State Failure: Insecurity and Impunity

Violence has become the primary means of expression in this region. If you aren’t backed with arms, nobody listens to you, because the state does nothing.

–Representative of a local human rights organization in Dix-Huit Montagnes, July 2010

Human Rights Watch spoke to dozens of victims and witnesses of criminal acts who described a near-complete dereliction of duty by policemen and gendarmes who repeatedly failed to proactively investigate criminal acts, apprehend known criminals, or take steps to prevent criminal acts by conducting regular patrols within hard-hit areas. Moreover, the state failure to adequately resource security forces has appeared to embolden those engaged in criminal activity. Widespread extortion of villagers perpetrated by police and gendarmes manning checkpoints has led to even greater suffering and economic hardship for residents, and has diminished what little faith people have in reporting crimes to police.

In western Côte d’Ivoire, the government has almost wholly failed to fulfill its obligations under international human rights law to respect the right to life, right to bodily integrity, right to liberty and security of the person, and the right to be free from discrimination, which includes an obligation on states to take appropriate measures to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence.[102] In accordance with these obligations, the state must take all reasonable steps to protect persons within its territory or jurisdiction, including through prosecuting private actors who are responsible for infringing these rights when the violations amount to crimes.[103] But in Côte d’Ivoire’s far west, as described, armed men commit acts of often brutal violence with no apparent fear of being investigated, much less being held accountable for their crimes.

Numerous failures and obstacles on the part of state authorities leave victims of sexual violence, banditry, and other abuses in western Côte d’Ivoire with no access to justice, and either limited or no immediate protection. Efforts by victims to request protection from immediate danger and to report crimes to police, gendarmes, or other authorities are generally met with inaction from state officials, and even extortion. The rare case that is investigated and reaches prosecution is adjudicated in a system fraught with deficiencies, including inaccessible courts, corrupt and absent judicial officials, and nonexistent witness protection programs. Meanwhile, striking deficiencies within the prison system, including corruption and insufficient facilities and guards to contain suspects, have led to the premature or illegal release of alleged perpetrators who are on remand or even convicted criminals. Once released, they are free to exact revenge on their original victims for reporting them. In some cases, distrust of official state mechanisms has led Ivorians to turn to vigilante groups for protection.

State Authorities’ Failure to Protect from Private Harm

Under international law, the state is obligated to take reasonable steps to protect individuals’ enjoyment of their rights from both state and private harm. While the level and degree of obligation for action by a state varies when dealing with acts by private persons or groups, it is very likely to be a human rights violation when authorities show themselves to be utterly incapable of providing, or simply refuse to provide, even a modicum of security—thereby directly allowing additional attacks. This constitutes extreme state failure, no matter what threshold is used.

Dozens of victims, including drivers, passengers, and women and girls who had been raped on transport vehicles, told Human Rights Watch that police and gendarmes fail to make any contribution to their security. Victims described going to checkpoints—in theory established to provide security for areas with high levels of criminality—immediately after an attack and requesting that the police and gendarmes pursue criminals who had either just assaulted them or were in the process of assaulting others.

Many of these victims said that they reported the incident within 30 minutes of the attack, which had happened within a few kilometers from the police or gendarme checkpoint. Yet in the overwhelming majority of instances, these requests went unheeded: the police or gendarmes refused to move from their checkpoints, call or radio in for reinforcements, or offer first aid to victims. A 36-year-old driver who was the victim of a bandit attack in which a young girl was raped described a typical response from the authorities:

[After the attack], we arrived at the checkpoint when you enter Duékoué. There, we told the gendarmes about what had happened, about the attack and the bandits’ location [less than five kilometers away]…. One of them said, “You’re lucky, there aren’t any dead among you.” He said this with the young girl who had been raped right there, after we had told them the extent of what happened. And they didn’t even move. I stayed there for a while and they never left. Then I came back through [the checkpoint] after we took the girl to the hospital, and they were all still there. I asked someone who was selling goods around there, and had seen all that happened, and she said that they had never left, that they had never even called it in. They just sat there. That’s all they do.[104]

In another incident in Moyen Cavally in 2010, a group of five women who had escaped on foot from an attack by armed perpetrators, and made it to a checkpoint, reported the rape of four other women who they believed were still being held by the attackers. The women described pleading in vain with police and gendarmes guarding the checkpoint to pursue the attackers. Instead, as one of the victims from the group recounted, “The police didn’t go. They said, ‘It’s not our job, our job is only to guard the checkpoint.’”[105]

Many victims believed the men who had assaulted them lived within neighborhoods which were well known to house the members of criminal gangs. And yet none of those interviewed had ever heard of a single gendarme or police action to search for weapons or stolen goods, much less apprehend criminal suspects who were known to reside there.

