Africa

IRIN 19 Nov 2004 Africa: Rapid response team trained [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] ADDIS ABABA, 19 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - The first ever African UN rapid response, disaster mitigation team is ready for deployment to emergencies around the continent, officials said on Friday. The UN's Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team would be used for natural and man-made emergencies in Africa and across the globe. "It was important to establish an African team, as it will be able to respond faster to an emergency in Africa as well as have a better understanding of the culture and speak the language," said Jesper Lund, the course organiser. "Upon request of a disaster-stricken country, the team can be deployed within hours to carry out rapid assessment of priority needs and to support national authorities and the United Nations resident coordinator to coordinate international relief on-site," he added. The team, which is provided free of charge to the disaster-affected country, is responsible for providing first-hand information on the emergency situation. "The UNDAC Team consists of disaster management professionals who are nominated and funded by member governments, UN agencies and international organisations, and are permanently on stand-by to deploy to relief missions following disasters and humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world," Lund added. It will also assess priority needs of the victims to the international community through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Its activities will also help strengthen national and regional disaster response capacity, officials who took part in the training told IRIN. To date the UNDAC Team has conducted 123 emergency missions in more than 68 countries since its creation in 1993. They were among the first into the troubled region of Darfur in western Sudan and were deployed in Haiti. Their two-week training was completed on Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Some 34 participants from 14 different African nations took part in the two-week training course, organised by the OCHA Field Coordination Support Section in Geneva, Switzerland and supported by the OCHA Country Office in Addis Ababa.

Algeria

BBC 28 Oct 2004 Algeria 'terror leader' arrested German prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for Saifi Algeria has taken custody of one of its most wanted terror suspects, handed over by Libya, the government says. Amar Saifi, known as 'Abderrezak El Para' is accused of being behind last year's kidnapping of 32 tourists from Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) he leads is allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. He was reportedly arrested in March by rebels in Chad. It is not clear how he fell into Libyan hands. In July, the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJC) said that Libya had threatened to bomb their positions unless he was handed over. Ransom demand The GSPC is one of the last groups fighting a 12-year civil war in Algeria, in which some 150,000 people have been killed. Germany issued an international warrant for his arrest in September 2003. The warrant accuses him of kidnapping, extortion, membership of a foreign terrorist organisation and attempted blackmail of the German government. Germany is reported to have paid a ransom for the hostages, but the government has refused to confirm or deny this. The tourists were captured in small groups during a spate of kidnappings in the Sahara desert. All but one of the hostages - a German woman who died of heat stroke - were freed.

BBC 2 Nov 2004 Algeria proposes general amnesty By Mohammed Arrezki Himeur BBC correspondent in Algiers The conflict with Islamists has taken a huge toll A general amnesty is being considered for Algerians implicated in violence and murder during the past 12 years. The conflict between the government and Islamist militants has claimed at least 100,000 lives since it started in 1992. But it now seems to have abated and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika believes the time is right to try to move to the next stage to bring peace to Algeria. He was speaking during events to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war of independence against France. But the president said such a decision could not be taken by his government alone, despite his party's overwhelming victory in April's election. Travesty He said that that vote does not give him a go-ahead to declare such a general amnesty. He suggested that a referendum would be needed, because, according to the constitution, the people are sovereign and not parliament or the president. The general amnesty is supposed to cover all those who have been implicated in the sectarian violence of the past decade, in this case not only the armed Islamists but also members of the security forces accused of torture, and summary executions. There are also those involved in the disappearance of more than 7,000 Islamist prisoners, arrested during this period. The families of the victims of both the Islamists and members of the security forces do not generally agree with each other - but they have found common ground over a possible amnesty. Both sides say it is a travesty of justice. President Bouteflika though, sees a general amnesty as being part of the country's path to dialogue that will eventually end the conflict with reconciliation.

Botswana

AFP 5 Nov 2004 Bushmen Testify in Botswana Land Dispute By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ABORONE, Botswana, Nov. 5 (Agence-France Presse) - San Bushmen resumed testimony on Friday in the Botswana High Court to challenge their resettlement from what they claim is ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Taking the stand for the first time since the case was postponed three months ago, Motsoko Ramafoko, a witness for the San, told the court that people were removed from the land against their will. He said people did not want to be relocated to the town of New Xade, outside the park in central Botswana. "First they took our wives, loaded them in the trucks and off they went to New Xade," he said. "Then they came for us men." The San are asking the High Court to declare that the government's 2002 decision to resettle the Bushmen in settlements outside the game reserve was illegal. Survival International, a London-based group that has been waging a 30-year campaign in support of the rights of the San, maintains that they were driven out of the Kalahari to make way for diamond mining, a claim the government has denied. The case is expected to continue for at least a month.

Burundi

IRIN 1 Nov 2004 Tutsis finally accept interim constitution [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] BUJUMBURA, 1 November (IRIN) - Concerns of a constitutional crisis in Burundi abated on Monday when six Tutsi-dominated parties dropped their long-standing opposition to the country's current interim constitution. The interim constitution is necessary to avoid a constitutional void, the chairman of the main Tusti-dominated Parti de l'unite pour le progres national Jean, Baptiste Manwangari, told reporters on Monday. However, he said his parties still wanted changes to be made to the final constitution. The interim constitution has been in effect since 20 October when the country's transitional, two-chamber parliament voted for it to stay in force for six months. Officially, the transition period ended on Monday, but the interim constitution allows the country's institutions to stay in place until elections are held in 2005. Local elections are scheduled for 9 February, communal elections for 23 February and legislative elections for 9 March. MPs from the Tutsi-dominated parties had boycotted the parliamentary vote on the interim constitution saying it mostly takes into account the interests of Hutu-dominated parties. A referendum is to be held on 26 November in which voters will be asked whether they want the interim constitution to stand as the permanent constitution after the current transitional government ends. In a statement released on Saturday, the Tutsi-dominated parties called for dialogue on the final constitution before the referendum takes place and for amendments to be allowed.

Reuters 4 Nov 2004 UN to revisit massacre probe after Burundi criticism By Patrick Nduwimana BUJUMBURA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday it plans to revisit its investigation into the slaughter of about 160 Congolese refugees at a Burundi camp, after it was criticised by Burundi's government last week. The U.N. report, delivered last month, sought to determine who was responsible for an Aug. 13 massacre at the desolate Gatumba transit camp in western Burundi, near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 160 Congolese refugees were burned, hacked and bludgeoned to death. U.N. investigators incriminated Burundi's Hutu rebel Forces for National Liberation (FNL) in the attack, and said other groups it did not name may have been involved. Burundi last week called the report ignorant of the availale evidence. Foreign Minister Therence Sinunguruza said there was proof showing a coalition of FNL rebels, Congolese traditional Mai Mai fighters and Rwandan Hutu militia had been responsible. Nureldine Satti, the deputy special representative to Burundi for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said any new evidence would be added to the report. "We never said that the U.N. report on Gatumba was perfect. It was not easy to produce a perfect report, especially in such difficult circumstances of inquiry. Everything is to be improved," Satti told reporters. "We will continue to re-examine the facts, in case we have new evidence which was not known before, and we will add them for an updating of the first report," he told a regular press briefing. The U.N. report said evidence was contaminated at the scene, making investigators' job that much harder. "We said other forces may have taken part in the massacre, but we didn't have enough evidence to say exactly which other forces were involved," Satti said. "There are no big divergences between the U.N. report and the one by Burundi's government." Burundi plans to publish the results of its investigation soon and says it will bring those responsible before the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, a course the U.N. report urged.

Agence France-Presse 4 Nov 2004 Former fighters loot civilians in Burundi: UN BUJUMBURA, Nov 4 (AFP) - Armed gangs, reportedly including members of a former rebel group, have been looting food and property from impoverished villagers, the UN mission in the small central African country said Thursday. The UN force monitoring a post-war ceasefire and a political settlement stated that it "deplores the looting by armed elements, believed to include members of the CNDD-FDD, of food and possessions from the least favoured people, who have scarcely enough to survive on." The Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) and their political National Council (CNDD) signed an overall peace pact with the government a year ago, as part of a process to end a civil war which erupted in October 1993 and claimed some 300,000 lives. About 15,000 former FDD fighters are grouped into camps awaiting disarmament while some now fight alongside the regular army in dealing with the country's last small remaining rebel group. However, UN agencies and other organisations have for several months stopped providing food for ex-rebels who are not in the camps. The UN World Food Programme each week distributes an average "200 tonnes of food to about 30,000 vulnerable people in Rural Bujumbura", the area around the capital, according to the WFP. UN Burundi Operation (ONUB) spokesman Adama Diop said the food was supplied in convoys and distributed under the supervision of some of the UN military personnel in the country, where almost 5,500 peacekeepers are deployed. "The looting happens later," an WFP source said, asking not to be named. "Often it's at night, when people have gone home to their hills." Local officials said 100 households were robbed last week at Ruziba, their hillside community 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Bujumbura, the day after the WFP supplied food there. ONUB's deputy head, Nureldine Satti, said that if former rebels were fighting alongside the regular army, "we believe feeding them is the government's responsibility." No one in the FDD could be reached for immediate comment on the statements.

AFP 20 Nov 2004 Burundi's last rebel group no longer a threat to peace: minister DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 20 (AFP) - Burundi's defence minister said Saturday that the war-ravaged central African state's last active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), no longer stood in the way of peace efforts. "Today, the FNL does not constitute a threat as such to the peace process in Burundi," General Vincent Niyungeko said on the sidelines of a conference in Tanzania's main city, Dar es Salaam, on peace in Africa's Great Lakes region, which includes Burundi. Burundi is trying to turn the page on a civil war which, since a variety of Hutu armed groups rose up in 1993 against a government and army then dominated by the Tutsi minority, has claimed more than 300,000 lives and devastated the tiny country's infrastructure. With the exception of the FNL, now estimated to have just a few hundred men under arms, all of these groups have joined a transitional power-sharing administration. Over the next few months, a series of elections is expected to usher in a permanent government. The minister recalled that 16 of the country's 17 provinces have enjoyed peace since the largest former rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), signed a peace deal a year ago. The FNL has rebuffed overtures to open negotiations with the government. "This movement has become militarily marginal. It is not in a position to hamper the electoral process," said Niyungeko. "The FNL have lost enormous amounts of territory following joint actions by the army and the FDD," a military expert who asked not to be named told AFP. "We believe they now have between 300 and 500 fighters and are not able to mount major attacks," he added.

