qui pèsent contre eux. Un soupçon de justice à deux vitesses qui agace visiblement Abidjan. Lundi, un porte-parole du parti du président ivoirien a ainsi tenu à souligner que le chef de l'Etat français venait pour «apporter son soutien à l'oeuvre de reconstruction et de réconciliation entreprise avec succès par le président Alassane Ouattara» et non pour «se préoccuper du sort de personnes qui ont commis des crimes odieux pendant notre crise postélectorale» ou pour «plaider la cause des bourreaux d'hier». Voilà François Hollande prévenu. Le président français apporte pourtant dans ses bagages une aide de 25 millions d'euros à la reconstruction d'une justice qui semble parfois en panne ou partiale

Sur ce terrain délicat, une petite ville est devenue le symbole des exactions restées impunies en Côte-d'Ivoire : Duékoué, bourgade sans charme de l'ouest ivoirien, fut le théâtre de certains des épisodes les plus sanglants de la crise postélectorale. Sur les 3 000 morts recensés pendant cette période, un tiers des victimes ont été répertoriées dans cette région, où vit aussi Julien. «Duékoué a été le dernier verrou dans la conquête de l'ouest du pays par les forces alliées à Ouattara. C'était un fief pro-Gbagbo, et les combats ont été très violents», rappelle le père Cyprien, qui se trouvait aux premières loges quand la ville a été prise, le 28 mars 2011. «Dès l'aube, la foule a envahi la mission catholique, ça tirait de partout !» se souvient-il.

Les jours suivants, on dénombrera près d'un millier de morts, dont un certain nombre froidement exécutés. La peur sera telle, que les habitants refuseront longtemps de quitter l'enceinte de la mission catholique. Une partie d'entre eux sera finalement relogée dans un camp de déplacés à Nahibly, une localité voisine. Jusqu'à ce que ce site, soupçonné d'abriter des miliciens pro-Gbagbo, soit lui-même attaqué le 20 juillet 2012. Combien de morts ce jour-là ? Personne ne sait, tant les bilans sont manipulés. Les chiffres divergent selon qu'on s'adresse à des partisans de l'actuel pouvoir ou de l'ancien régime à Duékoué. Reste les six hommes exécutés et retrouvés dans le puits. Autour de la ville, il en existe neuf autres, également soupçonnés de contenir des corps. Ils sont gardés par des Casques bleus pakistanais, qui offrent un verre de jus de fruits aux curieux avant de les inviter fermement à faire demi-tour. Ce «circulez, il n'y a rien à voir» est un peu la règle à Duékoué, où le calme est revenu, sous un silence de plomb. «De toute façon, tout le monde connaît les responsables, Duékoué n'est qu'un gros village», rappelle le père Cyprien.

Sapins de Noël. Parmi ceux qui sont soupçonnés d'avoir orchestré les exécutions sommaires près des puits, il y a l'ancien commandant militaire sur place : le lieutenant Koné Daouda (alias Konda) a été renvoyé, certes contre son gré, à Abidjan. Mais apparemment sans avoir été inquiété. Son remplaçant actuel, le lieutenant Ben Bamba, un géant débonnaire dont le portable vibre sans cesse au son de «la joie vient le matin», affirme avoir discipliné ses 480 hommes. Mais il n'est pas le seul à prétendre contrôler la sécurité de la ville.

Souvent accusés d'avoir participé aux tueries de mars 2011, comme de juillet 2012, les «dozos» jouent toujours un rôle trouble dans la région. Ces chasseurs traditionnels, aux pouvoirs mystiques redoutés, font partie du folklore ivoirien. Mais pas seulement. A l'origine implantés dans le nord du pays, ils ont suscité des centaines de vocations dans cette région Ouest depuis longtemps tourmentée. En 2011, ils ont souvent aidé les forces de Ouattara à prendre le pouvoir. On les retrouve dans leur QG, un immeuble en construction, dans un quartier misérable de Duékoué : une assemblée d'hommes souriants, plus tout jeunes, souvent affublés d'étranges costumes en toile de jute, leurs «treillis», disent-ils, truffés d'amulettes comme des sapins de Noël. Malgré la bonhomie affichée, certains les accusent d'être un clan des Siciliens version gri-gri. «C'est une mafia. Ils monnayent leur protection, rackettent les gens et font régner leur loi», chuchote un commerçant, sous couvert d'anonymat. A plusieurs reprises, le gouvernement a annoncé son intention de les désarmer. «Ça se dit. Mais ça ne se fait pas», note un brin narquois Souleymane Fofana, un chauve rondouillard qui figure parmi les leaders des 2 064 dozos de Duékoué.