Many victims reported that the police and gendarmes blamed their lack of response on insufficient vehicles, fuel, or arms necessary to intervene. A village resident explained to Human Rights Watch the response he received after approaching police and gendarmes at a checkpoint after a bandit attack outside Duékoué:

The checkpoint forces asked me if [the bandits] had Kalashes. I said yes and then he said, “We don’t have enough arms, and we don’t have any material or vehicles to track them or fight them.” [The attack] was only two kilometers away. Later I saw [the gendarmes] walking down the street…. After a while I saw they just turned around and went back to the checkpoint.[106]

Although the gendarmes protested to this victim that they did not have sufficient arms, Human Rights Watch often observed gendarmes and other state authorities at checkpoints with semiautomatic weapons as well as pistols.

The state officials’ refusal to respond to attacks in a given area appeared to empower the perpetrators to carry out further attacks. Human Rights Watch interviews with victims and witnesses of two criminal attacks on the same day in January 2010—which they believed were perpetrated by the same group—illustrate this dynamic. Outside Duékoué, a group of women were pulled off a public transport vehicle in the morning and raped. Word of the incident and its precise location spread through the community, including to police and gendarmes at a nearby checkpoint. They failed to pursue the bandits or even undertake a patrol in the area. Around 2 p.m. that day, a cocoa truck was attacked while traveling in the same area by bandits who, based on descriptions from numerous victims, were the same perpetrators who had carried out the morning attack.[107] In the second attack, some 15 women were raped, and several male passengers severely injured.[108] Even if they had not caught and arrested the robbers after the first attack, performing a patrol and establishing a physical presence in the area would have greatly reduced the likelihood of the second attack.

Moreover, despite clear evidence suggesting that criminal attacks peak during the harvest season and are more likely to occur on weekly market days, security forces have failed to undertake proactive patrolling. On market day in particular, minimal effort by the police and gendarmes would likely reduce the violence that takes place given the known routes that people mainly use. Yet state security forces have made no such efforts.

In such situations, the UN Human Rights Committee, the expert body that monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has found that the state violates its obligation to protect persons “against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment of Covenant rights”—including the rights to life and bodily integrity.[109] The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has found the same obligation to protect women from sexual violence, including rape, committed by private actors, and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated that “States parties have the obligation to protect children from all forms of violence and abuse, whether at home, in school or other institutions, or in the community.”[110]

State Authorities’ Failure to Investigate Reported Crimes

There is no justice in Côte d’Ivoire.

–Town elder, Moyen Cavally, July 2010

Why would I bring a complaint? It is just going to cause me problems. You don’t do that when it involves these guys, you just have to let it go.

–Victim of home invasion, Guiglo, July 25, 2010

State authorities in the far west, including police, gendarmes, and prosecutors, rarely investigate cases filed by victims. Unprofessional conduct by officials, lack of resources, and a noticeable lack of will to pursue alleged perpetrators drive the authorities’ failure to investigate. Meanwhile, extortion and the demand for expensive medical certificates to file a complaint, much less begin investigation, further limit victims’ access to justice.

Dozens of victims of criminal attacks and violent robberies, including victims of sexual violence, explained that when they reported crimes to authorities, they were met with scant interest or dismissive responses. A rape victim who went to the police station in Duékoué in January 2010 expressed sentiments echoed by many to Human Rights Watch:

I went to the police and they asked us questions, they wrote it down, they didn’t say anything. I have never heard anything since.[111]

In tens of cases documented by Human Rights Watch, victims of violence in both Moyen Cavally and Dix-Huit Montagnes said that the police or gendarmes demanded money from them when they filed their complaint. In Moyen Cavally, state authorities routinely demand 2,000 CFA (US$4) to file a complaint, according to victims of sexual violence and organizations working with these victims. In other instances, police and gendarmes refuse to investigate until they receive a medical certificate, which costs 30,000 CFA ($60) that victims can rarely afford. Again, the result is state inaction, as one representative with an organization working with sexual violence victims said:

Often girls come here for help after they have tried to report the case to the gendarmerie. They come to ask for help because the gendarmes have asked them for 2,000 CFA to file their complaint and they don’t have any money…. We also have many cases that stop at the gendarmerie because the girls are asked for medical certificates…. That isn’t right. You don’t require a medical certificate to file a complaint.[112]

Some suspects who were arrested while committing acts of banditry have been released by police within 24 or 48 hours. A former member of the security forces described how one coupeur de route, who was easily identifiable by his victims because of particular physical characteristics, was apprehended and handed over to the police—only to be released hours later. He has since been identified as perpetrating further acts of criminality.[113]

