Côte d’Ivoire: Sexual Violence and Human Rights Abuses Must STOP!

Amnesty International has also urged security forces to reveal the whereabouts and fate of all those who have disappeared after having been detained.

Scene from Côte d’Ivoire. Courtesy: France 24 Online

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Amnesty International (AI) investigations have revealed numerous human rights violations, including sexual violence and unlawful killings, perpetrated by forces loyal to both Côte d’Ivoire’s outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo and internationally recognized incumbent Alassane Ouattara.

“In the west of the country, women told us that they have been gang-raped in January 2011 in their homes in view of their children and others told us they were raped on their way to the market.

Eyewitnesses have also seen men beaten and deliberately killed in the street,” said Gaëtan Mootoo, AI researcher.

Victims and eyewitnesses gave first-hand accounts of the ongoing abuses, following the disputed November 2010 election.

Investigation were compiled by AI researchers during a four-week visit to Côte d’Ivoire.

Human Rights Watch photo - Ivory Coast

“The eyes of the world may have shifted from the political stalemate in Côte d’Ivoire, but the abuses are clearly continuing. Both the security forces and the Forces Nouvelles are committing these horrific acts and their victims have no recourse to justice. This reign of terror must end.”

As tensions between ethnic groups have been exacerbated by the political standoff, an estimated 70,000 people have been forced to flee their homes; settling in displacement sites, refugee camps and escaping across the border into neighboring countries.

Citizens in the west of the country have confirmed that attacks on people were targeted, based on ethnicity and alleged political affiliations.

In January, the town of Duékoué (500 kilometres west of Abidjan) was besieged, scores of people were killed, several women raped and hundreds of homes burned and looted.

One woman describes her attack on January 3, 2011:

“They came early in the morning…they had knives and machetes. They broke the door and grabbed me. Their faces were blackened with charcoal. They said nothing, threw themselves on me and did horrible things to me. They raped me, three or four of them. They burned my house - the house of my family - and they killed my brother. They stole everything from my shop and then burned it down. We fled the same day.”

Problems in Côte d’Ivoire: ipl2

AI demands both security forces to issue clear, public instructions to their members to respect ALL human rights and anyone found to be responsible for ordering, carrying out, or failing to prevent any abuses will be held accountable to the fullest extent.

AI has also urged security forces to reveal the whereabouts and fate of all those who have disappeared after having been detained.

“The current crisis in Côte d’Ivoire has created a human rights black hole in the country,” said Gaëtan Mootoo.

“The very serious human rights abuses that we have documented both in Abidjan and the west of the country must be immediately and impartially investigated.”

Source: Amnesty International