Peillon

Le général Joana, qui commandait à l'époque l'opération Licorne, attendait le feu vert pour mettre en action l'accord de Défense avec la Cote d'Ivoire, signé en 1961. Parce qu'on savait qu'il y avait les exactions au Nord, qu'il fallait quand  même qu'on réussisse à réunifier le pays qui était complètement scindé en deux. Tout était prêt, avec une offensive rapide sur trois axes, et les moyens que nous pouvions déployer, ajoutés au professionalisme de nos unités, auraient rendu la reconquête du Nord très simple. En trente-six heures, et sans beaucoup de casse, c'était terminé. Cette décision politique de soutien au gouvernement légitime de Laurent Gbagbo, pour rétablir la paix, n'est jamais venue.
La France a enteriné cette partition du pays et le général Joana qui nous commandait, a compris que nous n'avions pas la meme conception de notre mission que le pouvoir politique à Paris.

J'ai côtoyé les Forces Nouvelles à l'occasion de négociations sur des questions comme le désarmement, ou le rétablissement d'accès de circulation. A part un ou deux, les autres étaient des hommes incultes, bardés de gri-gri. Ce n'étaient pas des militaires, c'étaient des chefs de bandes. Des gens sans foi ni loi, qui tenaient leur pouvoir par la violence, par la terreur qu'ils faisaient régner dans le Nord du pays, où les populations ont vécu l'enfer au quotidien. Quand j'ai su qu'Abidjan était tombée entre les mains de ces gens-là, je me suis dit: les brigands sont dans la place.

Les verites de Gildas Le Lidec

Gildas Le Lidec (Ambassadeur de France en CI 2002-2005 ):Entretien

Marianne: Certaines ONG l’accusent d’être directement impliqué dans les exactions auxquelles se sont livrées les com’zones dans le Nord ? 

Gildas Le Lidec: Je pourrais apporter des informations sur les massacres commis par ces salopards échevelés qui exerçaient leur pouvoir avec une incroyable brutalité, une violence inouïe. Leurs crimes sont connus mais, en toute honnêteté, je n’ai pas d’éléments permettant d’y raccrocher Soro. 

Mariannne: Les négociations et les accords de Marcoussis ne sont-ils pas le ferment de la crise de 2011 ? 

Gildas Le Lidec: Elles ont été organisées dans la plus totale précipitation, c’est le fruit de la machine Villepin… La façon dont Gbagbo y a été traité, notamment lors du retour en Côte d’Ivoire, était à mon avis inacceptable. En tout cas, ce fût ressenti comme une insulte, au moins par tous les Ivoiriens du Sud du pays.

Marianne: Laurent Gbagbo sera jugé par la CPI pour crimes contre l’humanité. Qu’en pensez-vous ?
Je trouve cela profondément injuste. Cela ne correspond pas aux valeurs et au tempérament de l’homme que j’ai connu. Et c’est d’autant plus injuste que Ouattara n’a pas touché un cheveu des salopards qui, depuis 2011, se sont taillés de véritables royaumes dans le Nord du pays. En ne prenant aucune mesure contre eux, la CPI ne va pas améliorer son image, déjà très dégradée sur tout le continent. 
  
La Côte d’Ivoire se porte-t-elle mieux depuis la chute de Gbagbo ? 
Sur le plan de la sécurité et de la stabilité, pas sûr. Licorne est toujours là-bas, comme le 43ème Bima, sous une autre forme. A la fin de ma mission, j’avais recommandé sa dissolution La France, en fait, aurait dû partir depuis longtemps. 
  
Ouattara ? 
Il était programmé pour prendre le pouvoir, mais n’y est vraiment parvenu que grâce à l’aide décisive de son ami Nicolas Sarkozy. 

HOW OUATTARA CREATED HATRED IN IVORYCOAST

To Professor Bangura:
Smearing Laurent Gbagbo is un-Panafrican
At a June 18th 2012, conference, in Rockville, Maryland, organized by The Revival of Panafricanism Forum, you first acknowledged (claimed) that you were an earlier supporter of Laurent Gbagbo for his struggle for democracy in the Ivory Coast. You observed that Laurent Gbagbo was a true Panafricanist in the earlier stage of his political career. Then to justify why you had a change of heart, you repeated unsubstantiated accusations against him previously written in a biased and disingenuous opinion, titled “Laurent Gbagbo’s “One Dozen Major Sins””and posted in the Sunday 20 February 2011 edition of the patriotic Vanguard, a Sierra Leone online news portal.