At times, it appears that an alleged perpetrator’s standing in the community can influence the authorities’ reluctance or, indeed, refusal to investigate and make arrests. A town elder in Moyen Cavally told Human Rights Watch about a series of robberies perpetrated by the same man in late June and early July 2010, whom authorities refused to arrest despite the fact that there were witnesses who had implicated him in crimes:

We have been told the authorities will never let this guy be arrested and put away [because he is related to a high-level local state authority]. So instead, the gendarme commander tells us to catch him ourselves. How are we supposed to catch someone who has a Kalash? So this guy, the one who committed these robberies, he still walks around freely in the village. He comes and drinks here almost every night. He is the head of a gang, a gang of coupeurs de route … several who used to be in the militias.[114]

A victim of an armed robbery in Guiglo decided not to bring a complaint to the police about his house attack, despite having identified one of the culprits, for similar reasons:

This guy, the one who did it, has already been arrested several times. But each time he is arrested, a powerful militiaman pushes the police to let him go—and, of course, he is. Several times he has been arrested and then let go within a day, two days max. So what’s the point?[115]

Invincible Perpetrators: Confusion and Fear of Reprisal in Dix-Huit Montagnes Victims in rebel-controlled Dix-Huit Montagnes face additional barriers that all but ensure impunity for perpetrators of crimes. In many areas considered Forces Nouvelles territory, it is unclear which authorities are actually in control. Numerous victims and their families in Man told Human Rights Watch that they were unable to distinguish between uniformed members of the Forces Nouvelles and legitimate members of the Integrated Command Center—mandated to take charge of security in Man under the 2007 Ouagadougou Political Agreement.[116] One rape victim in Man told Human Rights Watch: “We don’t know who to report to. They all wear similar uniforms. We just call them all ‘rebels.’”[117] This confusion is compounded by victims’ complete lack of confidence in the integrated forces’ ability to respond to reports and keep victims safe from retribution, particularly in cases of sexual violence. While Human Rights Watch was unable to determine if current or former rebel forces were primarily responsible for perpetrating rape, victims and local organizations made clear that the majority of rapes went unreported to authorities because victims feared reprisal if the perpetrator was a former rebel or had previous or current connections to the Forces Nouvelles. The representative of one local organization who worked with victims of sexual violence explained to Human Rights Watch: “It’s not easy to report. People are scared…. If you are raped by someone who was in or knows someone in the Forces Nouvelles and you report them, they won’t arrest them or they will arrest them and release them after one day, and the person can come after the victim.”[118] Indeed, the sense of lawlessness is so deeply seated in Dix-Huit Montagnes that perpetrators feel free to terrorize and taunt their victims. A 17-year-old rape victim described to Human Rights Watch her attacker’s brazenness: He dragged me into his house, pushed me onto the bed and punched me in the back and ribs for a long time…. Then he started to rape me. I was crying and he said, “You can cry all you want, but there is nobody here, and even if the rebels come, I will give them money and they will release me. You are wasting your time.” [119]

Failure of Judicial System

In the rare instances where the police or gendarmes do investigate and arrest an alleged perpetrator, the case proceeds through a judicial system that, in the far west, is almost totally broken. Indeed, from interviews with more than 80 victims, Human Rights Watch was able to document just a single case in which a perpetrator was imprisoned: a serial rapist of children, who had been in preventive detention for several months while awaiting trial.[120]

Prior to the armed conflict, one of the seven national trial courts was based in Man, where it adjudicated minor and serious crimes as well as civil cases for the regions of Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen Cavally.[121] A justice of the peace court in Danané, with adjacent basic detention facilities, oversaw petty criminal and civil cases in the regions as well.[122] However, judicial officials fled as the rebels occupied Moyen Cavally in 2002, leaving the courts and prisons in rebel hands. The redeployment of state judicial officials to Man began in February 2009, but the court is still largely inactive when it comes to prosecuting criminal cases. While the courts have been inactive, the rule of law has crumbled over the last decade—a period which has seen a marked increase in rampant criminality according to residents.

For people in Moyen Cavally, no trial court, or even justice of the peace court, exists in the region. While there is an unused building for a trial court in Guiglo, it has never been operational—cases were historically sent to Man, as there was no prison in Guiglo. UN officials told Human Rights Watch that the government has promised to build a prison in Guiglo in exchange for UNOCI’s rehabilitation of the trial court. However, as of this writing, the government had yet to sign the agreement, which had been in the works for months.[123] A high-level representative from an international organization working on the issue said that the government had failed to take concrete action toward building the prison, and instead prioritized preparations and campaigning for the upcoming elections. The representative said that this was the case for many human rights and rule of law issues.[124]