AFP 26 Nov 2004 Rebels clash with Burundi army, 17 reported dead BUJUMBURA, Nov 25 (AFP) - Members of the sole remaining rebel group in Burundi clashed twice with army patrols this week, losing 17 men in the firefights, military sources said Thursday. In another reported incident, a soldier let off a rocket launcher during a visit by President Domitien Ndayizeye to northern Burundi, killing another member of the president's guard. In the first of the two reported clashes between guerrillas and the army, 10 guerrillas were killed and two army soldiers were injured in fighting just north of the capital, the military sources said. A second confrontation south of Bujumbura Thursday reportedly resulted in a further seven rebel deaths. The sources said the army seized small arms and mortar shells. On Saturday, Defence Minister General Vincent Niyungeko said that the rebels, members of the outlawed National Liberation Forces (FNL), no longer stood in the way of efforts to restore peace after a decade of conflict that has claimed some 300,000 lives. With the exception of the FNL, now estimated to have just a few hundred men under arms, several other Hutu armed groups have joined a transitional power-sharing administration. A series of elections has been scheduled over the next few months aimed at forming a permanent government. A military expert said the FNL is likely to have no more than 300 to 500 fighters, and can no longer mount major attacks, having lost most of the territory it once held. Meanwhile, army spokesman Adolphe Manirakiza said the shooting incident in Ndayizeye's entourage Thursday was "completely involuntary." He said a soldier riding in the lead vehicle inadvertently fired his rocket-launcher, gravely wounding a companion who died later of his injuries. Ndayizeye was visiting the province of Cibitoke, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Bujumbura, as part of a campaign to encourage citizens to register for voting in upcoming elections, the president's office said. But political sources said that so far, only 50,000 of the three million Burundians believed eligible to vote had registered. A referendum for a new constitution was to have taken place on Friday, but has been put back until December 22 for "logistical reasons."

Côte d’Ivoire

IRIN 28 Oct 2004 Côte d'Ivoire: Rebels declare state of emergency, warn of return to war [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] BOUAKE, 28 October (IRIN) - The rebel movement which controls the northern half of Cote d'Ivoire declared a state of emergency on Thursday and warned that the West African country was heading back towards an early resumption of civil war. "Disarmament is no longer a live issue, because the war isn't over yet. It is going to resume shortly," rebel leader Guillaume Soro told a press conference in Bouake, the rebel capital in central Cote d'Ivoire. He said the New Forces rebel movement had ordered its seven ministers in Cote d'Ivoire's broad-based government of national reconciliation to return to Bouake immediately for consultations. This move raises the prospect that the rebels may withdraw from the power-sharing government for the third time in 13 months. Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko, the rebel military commander, meanwhile announced the imposition of a state of emergency and a 9.00pm to 6.00am curfew in all rebel-controlled areas. Following the discovery of a large consignment of weapons and ammunition hidden in a commercial truck entering Bouake on Tuesday, all vehicles would be searched as they entered the rebel zone, including UN vehicles and the vehicles of humanitarian organisations, he added. The rebels displayed 80 AK-47 assault rifles, nine RPG-7 rocket grenade launches, 20 hand grenades and a large cache of ammunition which they said had been hidden in the truck beneath bags of rice. They accused President Laurent Gbagbo of sending the weaponry clandestinely to supporters of Ibrahim Coulibaly, an exiled rebel leader known as "IB," who is widely seen as a challenger to Soro for the leadership of the rebel movement. At least 99 people died during two days of clashes between supporters of Soro and IB in the northern city of Korhogo in June, according to the UN human rights mission which conducted an inquiry afterwards. The rebels' decision to suspend their participation in Cote d'Ivoire's power-sharing government follows a fresh impasse in the country's flagging peace process. President Gbagbo, the rebels, and parliamentary opposition parties agreed at a meeting in the Ghanaian capital Accra on July 30 to a timetable for the rapid implementation of political reforms and an early start to disarmament. However, Ggagbo failed to deliver the promised reforms by the agreed deadline of 30 September, so the rebels refused to begin handing in their weapons to UN peacekeepers on 15 October as planned. The civil war broke out in September 2002 and rebel forces quickly seized control of the north of Cote d'Ivoire, whose cocoa and coffee exports have made it the most prosperous country in West Africa. However, the fighting stopped seven months later following the signing of the French-brokered Linas-Marcoussis peace accord in January 2003. Gbagbo has never disguised his dislike of Marcoussis, saying it gave too many concessions to the rebels. He and his Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party have dragged their feet over implementing many of the political reforms which the peace agreement demands before the holding of fresh presidential elections in October 2005. The rebels have cited slow progress in the implementation of these reforms to justify their refusal to disarm. Despite the presence in Cote d'Ivoire of 4,000 French troops and 6,000 UN peacekeepers to keep the two sides apart, a series of government crises over the past year have raised the ugly prospect of the country sliding back into conflict. Tension has increased markedly over the past week. A group of rebel fighters exchanged fire with a patrol of French peacekeepers 50 km south of Korhogo on Tuesday, a French military spokesman said. Meanwhile, in Abidjan, the "Young Patriots," a militia-style youth movement which supports President Gbagbo, has resumed its former tactic of seizing and ripping up opposition newspapers on sale in the street. Soro's decision to recall all rebel ministers to Bouake meant that the rebels were unlikely to take part in a special cabinet meeting on Friday, called to accelerate the passage of the remaining political reforms. Most of these are aimed at giving greater rights to four million immigrants in Cote d'Ivoire from other West African countries and their descendants. Specific measures to be discussed on Friday include a new nationality law and the creation of an independent national electoral commission to oversee future elections and the organisation of a referendum to approve a constitutional ammendment that would make it easier for the children of immigrants to run for the presidency. One official close to independent Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, said the embattled prime minister still hoped the rebels would turn up for the meeting. "The Prime Minister cannot give a reaction now, but I am sure he will be hoping to the last minute that everybody will come tomorrow," she told IRIN. Officials at the presidency were not immediately available for comment.

IRIN 29 Oct 2004 Pro-Gbagbo militias undergo military training in the heart of Abidjan [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © IRIN Leader of the GPP militia group Zuegen Toure (left), with Moise Kore (right), his "Defence Minister," and a group of GPP volunteers at their training camp in Abidjan ABIDJAN, 29 Oct 2004 (IRIN) - Even the girls have shaved heads in the Institut Marie-Thérèse, a primary school named after the wife of Ivory Coast’s first president. Dressed in kaki T-shirts and camouflage gear, they work in the kitchen to prepare food for the young men who invaded the school grounds on August 15. These "Young Patriots" have turned it into a military training camp for young hardline supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo. The school, in Abidjan's bustling Adjame district, now serves as the headquarters of Cote d'Ivoire's best-trained militia organisation, the Patriotic Grouping for Peace (GPP). The entrance to the playground is protected by sandbags and a barrier of old tyres in the road outside forces cars to slow down and negotiate the hazard in single file. Zeguen Toure, the GPP's undisputed leader, makes no bones about his organisation's real aims. “The authorities have a passive attitude in managing the situation and we are tired of that,” he said. “We back the president in everything he does, but we’re tired of his negotiating." "Our only aim is war and we will decide ourselves when the time is right.” The school's classrooms have been turned into orderly dormitories and TV-rooms packed with youngsters in military camouflage wearing polished new boots. They stand to attention and salute smartly as visitors enter the room. "We are not just a gang of killers" Toure told IRIN during a tour of the premises that the building is now used to provide military training for 1,600 GPP volunteers. Detailed drawings of an automatic rifle and its various parts on a blackboard, made clear that this training included instruction in the use of fire-arms. But Toure denied that his men were just political thugs who attacked people suspected of being rebel sympathisers at the behest of the president and the barons of his Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party. “We are here to show that we are not a gang of killers,” Touré told IRIN. “In fact, we will tidy up the neighborhood.” “Organizations like the United Nations say bad things about us, they say we are a tribal militia,” he said. “But we are just volunteers who consider it their duty to defend Cote d'Ivoire. All we want is to take our country back from the rebels.” The GPP and other pro-Gbagbo militia groups sprouted into existence after Cote d'Ivoire plunged into civil war two years ago, leaving the country partitioned between a rebel-controlled north and a government-controlled south. They form part of a hadline nationalist movement known collectively as the Young Patriots. Diplomats say its key leaders take their orders from the presidential palace and the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based thinktank, came to the same conclusion in a report published in July. Although nobody knows for sure who commands the militia groups, ICG said, they have "internal hierarchies leading up to the presidency." The man widely suspected of coordinating their activities is Bertin Kadet, a former defence minister, who now acts as Gbagbo's personal adviser on security matters. Bizarrely, the GPP's training camp is situated in a lively and populous neighborhood that is considered a stronghold of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) opposition party, accused by Gbagbo of being hand in glove the rebels. A peace agreement in January 2003 led to a ceasefire just over three months later and the establishment of a broad-based government of national reconciliation. But after two years of tortuous negotiations, the peace process remains deadlocked and rebel leader Guillaume Soro warned earlier this week that Cote d'Ivoire was heading back towards open conflict. Uncompromising towards the rebels The civil war has spawned dozens of nationalist movements pledging their support for President Gbagbo, although for a long time the existence of armed militias among them was denied by the government. The demands made by these groups change according to the political climate, but their belligerent stance is unmistakable. Generally speaking, the Young Patriots refuse to acknowledge the rebels’ right to share in government and want them to be crushed by force unless they agree to lay down their weapons unconditionally. They claim that the large community of immigrants from other West African countries in Cote d'Ivoire is in league with the rebels since many of them ethnic have links with the rebels bedrock supporters in the north of the country. And they accuse France, the former colonial power which has 4,000 peacekeeping troops in Cote d'Ivoire, of supporting the rebel cause. French citizens and French commercial interests have repeatedly been attacked by the pro-Gbagbo militants. The Young Patriots have even demonstrated outside the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Abidjan and have smashed UN vehicles to press their demands that the 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops disarm the rebels by force. The movement draws much of its support from students and the fast-growing ranks of unemployed youth. The leaders of the Young Patriots frequently whip their followers into a frenzy with intimidating xenophobic rhetoric. Their favourite rallying place is the "Sorbonne," the former speakers' corner in Abidjan's downtown business district. During their protest demonstrations, the Young Patriots can make a lot of noise. Earlier this year the movement managed to fill sports stadiums in Abidjan with several thousand people for its rallies. The most prominent Young Patriot leader is Charles Ble Goude, a charismatic student drop-out who is invariably accompanied by armed bodyguards. He enjoys the permanent use of a suite at the prestigious Hotel Ivoire and is widely believed to be bankrolled by the presidential palace. But the organisation which Ble Goude personally heads, the Panafrican Congress of Young Patriots (COJEP) does not have the very blatant military identity of Toure's CPP. Former student leaders at the helm Diplomats fear what may happen if the armed militias are let loose on the city, rather than stone-throwing tyre-burning demonstrators who are usually the most visible face of the Young Patriots. A UN inquiry into the government's bloody repression of a banned opposition demonstration in Abidjan last March concluded that at least 120 people were killed over a two-day period as armed militiamen joined police and soldiers to hunt down suspected opposition supporters in some of the city's poorest suburbs. Toure, like Ble Goude and Soro, the rebel leader, is a former activist in FESCI, Cote d'Ivoire's main student association. All three men are in their mid-30s and know each other personally. Toure, who is 36, told IRIN that he once studied economics and computer science, but one man who knows him well said he had never held a real full-time job. Toure confirmed that Moise Kore the man he describes as his "Defence Minister" was a serving member of the security forces, but he declined to say what rank he holds or in which regular unit he serves. Individual GPP militia members do not carry arms, but they are taught how to use them, Touré said. “Former army officers come and train my men,” he said. “As for arms, it’s easy to get them. Arms are everywhere.” Touré said Ivory Coast’s security forces alone were not strong enough to “liberate” the country on their own and the militias had been created to help them complete the task. “Our security forces cannot defend everybody. The conventional army is not the most appropriate army for warfare with rebels,” he said. But Toure dismissed the notion that most militia groups consist of people from President Gbagbo's Bété ethnic group from south central Cote d'Ivoire and their close relatives, the Attié and Dida. “I myself, I am a northerner,” he said, pointing out that he came from Touba, near the western frontier with Guinea. Last year, it was a common sight to see small groups of militia recruits jogging through the streets of Abidjan, particularly in neighborhoods where Gbagbo was popular. The militias disappeared from public view after Prime Minister Seydou Diarra asked the security forces to disband them in August 2003, but Abidjan residents say they are still very much in evidence. One blast on a whistle brings them into the street “Every neighborhood has its own militia, but it’s not like they hang out together all the time,” a Lebanese businessman told IRIN on condition of anonymity. “Yet, they’re organized. It only takes one blow of the whistle to get them pouring out onto the streets.” Apart from the GPP, the best-known militia force in Cote d'Ivoire is the Front for the Liberation of the Greater West (FLGO), which is based in the western town of Guiglo, near the buffer zone between the loyalist army and the rebels. Long after fighting died down in the rest of Cote d'Ivoire, the area around Guiglo remained plagued by ethnic conflict, fuelled by the presence of militia groups, some of which recruited heavily among Liberian refugees. According to the International Crisis Group, FLGO leader Mao Gloféi is a member of the central committee of Gbagbo's FPI and a close aide to the mayor of Guiglo. Gloféi speaks openly about his “armed movement”, but it is unclear how many men are under his command. Back in Abidjan, Touré said the authorities have accepted his informal takeover of the Institut Marie-Therese. However, one local government official in Adjame said the mayor and his staff could do little about the GPP's presence there since the militia group had an influential patron: Finance Minister Paul Bouhoun Bouabre, a leading member of the FPI and a close associate of the president. Toure himself declined to say who paid for the GPP's military uniforms, its food, weapons and training. “We are volunteers, we finance ourselves,” he said with a grin.