My main contentions with your analysis and positions are that:
1- Although you are an expert o resolutions of conflicts, which you taught at prestigious peace institutes such as the American University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution, did beat the drums of war during the 2010-2012 electoral impasse in Ivory Coast by advocating military intervention instead of a recount of votes. Though you rightly condemned the NATO military intervention and bombing of Libya, you curiously call it a double-standard because the West did not intervene in Ivory Coast instead.

We all opposed the bombing of Libya and the Western actions against Khadafy because we all knew that it was only motivated by the attempt to control the oil of Libya. But, Khadafy is no saint. He has formed and supported most of the rebel movements which have caused havoc and destruction in our sub-region included the United Revolutionary Front’s Leadership. Foday Sankoh, who committed War crimes and crimes against humanity in your native country was formed and supported by Khadafy. Yet, you disregarded these facts and look at the greater impact on NATO intervention on Africa as a whole. Why are you failing to see that France and others intervention in Ivory Coast even through proxies like Ouattara’s is no different than the case of Libya? Isn’t it the same Nicolas Sarkozy and the same Obama who lent support to Ouattara and went after Gbagbo?

You also advocated that Nigeria should have bombed Ivory Coast, but since they failed to do so France did nothing wrong by dropping bombs on Africans in Abidjan.
If in the US, as in the case of Bush versus Gore, they did not resolve electoral disputes through war, why does it make any sense to anyone who claim to be for African unity to think it is OK when one side ask for recount , that it is ok to simply go to war to impose the other side?

I was very amused when I read some of your criticism against US based Ghanaian scholar Professor George uncle-Tom Ayitteh’s assertions that slavery and colonization are not to be blamed for the conditions of black and African people. Ironically, you embrace the same attitude of denial of western imperialist interference when it comes to the Ivorian crisis when you know well that France has manufactured the Ivorian crisis and targeted President Gbagbo while promoting Ouattara to serve their colonial interest.
I find it quiet bizarre that, you, a self-professed Pan-Africanist who also claims to be the descendant, of Bai Bureh, (the legendary Temne chief, hero and leader of the indigenous resistance against British colonialism in your native Sierra Leone) shrewdly echoed the same colonialist propaganda spread by Western mainstream media about the Ivory Coast. And you sided with Alassane Ouattara, the agent of French re-colonization of not just Ivory Coast but the entire West African sub-region.

People of Mali who supported him mainly for tribalistic reasons, are now crying and calling him a traitor because of his involvement in the destabilization of their country and his recent threat as the Head of ECOWAS( Economic Community of West African States) to impose medicine and other embargo on that country.
You even admitted at the conference that you supported Ouattara because you had hoped that he would turn things around. Oh really? Those expectations were based on what? You are a scholar on African affairs and you have 4 PH’Ds, you had extensively travelled countless times all over Ivory Coast and acquainted with officials there, therefore you are not an ignorant person on the political history of that country.

So, how come you display such naivety about Mister Ouattara, who you are surely aware, had displayed dictatorial tendencies during his tenure of the Premiership in the last Houphouet Boigny government?

You praise Gbagbo for his struggle for democracy against Houphouet, but who do you think was the Prime-Minister of Houphouet who really was persecuting Gbagbo, the civil society, labor movements, student activists and other branch of the society demanding democratic reform? Ouattara was. Did you not know that Ouattara had then, jailed Laurent Gbagbo, his wife Simone Gbagbo, his son Michel Gbagbo, Union leaders, student activist, opposition leaders, journalists etc while he was Houphouet’s Prime-Minister?

