Afraid and Forgotten RIGHTS Lawlessness, Rape, and Impunity in Western Côte D’Ivoire WATCH
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Côte d’Ivoire HUMAN Afraid and Forgotten RIGHTS Lawlessness, Rape, and Impunity in Western Côte d’Ivoire WATCH Afraid and Forgotten Lawlessness, Rape, and Impunity in Western Côte d’Ivoire Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-702-7 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org October 2010 1-56432-702-7 Afraid and Forgotten Lawlessness, Rape, and Impunity in Western Côte d’Ivoire Map of Côte d’Ivoire ........................................................................................................... 1 Map of Côte d’Ivoire’s Far West ........................................................................................... 2 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 3 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 7 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 11 Background ...................................................................................................................... 12 Violence and Lawlessness in Western Côte d’Ivoire .......................................................... 20 Widespread Criminality by Coupeurs de Route ............................................................... 21 Attacks in Towns and Villages....................................................................................... 29 Widespread Sexual Violence ......................................................................................... 31 Identifying the Perpetrators .......................................................................................... 40 State Failure: Insecurity and Impunity .............................................................................. 44 State Authorities’ Failure to Protect from Private Harm ................................................... 45 State Authorities’ Failure to Investigate Reported Crimes .............................................. 48 Failure of Judicial System ............................................................................................... 51 Turning to Vigilante Security: Hiring the Dozo ................................................................ 54 Extortion and Racketeering by State Authorities and the Forces Nouvelles ........................ 57 Government-Controlled Moyen Cavally ......................................................................... 58 Forces Nouvelles-Controlled Dix-Huit Montagnes .......................................................... 63 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 72 Map of Côte d’Ivoire © 2010 John Emerson / Human Rights Watch 1 Human Rights Watch | October 2010 Map of Côte d’Ivoire’s Far West © 2010 John Emerson / Human Rights Watch Afraid and Forgotten 2 Summary As Côte d’Ivoire heads toward long-delayed presidential elections scheduled for October 31, 2010, the far west of the country is in a state of near lawlessness. Here, the power of the gun prevails and the rule of law has all but disintegrated amid increasing political, conflict- related, and criminal violence. Criminal gangs, militiamen, police, gendarmes, and rebel forces subject locals to an unrelenting stream of abuses, including banditry, assault, extortion, and the rape of women, girls, and even babies. State institutions tasked with preventing and holding accountable those responsible for the violence have largely failed to act, allowing a dangerous culture of impunity to take hold. The worst-hit areas are the western administrative regions of Moyen Cavally and Dix-Huit Montagnes—often referred to as the “Wild West” by humanitarian organizations and journalists—where criminal gangs attack and subject the population to abuse on a widespread basis in their homes, en route to market, and as they travel between their villages and the main regional towns. International human rights law obligates Côte d’Ivoire’s government to respect the right to life, right to bodily integrity, right to liberty and security of the person, and the right to be free from discrimination, which includes an obligation on states to take appropriate measures to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence. As a result, the state—headed by the president, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces—must take all reasonable steps to protect persons within its territory or jurisdiction, including supporting the investigation and prosecution of private actors who infringe these rights. Ending the impunity that allows violence and other criminal practices to continue requires leadership from the highest levels of the state. Proactive patrolling by police and gendarmes, particularly on market days and during the harvest season, would likewise contribute greatly to improved security. The region’s problems are rooted in the social, political, and military crisis that has racked Côte d’Ivoire since 2000, accelerating economic decline, deepening political and ethnic divisions, and leading to serious human rights abuses. Following the end of active hostilities in 2003, the country settled into a state of “no peace, no war,” divided between a rebel- controlled north and a government-controlled south. In 2007, the belligerent parties signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which outlined plans for citizen identification, voter registration, disarmament, and the country’s reunification. However, there were immediate delays in implementation: presidential elections were postponed six times; disarmament was an almost total failure; and the country remained divided. Moreover, the government’s 3 Human Rights Watch | October 2010 failure to re-establish the rule of law in the west—the region hardest hit by the conflict and with the highest concentration of arms—has allowed bands of armed former combatants and other armed youth to make a living from banditry and other forms of criminality. One particular problem, especially within the violent-prone regions of Moyen Cavally and Dix-Huit Montagnes, is the severely compromised judicial system. There is no functioning trial court or prison in the whole of Moyen Cavally, leaving victims to travel between 70 and 250 kilometers to the courthouse in Daloa, located in the neighboring Haut-Sassandra region. While a trial court does exist in Man, the largest town in Dix-Huit Montagnes, it remains essentially non-operational due to a lack of essential state judicial personnel and the de facto authority of the rebel forces known as the Forces Nouvelles (“New Forces,” or FN). Corruption and inadequate staffing means the few cases that are adjudicated often result in the premature release of prisoners who are on remand or even convicted. The government has failed to take adequate steps to improve security and access to justice, even as international partners like the European Union and the World Bank pour hundreds of millions of dollars into judicial and security sector development. Police and gendarme officials present another problem, routinely failing to fulfill their duties to protect, investigate, or prevent lawlessness. Victims described how security officials repeatedly refused to pursue and investigate criminal elements, even when attacks were reported at checkpoints only a few kilometers from the scene of brutal physical and sexual violence. Indeed, state authorities often demand bribes from victims to file complaints, most of which languish with authorities who show little interest in investigating or arresting perpetrators. Even when arrests do occur, suspected perpetrators are often freed within 24 or 48 hours, leaving victims disillusioned with authorities and terrified of revenge. Police and gendarmes also engage in systematic extortion at checkpoints and roadblocks. In government-controlled Moyen Cavally, state officials routinely prey on individuals by extorting and, at times, beating, robbing, and arbitrarily detaining residents under the pretense that they do not have proper identity cards. Immigrant populations from northern Côte d’Ivoire and neighboring countries are targeted for particularly harsh treatment. Meanwhile, in Forces Nouvelles-controlled Dix-Huit Montagnes, rebel forces dispense with such pretense altogether, and simply demand money from residents and businesses through threat, intimidation, or force. The rebels, who accrue a financial windfall from this extortion, actively maintain control despite the redeployment of many state authorities to the northern half of the country—including to Dix-Huit