NYT 5 Nov 2004 Ivory Coast Cease-Fire Ends With Airstrikes Against 2 Rebel Towns By SOMINI SENGUPTA DAKAR, Senegal, Nov. 4 - Government planes in Ivory Coast conducted bombing raids against two rebel-held towns starting shortly after sunrise on Thursday, ending a tenuous yearlong cease-fire and signaling a possible resumption of civil war. A spokesman for the French military in Ivory Coast, Col. Henri Aussavy, said the raids began at 7:15 a.m. against a rebel base in Bouaké, a guerrilla stronghold. Two more raids followed, one on the rebel-run television station in Bouaké and a third farther north, at Korhogo, an official with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast said. There were no confirmed reports of casualties, but a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a telephone interview that at least a dozen wounded had been evacuated from Bouaké. There were no reports of rebel retaliation. In Abidjan, a commercial hub, government loyalists held a demonstration threatening a full-scale war to recapture territory that has been in rebel hands since the outbreak of civil war in September 2002, according to news agency reports. "We are going to reconquer our territory, and reunify Ivory Coast," Col. Phillipe Mangou, a government military chief for operations, told The Associated Press. There was no official government comment on the air raids. The bombings ended a cease-fire between rebel forces and the government of President Laurent Gbagbo as well as a power-sharing deal that had allotted important cabinet posts to rebel leaders. The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, called the airstrikes a "major violation of the cease-fire" and warned Mr. Gbagbo and the rebels against further hostilities. In a statement on Thursday, the Security Council urged that the cease-fire be "fully respected." Mr. Gbagbo's government has violated some of the terms of a truce agreement signed in January 2003, and the rebels have refused to disarm. Ivory Coast, a former French colony, is the world's largest producer of cocoa and was once an oasis of prosperity and political stability in West Africa, welcoming migrant workers from neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali to work on the vast plantations. But a fall in cocoa prices, gradual economic decline and simmering grievances by the largely Muslim north erupted into full-scale civil war. Rebels control the north and the government holds the south, and tribal and religious loyalties have added a particularly nasty flavor to the conflict. The last major upheaval was in March, when a government crackdown on a demonstration in Abidjan left 120 people dead, according to a United Nations inquiry. Some 6,000 United Nations peacekeepers and 4,500 French troops are posted in Ivory Coast, charged with keeping the warring parties at bay.

Human Rights Watch 4 Nov 2004 Côte d'Ivoire: Civilians must not be targeted (New York, November 4, 2004) - As fighting renewed in Côte d'Ivoire on Thursday, Human Rights Watch called on all parties to refrain from targeting civilians and to respect international humanitarian law. According to their mandate, United Nations peacekeepers deployed in the country should protect civilians under imminent threat of violence. On Thursday, Ivorian government aircraft launched a series of bombing raids on the main rebel-held cities of Bouaké and Korhogo, signaling an end to the ceasefire declared in January 2003 and the peace process initiated at the same time. Several civilians were reported killed and many wounded when a checkpoint manned by New Forces (Forces Nouvelles) troops came under aerial attack. Meanwhile in Abidjan, the commercial capital held by government forces, militant youth from a pro-government group known as the Young Patriots (Jeunes Patriotes) attacked unarmed U.N. personnel and burned two of their vehicles, attacked the hotel where government ministers representing the New Forces lived, and ransacked and burned the offices of at least two opposition newspapers. "Côte d'Ivoire's civil war and its ongoing political crisis have been characterized by shocking brutality. Civilians have often been attacked solely on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "If the government and rebels resume fighting, they must take all steps possible to limit harm to the civilian population." Human Rights Watch urged all parties to the Ivorian conflict - including the Ivorian military, gendarmes, police forces, pro-government militias and combatants from several rebel factions making up the New Forces - to distinguish at all times between combatants and the civilian population. They must not attack civilians including aid workers, medical personnel, U.N. personnel and members of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Captured combatants and civilians who find themselves under the authority of an adverse party must at all times be treated humanely, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or nationality. Under international humanitarian law, all parties to the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire are prohibited from launching indiscriminate attacks. Armed forces must take precautions to limit the danger of attacks to civilian populations. Military actions - including the use of helicopter gunships, mortars or artillery - should be guided by the principle of proportionality in that the attacker should refrain from launching an attack if the expected civilian casualties would outweigh the importance of the military target. Moreover, the Ivorian government must ensure that militias used for military purposes are instructed in their obligations under the laws of war, or international humanitarian law. Since 2000, the government has increasingly relied on pro-government militias for both law enforcement and, since 2002, to combat the rebellion. In recent months, pro-government militia members have reportedly been undergoing military training in Abidjan. Drawn mainly from youth supporters of the ruling party, the Ivorian Popular Front (Front Populaire Ivorien, or FPI), the militias have served as a lightly veiled mechanism to intimidate and abuse members of the political opposition and those suspected of opposing the government by virtue of their religion, ethnicity or nationality. Most notably, the latter has included Muslims, northerners and West African immigrants mostly from Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Guinea. "Pro-government militias have been responsible for serious human rights abuses in Côte d'Ivoire's conflict," said Takirambudde. "The Ivorian government's failure to hold the militias accountable for these abuses has only strengthened the impunity of these groups in Abidjan and the rural areas." During the internal conflict from September 2002 through January 2003, and during the political impasse that has followed, Ivorian state security forces and other pro-government forces frequently and sometimes systematically executed, detained and attacked civilians from northern ethnic groups, Muslims and West African immigrants. Militia groups, tolerated if not encouraged by state security forces, have engaged in widespread targeting of the immigrant community, particularly agricultural workers from Burkina Faso living in villages in western Côte d'Ivoire. On their part, the New Forces have also attacked and killed civilians suspected of supporting the government or ruling political party. Neither the Ivorian government nor the rebel leadership has taken concrete steps to investigate and hold accountable those most responsible for these crimes. Perpetrators have been emboldened by the current climate of impunity that allows grave abuses to go unpunished. Background Since the military coup of 1999, Côte d'Ivoire has descended from its position as a beacon of socioeconomic stability in Africa to being one of the continent's most intransigent crises. The political and social climate is dangerously polarized and characterized by intolerance, xenophobia and suspicion. The 1999-2000 military junta, 2002-2003 civil war between the government and northern based rebels, and the political unrest and impasse that followed have been accompanied by a persistent, pernicious, and deadly disintegration of the rule of law. The issues at the heart of the Ivorian conflict - the exploitation of ethnicity for political gain, competition over land and natural resources, and corruption - continue unabated. While the bombing raids on Thursday marked the first relapse into full-scale war since 2003, the country remains divided. The north and most of the west of the country remain under the control of the rebel forces while the government retains control of the south. Some 4,000 French troops monitor the ceasefire line. The internal armed conflict officially ended in January 2003, after the signing of the French-brokered Linas-Marcoussis Agreement. The agreement provided for the formation of a Government of National Reconciliation, which was to oversee disarmament, transparent elections, and the implementation of political reforms such as changes to citizenship and land tenure laws. During 2003 the country made only limited progress towards implementing the provisions of the agreement. Despite the inclusion of both sides in the new government of reconciliation, representatives of the New Forces withdrew in September 2003 citing, among other reasons, President Gbagbo's lack of good faith in implementing the agreement. Fears that the impasse would lead to a fresh outbreak of violence led the United Nations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to organize a summit to jumpstart the peace process, which was held in July in Accra, Ghana. The summit resulted in the signing of the Accra III agreement which committed the government to adopt several key legal reforms by the end of August, including one on citizenship for West African immigrants, one which would define eligibility to contest presidential elections, and another which would change rights to land tenure. The agreement also set October 15 as the starting date for disarmament, and agreed that the process should include all paramilitary and militia groups. However, none of the key reforms had been passed by the Ivorian government, and the rebels refused to begin disarming by the agreed-upon date of October 15.