And do you not know why that most of the demands which were not just for political reform but also against the afflictions that the austerity measures of the IMF Structural Adjustment programs implemented by Ouattara caused to the most vulnerable elements of the Ivorian society?
So you a self-proclaimed Panafricanist and a very educated man, who wrote at least 50 books, had hoped that Ouattara who sold most of the Ivory Coast to French corporations through structural adjustment programs’ privatization policies would turn things around? Your wish did come through because he really did turn things around in the negative way though, by ending democracy, the rule of law, human rights and all the freedoms that Ivorian gained as a result of Laurent Gbagbo struggle.
The whole crisis in Ivory Coast which started by a French-backed failed coup attempt against Laurent Gbagbo turned rebellion was only the result of France attempt to recolonize Ivory Coast by removing Gbagbo from power in order to impose , their own stooge, Alassane Ouattara. An African scholar and Panafricanist who failed to understand that is either ignorant of the facts, simply or disingenuous.
2- You gratuitously accused Gbagbo of having killed, Africans, his countrymen and French. You never give any fact of when, where and how. Off course these accusations are false, and part of the smear campaign waged by France and its colonial allies to vilify President Gbagbo. I will discuss the issues of the deaths of pro-Ouattara supporters during the crisis and explain how it is not correct to impute them to Laurent Gbagbo, while on the other end, it is evident that Ouattara and his henchmen purposely massacred pro-Gbagbo supporters are still massacring Ivorians even more today under Ouattara’s rule than before.
I find it quite disturbing that you supported Ouattara against Gbagbo, though the government Ouattara led as Houphouet Boigny Prime-Minister, fully supported and assisted the Revolutionary United Front, the rebellious army led by Foday Sankoh and supported by Charles Taylor, both charged and found guilty of crime against humanity in Sierra Leone, your country of origin.
I refuse to believe that you were not aware that arms that travelled from Burkina Faso, to Sierra Leone via Liberia transited through Danane in Western Ivory Coast to the Liberian border under the escort of Ivorian regular army during Ouattara’s tenure of the Premiership in Ivory Coast? This practice that continued under Konan Bedie and was interrupted or ended should I say under Gbagbo.
Do not tell me Sir, you who were involved in humanitarian work in Bouake, in Central Ivory Coast that you did not know that Commanders were involved with Ouattara’s armed rebellion when it first started. Commandant Mosquito, the famous Sierra Leonean rebel Leader who oversaw the cutting of limbs of your countrymen, wasn’t he based in Bouake?
In case you didn’t know here are few comments on commandant Mosquito, in Wikipedia: “Samuel "Sam" "Mosquito" Bockarie (October 2, 1964 − May 5, 2003) was a leading member of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone. Bockarie was infamous during the Sierra Leone Civil War for his brutal tactics, which included amputation, mutilation, and rape.....
After fleeing Sierra Leone in 2000, Bockarie joined with Taylor's Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) in Liberia, eventually moving to the Ivory Coast, where he participated in the rebellion led by Guillaume Soro in connection with the Gbatala base headed by Charles Taylor.
......On 3 March 2003, Sam Bockarie was indicted for crimes against humanity, violation of the Geneva Convention and violation of international humanitarian law. During this time, Bockarie commanded his troops to attack civilian populations who he felt were supporting the government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, including the use of mutilation and sexual violence. These attacks brought to the world the horrific images of children with missing arms and legs. He was also accused of recruiting child soldiers and abducting people to fight with him, and of attacking UN peacekeepers working under UNAMSIL.
These horrific acts of savagery perpetrated on your people by the allies of those you supported, makes me wonder why would you support Ouattara and his murderers and have high expectations of them?
It may be a surprise to you to read in the news about the ongoing genocide in Duekoue by Ouattara’ forces, but to us who observed that evil man from the start, it is just a logical continuation of the same destruction these kind of people caused in Liberia, Sierra Leone and now Ivory Coast.
You said that you were in Ouagadougou when the discussion of military intervention in Ivory Coast by ECOWAS was being held. Now, you cannot tell me that you were not aware that Blaise Compaore whose hands are covered of the blood of your people supported militarily the rebel groups of Charles Taylor, Foday Sankoh and Alassane Ouattara , which murdered hundreds of thousands of Africans in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast?
One last word, the Ivoirite issue:
Politically motivated inter-ethnics incidents are common in Africa, as one can currently witness in Nigeria between Muslims and Christians, or in your own country Sierra Leone, between the Mende and the Temne during the recent civil war there, or between the Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda and Burundi, or between the Kikuyu and the Luo in Kenya or between the Malinke and the Soussou in Guinea.
