Articles

Cote d’Ivoire: Row Over Mass Naturalizations in Côte D’ivoire
IRIN Humaninarian News and Analysis.
22 March 2013

 

Abidjan — Which of Côte d’Ivoire’s 20 million inhabitants qualify as nationals is a question that has driven political debate and conflict here for many years, and one that came to the fore earlier this month when thousands of people who had lived here all their lives were finally, and simultaneously in a public ceremony, given formal citizenship documents.
While some 600,000 people with origins or parentage in nearby West African states have been discreetly granted citizenship since 2011, a ceremony in the administrative capital Yamoussoukro on 5 March to issue citizenship to 8,133 people of Burkinabé descent drew far more attention.
Among the most recent batch to receive citizenship was 53-year-old Maurice Kamgabéga whose family settled in Côte d’Ivoire’s central-western Bouaflé region in 1933 from what was then known as Upper Volta (present day Burkina Faso). (read more)

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Cote d’Ivoire: Human Rights Violations Threaten to Erode Progress in Cote d’Ivoire, UN Expert Says
UN News Service
20 March 2013

 

An independent United Nations expert has urged authorities in Cote d’Ivoire to boost the democratic process by focusing on human rights and an impartial judicial process, and called on the international community to provide continued support for the country, particularly given the security and humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Mali.
“The urgency of the need for political reconciliation and for democratic, economic and social reconstruction is made stronger by the crisis in Mali, the political, military, religious and economic implications of which could destabilize all countries in the region profoundly and in the long term,” the UN Independent Expert on human rights in Cote d’Ivoire, Doudou Diène, said as he presented his latest report to the Human Rights Council yesterday. (read more)

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Liberia: 5,200 Ivorian Refugees Return Home
Ben P. Wesee
19 March 2013

 

More than 5, 200 Ivorian Refugees have been repatriated to the Ivory Coast from the Dougee Refugees Camp in Grand Gedeh County. The exercise was carried out jointly by the Liberia Refugees, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) and the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to close the camp.
The Dougee camp hosted nearly 6,000 refugees, majority of whom had repatriated to Cote d’lvoire. The last batch of 114 refugees was, however, relocated to the PTP Refugee Camp in Grand Gedeh County at the former Prime Timber Production site. They are said to be among more than 62,000 Ivorian refugees, currently residing in Liberia, many of whom have indicated that they would like to stay in Liberia a bit longer.
According to a UNCHR dispatch, the UN Agency had facilitated the repatriation of more than 5,200 Ivorian refugees this year, compared to about 6,000 in 2011 and 2012, respectively when the repatriation exercise was interrupted last June following the killing of seven UN peacekeepers on the Ivorian side of the border.
Dougee is the second refugee camp to be decommissioned in Liberia over the past one year. The first camp was Ziah, the two camps were among six new camps established during the Ivorian refugee influx into Liberia in late 2010 and 2011. At the peak of the influx, more than 200,000 Ivorian crossed over into Liberia.
The Executive Direction of the LRRRC, Cllr. Wheatonia Y. Dixion Barnes, said the decision to close and consolidate refugees’ camp was prompted by the reduction in Ivorian refugee population in the county; the ongoing facilitated voluntary repatriation to Cote d’Ivoire, and in view of the high cost of running a refugee camp.
(article)
 © Copyright The New Dawn 2013

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Côte d’Ivoire: au moins 6 morts dont 2 militaires dans une attaque
Le Monde.fr avec AFP
14.03.2013

 

Au moins six personnes, dont deux militaires, ont été tuées lors d’une attaque d’hommes armés venus du Liberia contre un village de l’ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire près de Toulépleu, a-t-on appris jeudi 14 mars de sources concordantes.
“Une attaque contre le village de Zilébly dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi a causé la mort de six personnes, dont deux éléments des Forces républicaines [FRCI, armée]”, a expliqué un commandant FRCI basé dans la zone, ayant requis l’anonymat. Un journaliste local a évoqué de son côté “huit morts, dont deux militaires et six civils”. Ces deux sources ont parlé d’assaillants “venus du Liberia”. (article)
© Copyright Le monde 2013

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Ivory Coast: Security Forces Are Killing and Torturing Opponents, Group Says
By Reuters
26th February 2013

 

Ivorian soldiers and allied militias are killing and torturing supporters of the ousted president Laurent Gbagbo, and they took part in a deadly attack on a camp housing displaced civilians, Amnesty International said Tuesday. The violence and the government’s failure to prosecute those responsible are derailing efforts to heal the country’s wounds nearly two years after the end of its civil war, the group said. The “army, along with an armed militia of traditional hunters, the Dozos, are carrying out extrajudicial executions, deliberate and arbitrary killings, politically motivated arrests and torture,” Amnesty said in a statement. (read more)
© Reuters 2013.