ICRC 5 Nov 2004 Press Release 04/60 Côte d’Ivoire: ICRC calls on armed forces to respect international humanitarian law Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned about the resumption of hostilities in Côte d’Ivoire and their dramatic consequences for the people of that country. In its capacity as guardian of international humanitarian law, the ICRC reminds members of the armed forces of their obligation to respect and ensure respect for the basic rules of this branch of the law. International humanitarian law requires that civilians be kept away from hostilities and that all necessary measures be taken to ensure that they are not harmed. People must have access to the objects and services that are indispensable to their survival, especially water, food and medical care. The lives of people arrested for reasons of security must be protected. International humanitarian law prohibits summary execution, torture and other types of cruel or inhuman treatment at all times. Members of the armed forces must respect the emblem of the Red Cross. Personnel of the ICRC and of the Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire must be protected, and their humanitarian work must be facilitated. On 4 November, first-aiders from the Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire, supported by the ICRC, evacuated people injured by shelling in Bouaké.

BBC 6 Nov 2004, 14:39 AU condemns Ivory Coast air raids There are fears the latest violence could reignite the civil war The African Union has condemned the government of Ivory Coast for mounting air strikes on rebel areas in the north and urged both sides to cease firing. Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian leader who chairs the AU, voiced deep concern at the bombing, saying it contravened accords on ending the civil war. A rebel town came under attack for the third day running as Mr Obasanjo held talks in Otta, south-west Nigeria. The violence marks the first major unrest since last year's peace deal. Two planes dropped bombs on the rebel stronghold of Bouake at about 1300 GMT on Saturday, a UN official in the town told Reuters news agency by telephone. Reports also spoke of machine-gun fire and mortar bombardment around the town, but it is unclear where the fire has been coming from. The BBC's Anna Borzello reports from Nigeria that it was originally thought the Ivorian government and rebels might attend the talks in Otta, hastily convened by Mr Obasanjo. In the event, it turned out to be a brief consultation between high-level officials from the AU and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Stronger mandate President Obasanjo called on the UN to strengthen its mandate in the country, so that its troops could better deal with truce violations. In Pictures: Showing anger Peace process in tatters? Only the UN's Security Council has the authority to increase the powers of the peacekeepers. The new violence went against "the process of national reconciliation", the Nigerian leader added in a press statement, issued after talks with colleagues including AU head Alpha Oumar Konare. Both the AU and Ecowas urged all parties in the conflict to halt all hostilities and promised to set up a "high-powered committee to address the political issues involved in the conflict". UN officials in Ivory Coast said earlier that 18 people, most of them civilians, had been killed in the bombing attacks. UN peacekeepers intervened on Friday to stop two convoys of government troops moving north. There are fears that the air strikes may be preparation for a government ground attack. BBC world affairs correspondent Paul Welsh says stopping government aircraft attacks is difficult, because even if the peacekeepers had the authority to shoot them out of the sky, it would be likely to cause violent demonstrations by those fiercely loyal to the president. The country has been split in two since last year's peace deal, with 10,000 French and UN troops deployed to monitor the ceasefire. Last week, the rebels, known as the New Forces, withdrew their ministers from the unity government, accusing the army of preparing to return to war. Street protests Government aircraft bombed Bouake three times on Thursday alone and also attacked Korhogo, 225km (140 miles) to the north. Fresh strikes followed on Friday. Demonstrators took to the streets of the economic capital, Abidjan, setting fire to buildings housing opposition parties and newspapers accused of colluding with the rebels. Much of the violence in the city has been blamed on the Young Patriots, a group which supports President Laurent Gbagbo. Ground battles also took place between government and former rebel forces in the central town of Raviar, in the UN-patrolled buffer zone which splits the country, the UN said. The New Forces rebels have said they will act if government forces cross the UN buffer zone. Government officials have not confirmed the air strikes.

BBC 7 Nov 2004, 08:16 Anti-French uproar in Ivory Coast French property in Abidjan was targeted by protesters Angry anti-French demonstrators have marched on the airport in Ivory Coast's main city,Abidjan, after French troops seized control of it. French helicopters fired warning shots to try to stop the tens of thousands of government loyalists moving forward. The furious reaction was sparked by the destruction of five Ivorian armed forces aircraft by the French military. France had responded to an earlier Ivorian air attack on a rebel town that left nine French peacekeepers dead. Paris has said it is sending more troops and aircraft to the region to stop the escalating violence. The UN Security Council moved swiftly to back the French action, and called on all sides to stop the fighting. Looting Correspondents in Abidjan - Ivory Coast's economic capital in the south of the country - spoke of hearing loud explosions and heavy gunfire. Red tracer bullets streaked across the night sky, Reuters news agency reported. What is happening now is very serious in Ivory Coast and I hope that the council in the coming days will be able to adopt a resolution Jean-Marc de la Sabliere French ambassador to UN UN condemns attacks The BBC's James Copnall said a helicopter flew low over a bridge that splits the city, and fired warning shots as thousands of young men were trying to cross over. The protesters were responding to a call by groups loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo to retake the airport, which had been in French hands for some hours. They are reported to have turned back at about 0400 (0400 GMT). Some ransacked homes of Europeans in the Bietry district of the city as they dispersed, French news agency AFP said. Earlier, at least two French schools and a library were set alight and French property looted. Rioters were seen brandishing axes, machetes and clubs as they roamed the streets shouting "French go home!" and "Everybody get your Frenchman!" Explosions and heavy gunfire were also reportedly heard in the capital Yamoussoukro on Saturday evening. President Gbagbo has appealed through a spokesman for an end to attacks on French interests pending an investigation into Saturday's events. A government spokesman called the air raid in which the French soldiers died a mistake. Meanwhile, Paris has dispatched an extra two companies of troops to beef up a force of 4,000 already deployed since the end of the civil war last year. It has also redeployed three jet fighters to the region. President Jacques Chirac ordered the "immediate destruction of Ivorian military aircraft used in recent days in violation of the ceasefire". French forces earlier destroyed two Ivorian bombers at an airbase in Yamoussoukro, along with two Russian-built Sukhoi 25 and three Mi-24 helicopters. In a telephone call to President Laurent Gbagbo, France's Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said a political solution must be found, and stressed that "violence leads to nothing," a ministry statement said. 'Legitimate defence' The BBC's world affairs correspondent, Mark Doyle, says this is the most serious crisis between France and its former colony since independence in 1960. Ivory Coast was for many years a tolerant melting pot of religions and ethnic groups, but a coup in 1999 followed by civil war ended all of that with a vengeance, our correspondent says. IVORY COAST'S PEACE UNRAVELS 29 Sept: Ivorian parliament fails to agree citizenship laws, which were a key requirement of the January 2003 peace deal 13 Oct: Ivorian rebels say they will not disarm, as planned, until immigration laws are changed 28 Oct: Vendors selling newspapers accused of supporting the opposition are attacked by pro-government militants in Abidjan and southern towns The New Forces order eight rebel ministers to return to the rebel-held north, saying it had discovered the government smuggling arms across its territory 4 Nov: Government launches air strikes on rebel-held territory in north 5 Nov: More government air strikes and clashes on the ground in north, as unrest erupts in Abidjan 6 Nov: French forces destroy two government warplanes after an air strike leaves French soldiers dead At least one Ivorian Sukhoi 25 bomber attacked a position of France's Unicorn peacekeeping force in the rebel stronghold of Bouake on Saturday. Eight French soldiers were killed immediately along with an American, believed to have been a missionary, while 23 soldiers were injured and evacuated to Abidjan. A ninth soldier later died of his wounds. Just over an hour later, French forces launched an attack on the aircraft on the ground at Yamoussoukro. Without giving details of the airport attack, the defence ministry said the army had "responded in a situation of legitimate defence" and was seeking "the immediate end of combat". Three days of air raids by government planes on rebel areas in the north of the country have broken a truce that had held since July last year. Tensions reached boiling point after deadlines for reforms and disarmament designed to lead to peace were missed. The African Union has urged both the government and rebels to refrain from any further violations of the truce they signed.

NYT 7 Nov 2004 Ivory Coast Violence Flares; 9 French and 1 U.S. Death By SOMINI SENGUPTA DAKAR, Senegal, Nov. 6 - In a swift and alarming deepening of the war in Ivory Coast, airstrikes by two government attack jets killed nine French peacekeepers and an American civilian on Saturday afternoon near the northern Ivoirian town of Bouaké. The French retaliated within minutes by shooting down the jets, Russian-made Su-25 fighter-bombers, apparently under direct order from President Jacques Chirac of France. [Loud explosions were heard early Sunday in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast's main city, and heavy gunfire could be heard as thousands of anti-French demonstrators marched toward a French military base, Reuters reported. A witness said a French military helicopter fired warning shots into a lagoon crossed by two bridges that lead from the city center toward the French base and the airport.] Col. Henri Aussavy, the spokesman for the 4,500-member French peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast, said in a telephone interview that 23 French soldiers had also been wounded in the raid. He said it was unclear whether his forces had been intentionally hit. "We don't know if it is a deliberate attack or an error," Colonel Aussavy said. On state-run television Saturday evening, Désiré Tagro, a spokesman for the Ivoirian president, said the raid was aimed instead at a rebel base near Bouaké. Mr. Tagro said the attacks on Bouaké had been designed to "reunify the country." He issued no apology. The Associated Press quoted an Ivoirian government minister as saying it was "a mistake" but then questioning whether Ivoirian warplanes were responsible. "It was a mistake. We didn't aim to hit them," said Sebastien Dano Djeje, a cabinet member. The latest development plunges Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa-producer, into fresh chaos and threatens to take French-Ivoirian tensions to a new high. Since civil war erupted in 2002, the French, who exercise significant economic influence in their former colony, have been accused of aiding rebels and have repeatedly come under attack by supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo. At an emergency session convened Saturday afternoon, the United Nations Security Council condemned Saturday's air raid, backed the French response and signaled that it would consider "individual measures" in the near future - in other words, possible penalties for individuals who violate international agreements. France also sent three Mirage fighter jets to Gabon in Central Africa, and deployed additional troops to protect its citizens in Ivory Coast. Late Saturday, Reuters said the French Defense Ministry and a United Nations spokesman in Ivory Coast had confirmed that French troops had destroyed three Ivoirian attack helicopters in Yamoussoukro. In Abidjan, French and Ivoirian soldiers traded gunfire at the airport, and government loyalists took to the streets, wielding machetes and axes, according to wire service reports. A French school was set on fire. Gunfire could be heard in the capital, Yamoussoukro, on Saturday night. The spokeswoman for the United States Embassy in Abidjan, Ergibe Boyd, said it had received a report from the French that an unidentified American citizen was also killed in the airstrike by the Ivoirian military. The embassy had not yet confirmed the report, she said. "We have been told an American citizen has been killed," Ms. Boyd said. "We're trying to find out who he is." The war has partitioned Ivory Coast between the rebel-held north and the government-held south, despite a tenuous cease-fire signed in May 2003 and monitored by the French forces and 5,240 United Nations peacekeeping troops. The bombings on Saturday followed two days of air attacks by the government on rebel-held positions in the north of the country. On Thursday, two northern towns were bombed by the same two warplanes. On Friday, the government bombed three other rebel-held towns, according to a spokesman for the United Nations mission in Ivory Coast, and on Saturday, struck three towns with MIG-24 helicopter gunships. A United Nations spokesman, Jean-Victor Nkolo, said in a telephone interview that over the past two days, government troops had tried to bypass peacekeepers patrolling the buffer zone between government and rebel-held territory. Ivoirian soldiers on Thursday and Friday crossed into rebel territory, Mr. Nkolo said, but were chased away by United Nations troops. The United Nations also reported skirmishes between government and rebel forces near Bouaké on Saturday afternoon. Reuters reported from Paris that Mr. Chirac had given the orders to strike back at the Ivoirian airplanes that killed the French soldiers. Ivoirian forces later opened fire on French troops at the airport in Abidjan, the news agency reported, citing a French military spokesman in Abidjan. Machete-wielding pro-government supporters rampaged through Abidjan, the agency said, and plumes of smoke rose from the plush Cocody suburb, where a school had apparently been set on fire. The French foreign minister, Michel Barnier, said in a statement, "The Ivoirian head of state should clearly assume his responsibilities and the role that is his to restore calm to his country, in particular to Abidjan." Konate Siratigui contributed reporting from Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, for this article.