In the case of Ivory Coast, Mister Ouattara and his current ally former President Henry Konan Bedie, introduced such a conflict between the Northerners and the rest of the country’s ethnic populations. Ouattara started injected ethnic hatred in his quest for power by publicly stated that “ It is because I am a Muslim and a Northerner that they don’t want me to run for President”. But the true reason why Ivorians had issue with his interest in the presidency was that he was a citizen of Burkina Faso all his childhood and adult life until Houphouet Boigny publicly gave him the Ivorian nationality in a TV broadcast ceremony.
As in most country in the world, the US included, a citizen of another country is not allowed to run for the highest office in his new country of adoption. This is the case in the US for former government of California, Harold Shwartznegger or even former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who were not naturally born citizens of that United States, a constitutional requirement for eligibility for the US Presidency. Northerners, who were already disgruntled by the perception given by Ouattara assertion that he was being discriminated because of his religion and his region of origin, were pushed further to the edge by Henry Konan Bedie, Ivoirite xenophobic propaganda according to which his Akan ethnic group was pure Ivorian and northerners especially were not pure bread Ivorians.
It is very nauseating to attribute to Laurent Gbagbo, Ivoirite, when it is obvious that he opposed it and even show solidarity with Ouattara, by refusing to run for President in support of the rejection of his candidacy by Bedie.
What make such a false claim so sickening is that there has been a deceitful amalgamation of Ivoirite with real genuine immigration, indigenous rights and national sovereignty issues in Ivory Coast, which were raised under Gbagbo’s term.
Ivory Coast being home to a disproportionate number of citizens of neighboring countries, the issue of who has the right to run for president or simply vote in Ivory Coast was raised when citizens of neighboring countries wanted to be able to vote in Ivory Coast. To say that only Ivorians can vote was by no means the same as promoting ivoirite but a question of national sovereignty. The law in the same neighboring country, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, were basically the same as far as the requirement of citizenship to be able to vote or that the candidate for President be a citizen of their country who never was a citizen of another country or whose parents were themselves citizens of that country.
So, your claim that Gbagbo engaged in Ivorite is preposterous. Alassane Ouattara as someone in the Q and A brought to your attention was as Prime Minister of Houphouet Boigny the first one to impose a permit of residency in Ivory Coast for none Ivorian citizens of neighboring countries including his own country of origin, Burkina Faso although members of the ECOWAS community were allowed to move and live freely without passport or any other resident permit from one country to another in their Union.
It is true that Alassane Ouattara has nothing to do with “La Charte du Nord”, a document circulated in Mosques during his Premiership, and which asserted that it was time for Northerners to rule Ivory Coast. Ouattara then, sent army troops in Mosques during prayer service to repress proponent of the “ Charte du Nord”. Though today he is the beneficiary of such tribalist and exclusionist concept. Ouattara today has engaged in his own tribalism and exclusion policy with his own concept of RATTRAPAGE.
Contrary to what you said at the conference to a question that was put to you on the issue, RATTRAPAGE is the full implementation of the exclusionist and tribalist idea that it is the time for the Northerners to rule Ivory Coast as Ouattara clearly expressed during an interview with a French TV station during a recent visit to France.
Today 90 percent of Ouattara nominations in his government, administration and army are northerners and Muslims in a country where leaders were always careful not to exclude others in nominations in cabinet positions, the administration and the Army.
Today ethnic cleansing, ethnic based killings and exclusions are the common plight of ethnic groups accused of being supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. The Guéré are paying a heavy price. Ouattara is bringing in everyday, truckloads of Burkinabe citizens from Burkina Faso to the Western part of the Ivory Coast to occupy the land, farms and villages of the Guéré People. One of Ouattara’s Burkinabe Warlord, Amade Oueremi, who Matt Wells of Human Rights cited in his presentation at the Rockville conference, is still ruling supreme on Mt Peko, in the Duekoue area where he and his Burkinabe kin are mass murdering the Guere people and chasing them off their ancestral land. The UN , France and Ouattara’s government who have armed forces in the area are not oblivious to what is occurring in the West of Ivory Coast.
We Panafricans know what is going on in Ivory Coast, the same that is going on in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and other parts of Africa where imperialists who seek to recolonize our continent and have our nations and ancestral lands run and owned by western corporations are creating these conflicts to impose their proxies like Ouattara. It is sad that African scholars like you are pretending not to understand what is going on.
We support Gbagbo because he dared say no to France and in him we see an African Leader who standing to imperialism while his adversary, Alassane Ouattara is willing to be the boy of the colonizers. In one the rare interview Laurent Gbagbo gave to an French journalist of African descent, he said that he knew the day he say no to Chirac invitation to all former French colonies o send troops to parade to French Independence day, that was his end.
Leo Gnawa, Ivorian Patriot and organizer for the Ivorian non-violent Resistance