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Cote d’Ivoire: Ex-Ivorian First Lady Questioned Over Genocide, Corruption
Kimeng Hilton Ndukong, AllAfrica
13 November 2012

 

An Examining Magistrate in Côte d’Ivoire yesterday November 13 began questioning Simone Gbagbo, former First Lady and wife of ex-Ivorian leader, Laurent Gbagbo, on charges of genocide and corruption. Also to be heard is Admiral Vagba Faussignaux, ex-Commander of the Ivorian Navy. RFI radio reported that the interrogation followed that of over 20 aides of the former President that began on May 31. Reports said Judge Koné Mamadou and Barrister Rodrigue Dadjé, one of the lawyers of Simone Gbagbo, were already in Odienné in the north-western part of the country since Monday November 12 where the questioning is being held. Mrs. Gbagbo is one of eight people already charged with genocide. Last February, she was informed that the count of genocide had also been added to others such as blood crimes, threat to State security and economic crimes. (read more)

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Cote d’Ivoire: Court Again Refuses to Release Former Ivorian President
AllAfrica13
November 2012

 

Laurent Gbagbo at the ICC. Photo: Fraternité Matin

Arusha — The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday rejected a second attempt by former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to obtain provisional release, and ordered him to remain in custody. This comes after Gbagbo earlier failed to get proceedings against him suspended on health grounds. Gbagbo is accused of crimes against humanity during widespread violence that followed presidential elections in December 2010. No date has yet been set for his confirmation of charges hearings. Counsel for the former head of state, the first to be indicted by the ICC, applied for his provisional release for the first time in May 2012, but the Court dismissed the request in July, and the Appeals Chamber confirmed the decision in October. But at a hearing on October 30, Gbagbo’s lawyers renewed the application, claiming that there were changes of circumstances warranting that he be granted bail, including his ill health and the availability of a state willing to host him, to restrict his movement and ensure his availability in court. (read more)

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Cote d’Ivoire’s Gbagbo Fit for Hague Trial
Laurent Gbagbo, This Day Live
3 November, 2012

 

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has ruled that the former head of state of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, is fit to stand trial. He faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, in the wake of Cote d’Ivoire’s disputed presidential elections in 2010. Some 3,000 people were killed in violence after Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in the polls.The 67-year-old has denied responsibility for the violence. He accuses former colonial power France of plotting to topple him from power in the world’s biggest cocoa producer. The court ruled that some practical adjustments could be made in order to enable Laurent Gbagbo to participate in the hearing, including shorter court sessions and facilities for him to restduring breaks. In a statement, the ICC said the judges would soon set a date for the confirmation of charges hearing in the case. The ICC began operating in 2002 to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in countries that accept its jurisdiction, or when the UN Security Council refers a case to it.
© This Day Live, 2012
(article)

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Victims Need More From International Criminal Court Investigation in Côte d’Ivoire
HuffPost Impact UK
10 October, 2012
 
With thousands of victims crying out for justice for heinous crimes committed during violence that followed Côte d’Ivoire’s disputed 2010 presidential elections, the intervention of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has brought great hope to many. Yet, a perceived bias in prosecutions, a lack of impartial information and frustrations regarding access to its proceedings threaten to undermine the credibility of the Court. Côte d’Ivoire is emerging from a deeply violent crisis that reached its climax in the November 2010 post-election violence, causing great suffering to every political, regional and religious grouping. In October 2011, ICC judges – following a special acceptance of the Court’s jurisdiction by Côte d’Ivoire – authorized a request by the ICC prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during this period. (read more)

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Côte d’Ivoire: Bah Léontine, “Enough is enough”IRIN
31 July 2012

 

DUEKOUE – Hundreds of armed youths stormed Côte d’Ivoire’s last camp for the displaced outside Duékoué city in the turbulent western region on 20 July. They killed at least six civilians, torched the camp and drove off the 5,000 people staying there in what has been described as an ethnically motivated attack.Bah Léontine, who managed to escape with her family, sought refuge at the town hall in Duékoué. Suspected members of the Malinké ethnic group, together with traditional hunters known as Dozos, attacked the Nahibly camp hosting 5,083 mainly Guéré people, who had fled their homes during the 2010-11 election violence. (read more) (article)

 

For earlier articles about Cote d’Ivoire


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