BBC 9 Nov 2004 Mbeki seeks to calm Ivorian storm Anti-French feeling is still running high in the capital South African President Thabo Mbeki is in Ivory Coast to try to restore calm after two days of violence. Foreigners have been targeted amid confrontations involving thousands of supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo. Joint patrols have begun in the commercial centre Abidjan with Ivorian and French troops and peacekeepers from other countries within the UN force. Meanwhile France has denied it wants to overthrow Mr Gbagbo, and that its troops shot dead 15 demonstrators. If I get the French, I can eat them Gbagbo supporter Q&A: Renewed crisis In pictures: Violence erupts On Saturday, French troops destroyed the small Ivorian air force in retaliation for a government air strike that killed nine French soldiers. The incidents sparked a wave of anti-French violence that continued into Monday. The Red Cross said more than 600 people were hurt. In other developments: French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie says an attack which killed nine French troops was deliberate and carried out by Belarusian mercenaries The UN Security Council considers a French-backed draft resolution for an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze against those violating human rights and obstructing peace and disarmament France says it has no plans to evacuate its 14,000 nationals currently in the country Aid agencies appeal to the government to restore electricity and water supplies to rebel-held areas Cocoa exports are halted from Ivory Coast, which is the world's largest producer More than 1,000 Ivorians flee to Liberia as a result of the violence, the UNHCR says. Stand-off Mr Mbeki arrived from Pretoria shortly after 1000 GMT on Tuesday with Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad. He is expected to meet Mr Gbagbo, though it is not clear whether he will meet other political leaders or how long he will stay. He has been asked by the African Union to search for a political solution to the crisis, and held talks with African leaders on Monday. Joint patrols started in Abidjan at 2000 on Monday in an attempt to re-assure and control the population. Reuters news agency reported that city residents have been venturing into the streets to see whether the calm would hold. PEACE UNRAVELS 29 Sept: Parliament fails to meet deadline for political reforms promised to rebels 15 Oct: Rebels ignore deadline for disarmament 28 Oct: Rebels withdraw ministers from unity government 4 Nov: Government aircraft begin daily air strikes on rebel-held territory in north 6 Nov: An air strike leaves nine French soldiers dead; France responds by destroying Ivorian planes 7 Nov: Thousands of Gbagbo supporters demonstrate against the French in Abidjan; UN condemns Ivorian attacks Was French response right? Eyewitness: Mobs on rampage Large crowds of President Gbagbo's supporters have gathered near the presidential residence to provide what national radio has called a "human shield" for their leader. They are currently involved in a stand-off with French troops and foreign residents in the nearby Hotel Ivoire. The BBC's James Copnall in Abidjan describes seeing people dressed in the colours of the Ivorian flag singing and chanting in front of barbed wire erected by peacekeepers around the hotel. "We are not going to leave," one Gbagbo supporter told the Associated Press news agency. "If I get the French, I can eat them." At the weekend, tens of thousands of President Gbagbo's supporters marched on the French-held main airport in Abidjan. They also went on the rampage across the city attacking French targets. France sent 600 more troops to back up the 4,000 soldiers it already has in Ivory Coast as part of a UN force of 10,000.

Reporters sans Frontières (Paris) 10 Nov 2004 PRESS RELEASE Abidjan State Media Mix Propaganda, Disinformation and Incitement to Riot The following is a 10 November 2004 RSF press release: The state media in Ivory Coast have become the exclusive mouthpiece of the government and its allies and are being used to promote street demonstrations, Reporters Without Borders said today after monitoring many state radio and TV broadcasts. The organisation said the broadcasting of hate messages and countless unverified news reports has aggravated the ongoing violence in the Abidjan area and it urged the state media to act responsibly. After the ransacking of opposition newspapers last week, the state-owned radio and TV stations have become the most important source of news and information for residents of Abidjan, the country's economic capital. "In times of crisis like this, journalists must take extra care and make a special effort to be professional in their work," Reporters Without Borders said. "It is unfortunately clear that this has not been the case with the Ivorian state media during last weekend's violence in Abidjan. We must point out, in particular, that the state media are continuing to broadcast biased reports and appeals for riots, despite calls for a return to normality by the authorities." Reporters Without Borders added: "If President Laurent Gbagbo does not want to be accused of saying one thing and doing another, he must ensure that the official media are no longer used as tools for organising and mobilising the pro-governmental 'Young Patriots'." Religious imprecations and hate messages With few exceptions, the reports carried on Radio Côte d'Ivoire (RCI) and RadioTélévision Ivoirienne (RTI) have strayed completely from journalism into propaganda. Interspersed with nationalistic songs, phone-in contributions and interviews, RCI presenters flatter the "patriotism" of their listeners. Yesterday, shortly after 10 a.m. (local time and GMT), a preacher from the Church of the Living Word went on the air with violent imprecations. "The country must be delivered from the evil ones," he said, claiming that French President Jacques Chirac is "inhabited by the spirt of Satan." Ivory Coast was "divided into two blocs, with the Devil's bloc on one side and God's bloc on the other," and it was up to the "patriots" to ensure that the second prevailed, he said. His monologue ended with a ringing "Amen, pastor" from the two RCI presenters. Throughout the 90 minutes of Reporters Without Borders's monitoring of RCI yesterday, the same two presenters regularly punctuated their live comments with such slogans as "Vigilance, patriots" and "Thanks be to the fatherland." This morning on RTI, Reporters Without Borders noted that President Chirac and the French soldiers of the Force Licorne were systematically referred to as "settlers" and "imperialists." In general, comments and reports tended to focus on the claim that France is in the process of carrying out a "coup d'etat" against Ivory Coast, despite the denials by both the French and Ivorian military. From political messages to organising in the field The Ivorian state media are also being used to organise street activity in Abidjan. More than 24 hours after President Gbagbo called on demonstrators to "return home," RCI's broadcasts yesterday were still referring only to the "mobilisation" call made by the Young Patriots, a pro-Gbagbo civilian militia, Reporters Without Borders found. Although leaders of the Young Patriots swear that a few "rebel infiltrators" are to blame for the violence and appeal for "discipline" and "non-violence" on the part of demonstrators, their messages have a double-edge when they are not openly insurrectionary. Yesterday on RCI, shortly after 9:30 a.m. (local time and GMT), a Young Patriots nurse called on supporters to give medicine to the treatment centre installed near the Hotel Ivoire and then made a "patriotic appeal" to Abidjan residents to "go out, go out." At the end of the afternoon, activists stationed outside the Hotel Ivoire appealed on RTI for "patriots" to join their "brothers" on the street, Reporters Without Borders noted. The presenter who welcomed them into the studio told them they had her "support." The RCI presenters meanwhile appealed to Abidjan residents to make donations to the Young Patriots. They thanked a woman who promised to make her car available to them and invited an elderly man who has donated money several times to speak on the air. Today at 11 a.m. (local time and GMT) Reporters Without Borders heard RTI presenter Francis Aka begin by "paying homage" to the "young people who say no to French imperialism," who "are blocking the conspiracy hatched by France against our country" and to whom Ivorians "owe their survival." He then gave over the microphone to the president of the United Youth for Laurent Gbagbo's Ideas (JUILG) and the secretary-general of the pro-Gbagbo Union for Democracy and Progress (UDP), who appealed to "young people (. . .) to mobilise against France, the unmasked aggressor." Ivorian youths were urged to "go to the headquarters of RTI, the presidential residence and the radio stations" and to thereby "continue the mobilisation until our country is completely liberated." Disinformation and incitement to riot The head of the Young Patriots, Charles Blé Goudé, gave the signal for the anti-French uprising on the evening of 6 November on the air on RTI, urging his supporters, "wherever they are," to "take to the streets." Pascal Affi Nguessan, the head of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) - the president's party - meanwhile went on television the same day to ask the Young Patriots to "massively" take over the streets of Abidjan in order to forestall any action by "foreign forces present on the national territory until total victory." During the ensuing rioting, the state media carried false information and rumours that triggered the street violence. On 8 November, for example, the national radio station, on several occasions, carried "reports" that French soldiers were conveying a "political leader" in one of their armoured vehicles and intended to take him to RTI headquarters so that he could publicly proclaim himself president. RCI presenters subsequently urged Abidjan residents to go out and place gas canisters in the streets to prevent the French troops from circulating. RCI also spread the rumour that the purpose of French troop movements was the removal of President Gbagbo and it urged "patriots" to form a "human shield" around the president's home. National Assembly president Mamadou Koulibaly went to RTI headquarters the same day to give a long televised speech claiming that the government had "won the war" because it had "proved that France is [the] adversary." "Rumours" that "bring down republics" After delivering inflammatory addresses live on state media, several Ivorian leaders seem to have realised the dangers of these media excesses. After meeting with the French commander, Gen. Henri Poncet, the chief of staff of the Ivorian Armed Forces, Gen. Mathias Doué, late on 8 November called on everyone to "pay no attention to rumours" that were the source of mistaken "interpretations." Such interpretations, he said, just "complicate a situation which we [the Ivorian armed forces] can resolve." Koulibaly, the National Assembly president, then warned that "the most foolish rumours are the ones that bring down republics the fastest." Despite these comments, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard deplored, on the evening of 8 November, that the Ivorian media were continuing to disseminate hate messages against at foreigners, and he reported that 800 residents of foreign origin had sought refuge and protection at the premises of the UN mission in Ivory Coast. Previous muzzling of opposition and independent press The Ivorian Armed Forces offensive against the positions of the ex-rebels in the north of the country was preceded by a crackdown on free expression. A significant part of the press was silenced after the ransacking of several opposition newspapers by pro-government militia, the sabotaging of the FM transmitters that relay the programming of Radio France Internationale (RFI), the BBC World Service and Africa N°1, and the abrupt removal of RTI's director-general and his replacement by a government supporter, Jean-Paul Dahily. http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=11824 www.rti.ci www.rtici.tv radioci.embaci.com www.africa1.com

