August 2001 Vol. 13, No.6 (A) CÔTE D’IVOIRE THE NEW RACISM The Political Manipulation of Ethnicity in Côte d’Ivoire I. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................3 Key Findings ..........................................................................................................................................................6 Killings By Members of the Security Forces .....................................................................................................6 Sexual Abuse ......................................................................................................................................................7 Detention and Torture by Members of the Police and Gendarmerie ..................................................................7 “Disappearances” ...............................................................................................................................................7 Assaults and Threats on Wounded and those Assisting the Wounded ...............................................................8 Religious Persecution .........................................................................................................................................8 Mob Violence .....................................................................................................................................................8 II. RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................................................9 To the Government of Côte d’Ivoire: .....................................................................................................................9 To the United States, France, the European Union, and International Financial Institutions: ...............................9 To the United Nations: ...........................................................................................................................................9 To the Economic Community of West African States and the Organization of African Unity: .......................... 10 III. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................ 10 IV. CÔTE D’IVOIRE’S OBLIGATIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW ..................................................... 12 V. THE OCTOBER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ........................................................................................ 14 Detentions ............................................................................................................................................................. 18 Sexual Abuse ........................................................................................................................................................ 20 Victimization on the Basis of Ethnicity and Religion .......................................................................................... 21 “Disappearances” ................................................................................................................................................. 23 Derrière Rail: Reprisal Killings ............................................................................................................................ 25 Charnier de Yopougon ......................................................................................................................................... 29 Mob Violence ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 VI. THE DECEMBER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS.................................................................................... 36 Detention and Torture ........................................................................................................................................... 38 Security Force Collaboration with the FPI ........................................................................................................... 41 Rape and Sexual Abuse ........................................................................................................................................ 44 Targeting of RDR Leaders ................................................................................................................................... 47 Violence Escalates Following a Presidential Speech ........................................................................................... 49 Psychological Abuse ............................................................................................................................................ 53 Religious Persecution ........................................................................................................................................... 54 The Parliamentary Elections Take Place .............................................................................................................. 56 VII. COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY .................................................................................................................... 56 VIII. IMPUNITY FOR ABUSE ............................................................................................................................... 60 International Justice .............................................................................................................................................. 62 IX. THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY .............................................................................. 62 The United Nations ............................................................................................................................................... 63 France ................................................................................................................................................................... 63 The United States ................................................................................................................................................. 64 The European Union (E.U.) .................................................................................................................................. 65 International Financial Institutions ....................................................................................................................... 67 African Commission ............................................................................................................................................. 67 X. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. 67 2 I. SUMMARY The 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections in Côte d’Ivoire in October and December were marred by political violence which left over 200 people dead and hundreds wounded. In the months preceding the October presidential and December parliamentary elections, political leaders exploited ethnic divisions to oust rivals, used the state apparatus to repress opponents, and incited hatred and fear among populations which had for decades lived in relative harmony. Their actions culminated in two unprecedented waves of violence which shocked Ivorians and members of the international community alike, as well as grimly highlighting the danger of manipulating ethnic loyalties and latent prejudice for political gain. The legacy of the heightened suspicion and intolerance generated during the election period will take determined action to overcome; action which has so far been seriously lacking. The violence shattered Côte d’Ivoire’s hopes of rapidly regaining its status as francophone West Africa’s economic powerhouse and a regional beacon of stability. This was lost a year earlier when a coup d’état against the corrupt government of incumbent elected president Henri Konan Bédié installed General Robert Guei as a military head of state in December 1999. General Guei had promised to return Côte d’Ivoire to civilian rule, and scheduled elections to do so, but had manipulated the process to such an extent that the legitimacy of the elections was already in doubt before they were held. A new constitution introduced by General Guei and approved by a July 2000 referendum required both parents of any Ivorian wishing to contest the presidential election to have been born in Côte d’Ivoire. This amendment was transparently designed to exclude Alassane Ouattara, the leader of the Rally of Republicans party (Rassemblement des Republicains, RDR), the largest opposition party, from the contest. On October 6, 2000, a controversial Supreme Court decision disqualified from running fourteen of the nineteen presidential candidates, including Ouattara, on citizenship grounds, and former president Bédié for not submitting a proper medical certificate. The Supreme Court, headed by General Guei’s then legal adviser, was widely believed to have been hand picked by Guei himself. On October 24, 2000, after early results showed Laurent Gbagbo, leader of the Ivorian Popular Front (Front Populaire Ivorien, FPI), leading in the presidential poll, General Guei dissolved the National Electoral Commission and proclaimed himself the winner. Just two days later, he fled the country, in the midst of violence surrounding protests at his attempts to rig the elections.