Côte d’Ivoire
Expected Council Action
In October the Council is expected to review the Côte d’Ivoire sanctions regime after the group of experts that supports the sanctions committee reports on their implementation. Resolution 1980, unanimously adopted on 28 April, renewed an arms embargo, a ban on the diamond trade that was helping fuel the conflict and sanctions on travel by selected individuals deemed to be threats to “peace and national reconciliation” in the country. The measures are to remain in effect until 30 April 2012.
Issues that are likely to be discussed as part of the review include: the continuing violence in the western parts of the country; issues relating to national reconciliation, including the setting-up of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission; accountability for the crimes committed during the post-electoral violence early this year; and the forthcoming National Assembly elections in December.
The mandate of the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) expires on 31 July 2012.
Key Recent Developments
President Alassane Ouattara, who was inaugurated on 21 May, appears to have significantly consolidated his government and adhered to his inaugural message of reconciliation “through dialogue, solidarity and justice”. He has promised to combat impunity by allowing the national justice system and international judicial mechanisms a free hand to investigate and prosecute violators on all sides of the recent violence.
Former President Laurent Gbagbo, detained in April, was charged on 18 August with “economic crimes” that included his alleged looting of half a billion dollars from the state treasury. Ouattara’s government insists that this prosecution is separate from other charges that may be brought against Gbagbo, either by the national judiciary or the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On 3 May, Ouattara wrote the ICC Prosecutor to ask for investigations into serious crimes committed in the country since 28 November 2010, when the post-electoral crisis started. The Secretary-General’s report of 24 June 2011 estimated that as many as 3,000 people were killed during the violence, characterising it as “serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.” (Though Côte d’Ivoire is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, it accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction in 2003, ironically when Gbagbo was in office.)
Also in May, shortly after his inauguration Ouattara, announced the setting up of a Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a key transitional justice mechanism. Charles Konan Banny, a former prime minister, chairs the commission, which has commissioners from diverse ethnic, religious and regional groups. The commission was inaugurated by Ouattara on 28 September.
Human rights and other observers, however, have raised questions about Ouattara’s commitment to end impunity after he promoted two military commanders who were allegedly involved in past atrocities on 3 August. One of them, Martin Kouakou Fofie, was also placed on the UN sanctions list in 2006.
Ouattara has also announced plans to review the country’s controversial citizenship laws, which are believed to be a key cause of the electoral violence, when a new National Assembly is in place. But progress towards the legislative elections appears fraught. On 21 September, Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front party announced it was pulling out of the electoral commission on the grounds that it was stacked with Ouattara loyalists. It seems likely that this will lead to more controversy.
Violent incidents have continued to affect the country. In mid-September, mercenaries allegedly from Liberia killed 23 people in the western part of the country.
UNOCI has recently deployed more troops in the region and intensified its surveillance by helicopters, which after 30 September will be based in Liberia. Under resolution 1992, UNOCI has an inter-mission arrangement with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to share assets. Resolution 2008, which renewed UNMIL’s mandate on 16 September, emphasised the need for the two missions to “regularly coordinate their strategies and operations in areas near the Liberian-Côte d’Ivoire border…to prevent armed groups from exploiting the seam of political boundaries.”
Human Rights-Related Developments |
Key Issues
The key issue for the Council is how the sanctions and related Council actions contribute to the consolidation of peace and security and, in particular, ensure that the continuing violence in the western region is curbed and help ensure successful legislative elections in December.
A related issue is the successful implementation of the transitional justice mechanisms that are being set in place, including the ICC investigations, the prosecution for economic crimes, and the work of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
- leave the sanctions regime in place and adopt a resolution deciding to review all the sanctions after six months; or
- make the following changes to the sanctions regime: decide that diamond sanctions are treated separately, to be reviewed only after Côte d’Ivoire complies with the requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and becomes a participant;
- or lift all the sanctions except the travel ban on select individuals to assist the ICC’s investigations.
Council Dynamics
There seems to be broad consensus that the Council’s attention should now be focused on assisting the country through the process of reconciliation and accountability for past crimes, as well as instituting measures to entrench the rule of law and ensure a peaceful electoral process.
France is the lead country in the Council on Côte d’Ivoire.
Security Council Resolutions |
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Latest Secretary-General’s Report |
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Letters |
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Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission |
Albert Gerard Koenders (Netherlands) |
UNOCI Force Commander |
Maj. Gen. Jean Marie Bourry (France) |
Chair of the Sanctions Committee |
Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti (Brazil) |
UNOCI: Size, Composition, Cost and Duration |
Authorised Strength: 11,142 total uniformed personnel, including 9,600 troops, 192 military observers, 1,350 police |