Reporters sans frontières 12 Nov 2004 www.rsf.org Ivorian journalist killed during clashes with French troops at Duékoué A local correspondent for Le Courrier d'Abidjan, a daily that supports President Laurent Gbagbo, was killed on the morning of 7 November during clashes between the Ivorian army, demonstrators and members of the French peacekeeping "Force Licorne," Reporters Without Borders confirmed today. The newspaper reported that journalist Antoine Massé, who was also a literature teacher, was fatally shot as he was covering a demonstration aimed at blocking the eastward advance of the French troops from Man towards Abidjan. A communique released by the Ivorian Defence and Security Forces (FDS) said three soldiers, a policeman, a customs official and three civilians were killed on 7 November when French troops opened fired in the Duékoué "corridor" at Duékoué and Dibobly. An FDS spokesman, Lt. Col. Jules Yao Yao, confirmed to Reporters Without Borders that Massé was one of the civilian victims. A Force Licorne detachment that had left from Man found the road blocked on the morning of 7 November and opened fire in order to clear the way. "The death of a journalist is to be taken seriously," Reporters Without Borders said. "We call on the Force Licorne to conduct an enquiry and publicly explain the circumstances of Antoine Massé's death." The organisation also appealed to journalists to take extra care. "With this level of confusion, a journalist should in particular identify himself clearly." The staff of Le Courrier d'Abidjan said Massé was shot in the head and the heart. Deputy editor William Varlet Asia told Reporters Without Borders that he spoke to Massé by telephone a few hours before he was killed, and had reiterated to him the security precautions he should take. The day before Massé was killed, Lazare Ahua, a cameraman with RadioTélévision Ivoirienne (RTI), sustained bullet injuries to the feet as he was filming a counter-strike by French helicopter gun ships at Tiébissou, in the centre of the country, following an Ivorian air force attack on French positions in Bouaké in which nine French soldiers were killed.

Agence France-Presse 12 Nov 2004 Chronology of the recent unrest in Ivory Coast ABIDJAN, Nov 12 (AFP) - The political arm of Ivory Coast's rebel New Forces on Monday approved a march by northerners on the main city Abidjan to demand reconciliation of the divided country after a week of violence that has convulsed the peace process. The once-prosperous west African state, the world's leading producer of cocoa, has been locked in a simmering civil war since a failed rebel attempt to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002. Although the rebels took over the north, the government has remained firmly in control in the south. Peace talks in France in January 2003, the deployment of a French peace-keeping force of some 4,000 men and later a 6,000-strong United Nations force, as well as a summit in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, have failed to calm tensions and erase divisions. Violence saw a sharp upswing at the start of this month with Ivorian air force attacks on two northern towns. In the last of the attacks, nine French soldiers and a US aid worker were killed, sparking a sharp response from France that wiped out the Ivorian air force. Following is a chronology of the recent unrest: November 2004 - 4: Ivorian air force attacks rebel-held cities of Bouake and Korhogo, killing three and injuring 20. - 6: Nine French soldiers and one US aid worker killed, 38 wounded when Ivorian jets attack French peacekeepers' positions in Bouake. French officials say the attack was deliberate, and France's riposte destroys Ivory Coast's air force and the French military takes control of Abidjan airport. - 7: Thousands of Gbagbo supporters march on the airport and go on an anti-French rampage in Abidjan. - 8: French troops fire in the air to disperse thousands of anti-French protesters in Abidjan. Around 1,300 foreigners, mostly French, seek shelter at French base in Abidjan. - 9: International Committee of the Red Cross says around 600 wounded in clashes in Abidjan, and fears a high death toll. South African President Thabo Mbeki arrives in Abidjan on African Union mandated peace mission. UN refugee agency says 1,250 Ivorians have fled into Liberia. - 10: Thousands of anti-French protesters roam the streets of Abidjan as a first evacuation flight leaves Abidjan for Paris with 270 people on board. France denies its soldiers opened fire on demonstrators outside an Abidjan hotel Tuesday, killing at least seven people, saying the victims were caught in the crossfire between hardline backers of Gbagbo and Ivorian soldiers and police. Gbagbo denies he ordered the killing of nine French soldiers. British troops are placed on standby in case they might be needed to evacuate British nationals, while 120 Spaniards, 126 Canadians and a group of Portuguese are all airlifted out of the country. A presidential advisor puts the death toll of days of anti-French riots in Abidjan at 64 and "more than 1,000" wounded. Two French warships, Le Foudre and La Fayette, leave the Mediterranean port of Toulon with 350 marines and equipment on board en route for Ivory Coast. The ships are expected to arrive by November 20. The UN Security Council delays a vote on possible sanctions for five days after African calls to give mediators more time to ease the political crisis. - 11: Ivorian rebel and opposition leaders open talks in South Africa in an African Union bid to defuse the crisis. German, Italian and Dutch nationals are flown out of the country. Morocco announces plans to evacuate 250 of its citizens. African Union chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, announces summit meeting on Nov 14 in Abuja, to be attended by Gbagbo and six other African leaders, including Libya's Moamer Kadhafi. 12: France announces that foreign residents in Abidjan were subjected to at least "37 serious atrocities including three or four confirmed rapes" since the start of the present crisis. Britain announces the start of the evacuation of some 400 of its citizens. Several thousand people are reported to have fled across the western border into Liberia while 3,000 foreign nationals have sought shelter at the permanent French military base near Abidjan.

IRIN 12 Nov 2004 Côte d'Ivoire: West African immigrants, northerners fear they may be next target [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] ABIDJAN, 12 November (IRIN) - As French and other foreigners continue to bail out of Cote d'Ivoire after days of mob violence, northern ethnic groups and West African immigrants fear that militants loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo might soon turn their wrath back on them. Forty-three-year-old Mamadou, an Ivorian whose parents hail from Mali, was keeping his head down in Abidjan's predominantly Muslim suburb of Koumassi. He said he had been staying home by day and occasionally venturing out at dusk to meet friends. "Nobody wants to be noticed much these days," he told IRIN. "Everybody keeps a low profile." "The Gbagbo people think they've kicked the French out. They say they've felled a big tree with a small axe. It's possible that sooner or later they'll come to attack us because they say we are with the rebels," he added. The north-south divide is the crux of Cote d'Ivoire's problems. The West African country has been split into a rebel-held north and a government-controlled south, with 10,000 French and UN peacekeepers in between, since September 2002, when an unsuccessful coup attempt against Gbagbo developed into an insurgency. Former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, who draws much of his support from the north, was barred from running in the 2000 presidential election on the grounds that his father was from Burkina Faso. The rebels demanded the constitution be changed to allow Ouattara to stand in the 2005 ballot before they disarmed, but Gbgabo said they had to lay down their weapons first. The political deadlock was broken in dramatic fashion last week, when the Ivorian army launched air and ground assaults on rebel strongholds, shattering an 18-month-old ceasefire. But two days into the campaign, former colonial power France became the number one enemy. Paris retaliated for a deadly bombing on one of its bases by destroying almost the entire Ivorian airforce. Irate Ivorians rampaged through the streets of Abidjan looting and burning French interests, beating up expatriates and, according to French Foreign Ministry sources, raping some women. Expatriates have been fleeing the former French colony by the planeload But now that more than 3,000 expatriates, mainly French, have fled the country, analysts fear a fresh backlash against more traditional foes. "Until they were evacuated, French citizens bore the brunt of the militias' xenophobic attacks," said Peter Takirambudde, the head of the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "Now we are concerned that the militias will turn their rage on their more familiar targets -- Muslims, northerners and West African immigrants." Immigrants from Mali and Burkina Faso, who flocked into Cote d'Ivoire to work the cocoa and coffee fields, have long been a lightning rod. In the wake of the 2002 coup attempt, for example, at least 1 million immigrants living and working in the south fled the country. Some were forced from their homes and farms, while others were driven out by fear. Ivorian security forces and pro-government militia have continued to commit random acts of violence against immigrants from West Africa as well as people from northern Cote d'Ivoire, accusing them of being in cahoots with the rebels, according to human rights sources. Clashes in Gbagbo's home town Since the latest cycle of instability began, there have already been isolated cases of ethnic violence in the cocoa-rich west of Cote d'Ivoire, notably in Gbagbo's home town of Gagnoa, about 250 km northwest of Abidjan. Clashes erupted there on Monday and Tuesday, pitching the president's ethnic group, the Bete, against the Dioula population, who are mainly from the north, but who settled in the town decades ago. "We have counted six dead and 29 injured," Marc Gbaka, a town council official, told IRIN, saying youths had attacked with machetes, kitchen knives and sticks. UN peacekeepers are now patrolling the area around Gagnoa, often a flashpoint for ethnic strife. Before this week's attacks, more than 20 people had been killed in the last year and around 500 immigrant farmers driven off their cocoa farms. Residents in the town said the latest trouble began when word arrived from Abidjan that the French had decimated Cote d'Ivoire's airforce. Militant government supporters, seeing the move as help for the northern rebels, attacked clothing shops and rice stores belonging to Dioula merchants who then retaliated by trashing food shacks and restaurants owned by Betes. "It's the scenario that we've all been fearing since 2002. The ground is set for a clash of the communities," explained Francois Ruf, a cocoa specialist based in Accra, Ghana. "The worst thing that could happen is that those from northern Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso start using hardcore weapons and the Bete get out their guns and then there's carnage." Further to the west, tensions are also running high in Guiglo, a town about 200 km from the border with Liberia, near the buffer zone which separates government territory from that of the rebels. In 2003, long after the fighting died down in the rest of Cote d'Ivoire, the area around the town remained plagued by ethnic conflicts, fuelled by the presence of militia groups, some of which recruited heavily among Liberian refugees. On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs rang the alarm bell once more. "In Guiglo and certain areas in the west, the restarting of inter-communal conflicts between the local and non-Ivorian populations poses a direct threat to social cohesion and means conditions are ripe for the humanitarian situation to deteriorate," it said in a statement. Fears already causing people to flee Almost 5,000 Ivorian refugees have already spilled over into Liberia, seeking refuge from the fresh bout of fighting in a country which itself is still recovering from 14 years of civil war. "Guiglo is the eye of the storm. It's a real ethnic mix. There are already warning signs," a senior UN diplomat told IRIN this week. "We are sensing a strong tension in the air, people feel threatened. If there are new problems in Abidjan, there will problems in the west and vice versa." Back in Abidjan, northerners have been preparing to defend themselves. Having seen the hate campaign waged against the French, one man in his thirties was taking no chances and was readying so-called Self Defence Committees with his friends. "These committees are against the advice of our political leaders," he told IRIN, explaining he was a supporter of the main opposition Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI). "But we have pro-government militias in this neighbourhood that are armed and we want to be prepared." "They say we are rebels, they say we are pro-French, they threaten us," the man, who lives in the poor, mainly Muslim suburb of Abobo, said. "If somebody in our neighbourhood is attacked, we can come to the rescue." Across town, French businessman Patrick was packing up his affairs and preparing to leave. He was born in Abidjan but even that umbilical cord would not keep him in the city this time around. "The fuse is alight, but it hasn't quite reached the gunpowder barrel," he said gloomily. "The worst is yet to happen. We will see an ethnic settling of scores. There will be a massacre," he predicted. "The battle of Abidjan is still to come."

