High-level government officials in Côte d’Ivoire appear to be using the fact that the ICC has issued arrest warrants against people from only one side of the recent conflict to justify their own selective approach to justice. That approach ignores thousands of victims and threatens the country’s return to rule of law.
President Alassane Ouattara’s government in Côte d’Ivoire has taken a series of measures to bolster the economy and good governance but has largely ignored one of the country’s main catalysts of political violence: the culture of impunity for those in power. The coming months will show whether the government will fulfill promises of impartial justice and ease the tensions that fuelled last year’s post-election violence, or continue down its current path of victor’s justice, further aggravating the situation.
The much anticipated reconciliation talks between President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling party coalition and opposition parties ended much like they began: with the party of former President Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), conditioning future engagement on the release of Laurent Gbagbo and the other former party leaders in detention.
One year ago today, forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara captured the western town of Duékoué as they swept through Côte d’Ivoire before ultimately arresting former President Laurent Gbagbo. After taking over the town, pro-Ouattara forces committed horrific abuses, killing several hundred people.
When I returned to Abidjan in mid-January, bright lights were strung across the bridge into downtown, proclaiming 2012 a year of reconciliation. I asked the taxi driver how things were progressing, and he said, “The Ouattara government does more work in 10 weeks than the Gbagbo government did in 10 years.” Formerly potholed roads are being repaired throughout the country, trash once stacked on the street is being collected, and treatment at state-run hospitals is largely free, even if patients must often pay for the medicine and tools doctors need.
In Norway on Saturday, three women stepped up to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011. The awarding of the Nobel to Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkul Karman and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a long-awaited and, some may think, overdue testament to women's courage. While just three women ascended to the podium in Oslo, the victory will be shared by many, many more -- and couldn't have come at a better time.
After six months of violence, almost everyone in Côte d’Ivoire has a horrific story to tell: a loved one killed gruesomely, the memory of being raped, a house burned or pillaged of everything. I have listened to hundreds of these stories, amazed at people’s strength to recount the unthinkable to a stranger as armed conflict continued.
Iman Obeidi became famous in March when she burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli and accused Libyan forces of raping her. She was quickly taken by authorities, but eventually found her way to Qatar to seek refugee status in the West. Last week, Qatari authorities inexplicably sent her back to Libya. She has since begun the process of moving to the U.S., where she will apply for refugee status. Her story has highlighted a growing problem – the use of rape as a tool in war zones. [Note: This interview took place before news broke that Obeidi is headed to the U.S.]
In recent weeks in this critical West African country, hundreds of civilians have been killed, often in horrendous ways. New bodies turn up on the streets and in the morgues nearly every day with bullet wounds, slashed throats, and charred skin from being burned alive. As in Libya, a desperate regime clings to power and makes murderous threats against its own people. And, in both cases, peaceful protesters are being mowed down by machine guns.
The much anticipated reconciliation talks between President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling party coalition and opposition parties ended much like they began: with the party of former President Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), conditioning future engagement on the release of Laurent Gbagbo and the other former party leaders in detention.