Recommendations

To President Alassane Ouattara, Justice Minister Jeannot Kouadio Ahoussou, and Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko

• Ensure the investigation and prosecution, in accordance with international fair trial standards, of members of both sides’ forces against whom there is evidence of criminal responsibility for grave crimes, including those liable under command responsibility for their failure to prevent or prosecute these crimes.
• Ensure that those currently charged in the Gbagbo camp are detained and tried according to standards that meet international law. Ensure, in particular, adequate time and resources for the preparation of a vigorous defense by competent counsel for any accused.
• Seek assistance from key donors to ensure fair, credible domestic investigations and prosecutions of grave crimes. This should include requests for assessments of the Ivorian justice system’s capacity to pursue cases involving grave crimes as well as assistance based on such assessments. Areas that merit particular attention include: safeguards, both legal and procedural, to ensure the independence and impartiality of the bench; and resources and plans to protect rights of accused and witnesses who may be at risk.
• Ensure that military courts do not try civilians and that, unless a case involves purely military offenses, civilian courts are given preference because of their greater independence.
• Ensure that members of the military, gendarme, and police are vetted for involvement in grave crimes, either directly or through command responsibility.
• Publicly request that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay provide the confidential Annex to the 2011 commission of inquiry report, as per the government’s request for the commission to identify those most responsible for the violence. Request also that the UN Security Council publish the 2004 commission of inquiry report.
• Continue to provide full cooperation and unhindered access to the International Criminal Court, including in the potential future arrest and surrender of suspects.
• Provide complete access to all detention facilities, including places of house arrest and military camps, to international monitors and members of the human rights division of the UN Operations in Côte d’Ivoire. Access should include detainees having the ability to describe their conditions without the presence or interference of the Republican Forces.
• Prioritize efforts to combat sexual violence, which remains pervasive throughout the country and is particularly acute in the far west. In particular, improve the response of law enforcement personnel and the judiciary to sexual and gender-based violence, including by recruiting more female police officers to act as focal points in police stations and by training judicial and security personnel. Ensure access to health care, psychosocial support, legal assistance, and socio-economic reintegration services for survivors of sexual violence, including those who have been targeted for political and ethnic reasons during the conflict.
• Commit to providing compensation and other reparations for victims of abuses and to assist villagers, particularly in the far west and along the southern coastal region, in the rebuilding of villages destroyed during the fighting and reprisals.
• Commit to working swiftly with the next National Assembly to ratify the Rome Statute to the International Criminal Court; the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish the Trafficking in Persons; the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. In addition, make a declaration accepting the competence of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to receive individual petitions, as outlined under Article 5(3) of the court’s Protocol.
• Thoroughly review—and, as necessary, revise—the training curriculum for police, gendarmes, and armed forces to ensure comprehensive training on human rights issues, including the laws of war, interrogation and detention practices, and minimum use of force for crowd control. All training should be consistent with human rights and international humanitarian law standards, such as the Geneva Conventions, the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

To Charles Konan Banny, President of the Dialogue, Truth, and Reconciliation Commission

• Respect international human rights standards with regard to granting of amnesties. This means excluding amnesties for international crimes such as crimes against humanity, war crimes, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture.
• Ensure open and meaningful consultation is carried out with civil society and victims throughout the process. Ensure that the commission explores the dynamics that have given rise to cyclical violence, ethnic tensions, and pervasive corruption, with a view to make recommendations aimed at preventing a repetition of past violations.

To the United Nations Operations in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI)

• Assist the government to undertake a full and thorough Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration (DDR) program in line with the Integrated DDR Standards (IDDRS) and other internationally recognized best practices. Ensure that DDR is performed credibly and impartially —disarming those from all sides of the conflict who are not entering the reconstituted armed forces.
• Assist the government to reestablish the rule of law with a focus on the independence and impartiality of the justice system, the humane treatment of detainees, and the protection of accused and witnesses. In line with UNOCI’s noteworthy efforts to reinforce security in the far west, focus particular attention on that region, given the longstanding lawlessness that has prevailed there.

To the UN Security Council

• In the interest of truth and justice during Côte d’Ivoire’s now decade-long crisis, publish the 2004 Commission of Inquiry report, including the annex that identified key people responsible for grave crimes during the 2002-2003 armed conflict.
• Ask the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to provide briefings on rape and other sexual violence to the Security Council and promote a coordinated and effective response to sexual violence by all actors in Côte d’Ivoire.
• Monitor closely the Ivorian government’s pursuit of justice for the post-election violence and ensure that such efforts are impartial, with fair, credible investigations for grave crimes committed by both sides.

To the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

• Make the 2011 international commission of inquiry annex available to domestic authorities responsible for judicial investigation in Côte d’Ivoire.

To the International Criminal Court Prosecutor

• Amend the request to open an investigation to include crimes prior to the post-election period, including the 2002-2003 armed conflict and its aftermath.

To the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States:

• Remain actively engaged on Côte d’Ivoire and ensure that the Ivorian government prioritizes human rights and rule of law considerations. In particular, help ensure that President Ouattara fulfills his promise to hold responsible those implicated in grave crimes, regardless of political affiliation or military rank.
• Encourage African states to support efforts to hold responsible those implicated in grave crimes, including by handing over any suspect requested by the International Criminal Court—as per President Ouattara’s invitation—or the Ivorian government as long as international standards for treatment and trial are met.
• Assist regional efforts to disarm, demobilize, and effectively reintegrate the fighters that politicians and warlords have recruited during armed conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire.

To the Government of Liberia

• Prosecute according to fair trial standards mercenaries and other Liberian fighters implicated in grave crimes in Côte d’Ivoire.

To Neighboring Countries Where Individuals Allegedly Involved in Grave Crimes May Have Taken Refuge

• Publicly commit to handing over any suspect requested by the International Criminal Court. Should the Ivorian government request the arrest and extradition of someone implicated in crimes committed during the post-election period, fully cooperate as long as international standards for treatment and trial, such as those outlined in the Convention against Torture, are met.

To International Donors, including the European Union, France, and the United States

• Assist the Ivorian government in its efforts to restore the rule of law and conduct trials for grave crimes committed during the post-election period. Ensure that such efforts are impartial, with fair, credible investigations for grave crimes committed by both sides.