AFP 15 Nov 2004 Even Africans are fleeing troubled Ivory Coast for Europe by Aymeric Vincenot ABIDJAN, Nov 15 (AFP) - Ivorians and other Africans with dual nationality have joined the exodus of foreigners from Ivory coast, where hardline backers of President Laurent Gbagbo have been terrorising Westerners for the past week. "I have lost all hope for a normal family life in Ivory Coast," explained Franco-Ivorian dual national Parfait late Sunday as he waited for a bus to take him from a French military base near Abidjan to the city's international airport for an evacuation flight. The French base has been serving since last week as a registration point and holding station for anyone -- mostly French nationals -- wishing to leave Ivory Coast after the country's low-level civil war flared up suddenly last week. The Dutch and Swedish ambassadors to Ivory Coast were among those to seek shelter at the French base, which has so far organised the evacuation of more than 5,000 foreigners. What sparked the mass exodus was a series of attacks on positions in the north held by rebels who failed two years ago in an attempt to oust Gbagbo, plunging the country into civil war. "I don't feel threatened, but given that the French high school was completely burnt to the ground, my daughter has nowhere to go to school," said Noelie, an Ivorian woman married to a Frenchman, and mother of a 13-year-old. Florence, from Cameroon but married to a French national, said the destruction of the French schools by the rampaging pro-Gbagbo mobs was also forcing her to leave. "There's no more school, so we are obliged to leave to ensure our children's future," she said, adding that the schools were unlikely to reopen in the near future. In the past week of violence in Ivory Coast, having dark skin has not been a guarantee of immunity from the exactions of the rioting mobs. Sitting on a bench, a tall, slender, olive-skinned woman from Mauritius, who is married to a European, recalled how she was stricken with fear when, on November 6, the day the pogroms began, a group of marauding Ivorian youths tried to break into her home. "You need only to have skin that is lighter than usual and you're considered a white person" by the "Young Patriots", the extremist backers of Gbagbo who sowed terror among the expatriate community in Ivory Coast last week, said the Mauritian, who asked not to be named. "In the midst of the melee, no one looks for differences between blacks and people of mixed race," said a French-Ivorian who requested anonymity. "Under normal circumstances, my children are called Negroes, but today they're considered whites. 'To each his white'" -- the battlecry of the Young Patriots -- "is as valid for half-whites as it is for 100 percent whites," he said. Although he has chosen to stay in Ivory Coast, his mixed-race wife is leaving and taking the couple's children to safety in France. Parfait has chosen to have his wife and kids evacuated because "they start with whites, then it's people of mixed race, and after that it will be the turn of their friends and spouses." Being black does not guarantee immunity from the wave of hatred that is ripping out the heart of Ivory Coast, said Parfait. "I drove around in town where they (the Young Patriots) look for signs that you're French. At one roadblock, when they saw my French driving licence, they got very worked up," he said. Despite his sense of insecurity, Parfait has decided to stay behind for the time-being, but the self-employed businessman lamented the departure of more than a third of the French expatriate community in the last week. "Economically, it spells disaster for me," he said. "With the departure of the French, a huge consumer market is leaving. Restaurants, supermarkets, all that kind of thing, are going to be forced to close. "There's no future" in Ivory Coast, he said.

UN News Centre 15 Nov 2004 Security Council imposes immediate arms embargo against Côte d'Ivoire Security Council 15 November 2004 – Seeking to end the violence in Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations Security Council today imposed an immediate, 13-month arms embargo against the country and gave the parties there one month to get the peace process back on track or face a travel ban and a freeze on their assets. Under a resolution adopted unanimously, the additional sanctions will go into effect on 15 December unless the Council determines before then that the signatories of two peace deals are working to implement them. Those measures would remain for one year. The 2003 Linas-Marcoussis accord halted fighting between the Government of President Laurent Gbagbo and rebels who control most of the north, and created a government of national reconciliation. The second pact, reached this summer in the Ghanaian capital and known as the Accra III Agreement, focused on those parts of the 2003 pact that were still in dispute. The latest unrest flared up on 4 November when the Government violated the ceasefire by launching an attack in the Zone of Confidence (ZOC) separating combatants. On 6 November, Government aircraft bombed French peacekeepers in the area, killing nine people and leading to French reprisals that destroyed the tiny Ivorian air force. This in turn led to anti-foreigner rioting in Abidjan, the country's largest city. The Council text condemned the Government air strikes and demanded that all Ivorian parties to the conflict fully comply with the ceasefire. It also reiterated the Council's full support for the action undertaken by the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and French forces. The 15-member body further demanded that the Ivorian authorities stop all radio and television broadcasts inciting hatred, intolerance and violence, and asked the UN peacekeeping mission to bolster its monitoring role in that regard. The arms sanctions require all countries to prevent the "direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" to Côte d'Ivoire of arms or any related materiel. Pending progress, the Council will also ban anyone "who constitute a threat to the peace and national reconciliation process" from travelling abroad, and "freeze the funds, other financial assets and economic resources" of those designated by a Council committee set up to enforce the measures. The resolution provides for a number of humanitarian exemptions designed to allow UN peacekeepers and relief workers to carry out their operations on behalf of the Ivorian people.

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 15 Nov 2004 United Nations human rights experts express strong concern about new outbreak of violence in Côte d'Ivoire The following statement was issued today by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo; the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Erturk; and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diene: "The Special Rapporteurs express their strong concern about the new outbreak of violence in Côte d'Ivoire since 4 November 2004 which had resulted in 3,800 persons fleeing the country. The Special Rapporteurs are especially worried about information which they received indicating that many persons had been killed and wounded in xenophobic demonstrations which had been carried out in recent days in Abidjan. There had also been cases of sexual violence against women and young girls in the capital. Jeunes Patriotes groups calling for the liberation of Côte d'Ivoire had burnt kiosks selling newspapers and press offices, destroyed copies of newspapers, intimidated and attacked newspaper sellers and ransacked offices belonging to opposition political parties. Certain newspapers, mainly opposition newspapers, had been prohibited, transmitters belonging to foreign radios had been closed down by the authorities, and programmes on Côte d'Ivoire's public television and radio were publicly instigating the population to racial hatred and were regularly showing inflammatory statements. Homes, schools and offices belonging to foreigners had been pillaged and burnt. In some cases, it was reported that members of the Ivorian armed forces were themselves instigating such acts. The Special Rapporteurs underlined that rape and other forms of sexual violence constituted wars crimes and crimes against humanity according to international law which should be punished in accordance with the gravity of the act. They recalled that all calls for national, racial or religious hatred constituted an instigation to discrimination and violence which was prohibited by the international instruments which Côte d'Ivoire was a party to, and which prohibited States parties from allowing public, national or local authorities or institutions to instigate or encourage racial discrimination. They also underlined that the free circulation of information, especially through the press, constituted a fundamental guarantee of implementing the right to liberty of opinion and expression. The Special Rapporteurs urged the Ivorian Government to take all the necessary measures to prevent all kinds of human rights or humanitarian violations, to eventually punish those who carried them out, and to ensure the protection and security of all persons present on its territory". www.ohchr.org

UN News Centre 15 Nov 2004 Special UN Adviser On Genocide Warns of Ethnic Hate Messages in Côte d'Ivoire UN News Service (New York) NEWS November 15, 2004 Posted to the web November 16, 2004 Voicing distress over reports of xenophobic hate speech in Côte d'Ivoire and ensuing action by armed groups, the United Nations adviser on the prevention of genocide called today for an end to impunity and warned that the situation could be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). "The current crisis has deepened sentiments of xenophobia and could exacerbate already worrisome and widespread violations of human rights, which in the recent past have included extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, disappearances and sexual violence," Juan E. Mendez said in a statement recommending possibly increasing the number of UN peacekeepers in Côte d'Ivoire to protect civilians. Mr. Mendez, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser, said he had written to the UN chief to express his concern at the situation in the West African country, which has been engulfed by escalating violence since government forces attacked northern rebels earlier this month in violation of a nearly two-year-old ceasefire agreement. At least 10,000 Ivorians are estimated to have fled into neighbouring Liberia and thousands of expatriates have been evacuated, some with UN help, from Abidjan, the country's largest city, as anti-French rioting erupted after French troops destroyed the Government's air force in retaliation for the deadly bombing of French peacekeepers in the UN-patrolled Zone of Confidence (ZOC) separating the combatants. UN officials have repeatedly condemned the hate messages broadcast on television and radio, most recently last Thursday when Mr. Annan himself warned that they could lead to "the devastating resurgence of ethnic conflict." Mr. Mendez said today Ivorian authorities had an obligation to end impunity and curb public expressions of racial or religious hatred, warning that in the absence of effective action such incitement can be referred to the ICC. He recommended that national authorities put an immediate end to the propagation of hate speech and media-induced violence through official outlets, aggressively prosecute all acts of violence and incitement, and recommit themselves to the ceasefire accords that ended the fighting two years ago between the government in the south and rebels in the north. "If the xenophobic expressions persist and they cause further evacuation of essential humanitarian relief workers, the Special Adviser recommends that the UN and Licorne (French) troops already in the field should be expanded and instructed to deploy so as to afford direct protection to civilian population at risk of attack because of their ethnic, religious or citizenship status," the statement concluded. UN officials are concerned that the unrest in Côte d'Ivoire could spill over into neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, both recovering from protracted civil wars, and Guinea where there has also been unrest.

BBC 16 Nov 2004 Analysis: Ivory Coast's hate media We take a look at the role of the media in the riots in Ivory Coast during the past 10 days. The protesters heeded televised calls to take to the streets It would be easy to think that the last few days of anti-white violence, and explosive protest throughout the streets of Abidjan, have been the product of chaos. Yet there is strong evidence to suggest that the supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo, who reacted so strongly to the French destruction of the Ivorian air force near the beginning of this latest crisis, have been receiving firm orders on how to behave. National television and radio has been broadcasting fervent, not to say feverish, messages calling on people to take to the streets. On occasions, the messages have strayed from the motivational to the incendiary. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded what he called "hate media" be stopped immediately. Monday's UN Security Council decision to impose sanctions on Ivory Coast was even more explicit. It demanded "that the Ivorian authorities stop all radio and television broadcasting hatred, intolerance and violence". It also announced that anyone "who incites publicly hatred and violence" will have their bank accounts frozen and will be stopped from leaving the country. So just what has been flooding the airwaves and television screens of the country in the past few days? Protest radio President Laurent Gbagbo's opponents have frequently claimed that he has installed a system of parallel government in which the army is seconded and sometimes supplanted by militias, and in which the government of national reconciliation is bypassed by shadowy advisers. Gbagbo called for calm, but the media did not When the French peacekeepers destroyed the Ivorian air force, it was obvious that the Ivorian armed forces did not have the resources - nor perhaps the desire - to respond. Instead, a flurry of radio and television broadcasts called on ordinary Ivorians to take to the streets. Charles Ble Goude, the leader of the Young Patriots, whom the UN accuse of being a militia, sprang into action, making an impassioned broadcast calling on the Ivorian air force to "retake the airport", which had been seized by the French. Tens of thousands of young men and women surged towards the airport, only to be beaten back by French soldiers and helicopters, at the cost of several lives and hundreds of injuries. It was these people who then turned their attentions to French and other white citizens. Days of looting and occasional violence have forced thousands of Westerners to flee the country. Words of war President Laurent Gbagbo later made a televised speech calling for calm. But the television surrounded that appeal with repeated broadcasts by former Prime Minister Pascal Affi Nguessan, the head of President Gbagbo's FPI party, to stop the French military "using any means necessary". Another speech that was played and replayed was National Assembly speaker Mamadou Koulibaly. He said France's actions were equivalent to a declaration of war. When French tanks and armoured vehicles massed at the Hotel Ivoire, a luxury hotel not far from the state television and the presidential residence, state media implored Ivorians to form a human shield around the president. According to the radio, the French tanks were intending to oust President Gbagbo. Again, thousands of people responded to the call, and again, hundreds of people were injured and at least 10 died. State television showed report after report showing wounded men and women in graphic detail, accompanied by commentaries denouncing France. Other programmes invited pro-Gbagbo leaders to give their opinions - and exhortations. Religion Sometimes there was a religious dimension to the speeches - which is particularly significant in a country split in two by a war that many have portrayed as the largely Christian south against the largely Muslim north. State media urged Ivorians to protect the president One woman called on all Christians to mobilise, as "Satan has attacked the country". In the last few weeks, there has been no room for dissenting voices in the state media. All opposition newspapers have been either destroyed or banned in the government-held south. When the Ivorian armed forces launched air attacks on 4 November, the head of the television station, Kebe Yacouba, was sidelined in favour of a hardliner. Although officially he has not been replaced, Mr Yacouba was insistent he bore no responsibility for what would be broadcast in the days and weeks to come. Silver Nebout, one of President Gbagbo's communications advisers, was at the television station on the morning Jean-Paul Dahini was brought in to replace Kebe Yacouba. "In this time of crisis, it is important to manage information," he told the BBC. Over the last couple of weeks, information has been managed in one direction and often with very precise objectives in mind. For many in Ivory Coast, the "hate media" that Kofi Annan railed against are reminiscent of Radio Mille Collines in Rwanda, which in 1994 called for - and got - genocide. In Abidjan, some people are already calling the state radio "Radio Mille Lagoons", after the lagoons that dot the southern, government-held half of the country. Ivory Coast is still a long way removed from what happened in Rwanda. Nevertheless, state radio and television are unquestionably a powerful weapon in a crisis which is frequently being fought through decidedly unconventional means.

AFP 17 Nov 2004 Ivory Coast president hit with lawsuit, vows no obstacles to peace by Christophe Koffi ABIDJAN, Nov 17 (AFP) - Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo was hit Wednesday with a lawsuit for the deaths of nine French troops in an air strike that sparked violence and prompted the exodus of thousands from the divided state. His main ideological and political rival Alassane Ouattara, meanwhile, ramped up the rhetoric against the embattled Ivorian leader, accusing him of "perverting democracy" and allowing the former regional beacon of stability and prosperity to "drift into fascism." A soldiers' advocacy group in France filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Gbagbo and his armed forces chief of staff Colonel Philippe Mangou for the November 6 air strike, which led French peacekeeping troops to retaliate by wiping out the Ivorian air force. The group aimed to bring charges of "premeditated voluntary homicide" against the Ivorian leader, the group's lawyer said, a day after Gbagbo said he would not hinder the peace process in his west African country. Ouattara said that a UN arms embargo imposed against Ivory Coast was a step in the right direction, the exiled former prime minister added, and could help with the "indispensable and necessary" reconciliation of the country split since September 2002 between rebel north and government south. Gbagbo partisans have protested at the embargo imposed Monday in an unanimous vote on a resolution pushed by France against its former star west African colony. Targeted travel bans and the freezing of assets could follow December 15 if no progress is made towards implementing a January 2003 peace pact. "I am disappointed by the abuse that Ivory Coast has suffered at the hands of the international community that manifests itself in this embargo," firebrand parliamentary speaker Mamadou Koulibaly told AFP. "It is clear that the moral compass within this international community favors those countries that are strong and rich." The president himself vowed Tuesday that he will not hinder the peace process, but called on the United Nations to apply all resolutions "with the same rigor to the rebels and immediately begin disarmament" of some 25,000 rebel soldiers. The latest turmoil to convulse Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, began on November 4 with a string of government raids on key positions in the north, violating an 18-month-old ceasefire and killing at least 85 civilians, according to rebel leader Guillaume Soro. The strike on a French military base in the central town of Bouake, which France has called "deliberate" killed nine French troops and a US aid worker, prompting an immediate riposte by the French military. The lawyer for the French soldiers' group, Eric Dupont-Moretti, said the suit will show that Gbagbo "supervised" the bombardments that were part of what the Ivorian leader has called an operation to "liberate and reunify" the country. The French retaliation triggered a riot of anti-French violence that seeped from the commercial capital Abidjan to the port city of San Pedro, leaving dozens of people wounded and hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed and prompting an exodus of some 4,500 French nationals over the last week. Flights chartered by various European governments have also evacuated more than 1,000 foreign nationals, among them personnel from UN and other humanitarian agencies as well as conglomerates including Nestle and the French-owned Bollore group. More than 10,000 Ivorians have flooded into northeastern Liberia, fearful of a reprise of fighting between rebel and government troops. "The main problem facing both refugees and the local community (in Liberia) is a food shortage," said UN refugee agency UNHCR spokeswoman Francesca Fontanini. "Water and sanitation are also critical problems needing to be tackled rapidly." Abidjan, once one of Africa's most modern and sophisticated cities, was calm Wednesday with businesses open and schools back in session. Power was restored across the rebel-held north after 11 days of cuts that sparked fears of a health crisis. Glaringly absent from racks of newspaperse again on the street, however, were those whose positions do not mirror the government. Opposition dailies have not been published since November 4 because, according to an Ivorian military source, they were banned for being "apologists for the rebellion."

The New York Times 22 Nov 2004 France is newly cast as villain in Ivory Coast By Lydia PolgreenABIDJAN, Ivory Coast When the chanting mob descended on the strip mall that Jean Bobue Nguessam is paid to guard, he stood his ground, though not out of courage. "If the French all leave, I will have no job," Nguessam said as he stood a lonely watch over the pillaged remains the week before last, after riots that followed an airstrike on French peacekeepers and brought the country to the brink of war. Nightstick in hand, he had tried to reason with the crowd. The mob had made its way down the row of shops, stripping the shelves of a liquor store, then a video rental shop, then a cellphone store and finally a hair salon. "People can shout about the French," said Nguessam, 29, who works for the French owner of the strip mall. "But many people are unemployed, and it will only be worse when they go." For decades Ivory Coast was a sturdy patch on the fraying postcolonial quilt of West Africa, its peace and prosperity woven by the laissez-faire economic and immigration policies of its longtime dictator, Felix Houphouet-Boigny. These policies attracted heavy investment from France, its former colonizer, with whom Ivory Coast maintained a friendly relationship. They also attracted millions of migrants from nearby countries to fill menial jobs unwanted by prosperous, educated Ivorians. But in the past two years the ties have frayed as the country's fortunes have faded. Many Ivorians have turned on French businessmen, immigrant workers and one another with a vengeance. The latest wave of violence began Nov. 5 when the government strafed a French military camp, killing nine peacekeepers and an American aid worker. The French retaliated by destroying much of the tiny Ivorian air force. The events seemed destined to deepen a crisis that had already pitted Muslim against Christian, northerner against southerner and Ivorians with deep roots in the country against those whose parents and grandparents had immigrated, seeking work. But France is being made into the bogeyman. Speaking to more than a thousand young men on Nov. 15, Charles Blé Goudé, the leader of the Young Patriots, a nationalist group whose members were blamed for much of the looting the week before last, pumped his fist, whipping the crowd into a frenzy as photographs of a headless corpse and bloodied gunshot victims flashed on two huge screens. These were victims of French aggression, he said. "At the beginning we said this was an Ivorian-versus-Ivorian crisis," he said. "But this week, the ma