As a result, victims must travel anywhere between 70 and 250 kilometers to reach the nearest court, located in the town of Daloa in the neighboring region of Haut-Sassandra. Judicial police and investigating judges charged with investigating the crime must likewise travel similar distances to reach areas in Moyen Cavally. Victims, representatives of community organizations, and UN officials all told Human Rights Watch that the Daloa court was impractical given the insecurity to which they would be subjected and the cost they would incur travelling back and forth to Daloa.[125]

Moreover, many living in Moyen Cavally reported that judicial officials in Daloa release alleged perpetrators within days of their arrest, with no subsequent follow-up, leaving victims as fearful of reprisal as they are discouraged about the efficacy of the judicial system. A town elder expressed a sentiment echoed by tens of others: “There is no such thing as justice here; they are sent to Daloa, and then the next week we see them back here.”[126]

According to victims, witnesses, and observers, the failure to re-establish a functioning judicial system in Dix-Huit Montagnes has made it impossible to hold accountable current or former rebel soldiers, or those linked to the Forces Nouvelles through friends or family. The judicial system in Dix-Huit Montagnes was to have become operational in early 2009 following the full redeployment of judicial and prison officials, in accordance with the 2007 Ouagadougou Agreement and the 2008 Fourth Supplementary Agreement. As discussed above, certain government officials have still not been redeployed, however, including those slated to run the prison. According to a UN official working on the issue, the government has shown little will to make redeployment a priority, and had still not provided a budget for these functions as of August 2010. Without salaries and the necessary support, nominated officials felt that there was little chance for them to perform their work while the Forces Nouvelles still control the area.[127]

Victims and representatives from local human rights organizations said that alleged perpetrators are often simply released even when they commit serious crimes.[128] After the November 2009 rape of a 17-year-old girl in Man, the identified perpetrator was arrested and brought before someone the victim described as a “judge.” The victim told Human Rights Watch that despite determining that the man was the perpetrator, the judge said, “You are lucky there is no prison here. A man like you should not be released. If there was a prison, you would get 10 years.” But, lacking a prison and functioning judiciary, the judge only ordered the rapist to reimburse the goods—plates and knives—that he had also stolen.[129]

The Integrated Command Center (CCI) has yet to have an impact on the failing judicial system. It is supposed to lead criminal investigations in Man, but, as noted above, the unit faces severe budgetary and staffing problems. In Forces Nouvelles territory, it also appears reluctant to get involved given the rebels’ visible presence and authority, as noted by one victim in Man: “What would the CCI do? They either are FN [Forces Nouvelles], or they are terrified of FN! CCI doesn’t do anything here, they don’t leave their offices…. This is FN territory.”[130] One UN official stated simply, “The tribunal in Man will not work until the CCI is completely operational, and that is nowhere near the case.”[131]

The failure to re-establish a functioning judiciary in the far west, including through redeploying judicial and prison officials, appears to primarily be a result of a lack of will on the part of the government—as expressed by local and international organizations working on justice issues. The European Union alone is providing approximately $350 million between 2008 and 2013 for programs including justice and security sector development, yet little progress has been made.[132]

The minimal efforts by state authorities in the far west to punish perpetrators conflict with human rights law. According to the UN Human Rights Committee, a state violates its international obligations by “failing to take appropriate measures or to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate, or redress the harm caused by such acts by private persons or entities.”[133]

Regarding widespread sexual violence in particular, regional and international law require the government of Côte d’Ivoire to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish violence against women and girls.[134] The obligation is grounded in the rights of non-discrimination, security of person, and freedom from torture provided in treaties ratified and acceded to by Côte d’Ivoire,[135] which require states to effectively investigate whenever such violence occurs.[136] States must also ensure appropriate treatment for victims, including counseling, support services, medical treatment, and psychological care.[137] By failing to take any steps to prosecute perpetrators or provide meaningful support to women who are victims of sexual violence in the far west, the Ivorian government has wholly failed to meet these obligations.

Turning to Vigilante Security: Hiring the Dozo

The state authorities have done nothing to solve this problem. They never pursue the bandits. We have to do something if we are to be able to move around at all, what do you expect?

–Driver, Duékoué, July 2010

In order to combat the widespread violence and insecurity in the region, residents of some villages in government-controlled areas have turned to vigilante groups. These most notably include the Dozo, a group of traditional hunters armed with hunting rifles who are believed to have mystical powers. The Dozo originate from further north in Côte d’Ivoire—areas which are now under the effective control of the Forces Nouvelles. This phenomenon clearly illuminates local residents’ lack of trust in state authorities to maintain security in the region.

The security assistance provided by the Dozo is formalized through signed contracts, or self-defense agreements, made between the Dozo and local authorities. Town chiefs, planters’ and youth representatives, and others sign the agreement on behalf of a village providing compensation to the Dozo in exchange for their armed defense and policing of the village and its surrounding roads. Human Rights Watch reviewed two such agreements between the Dozo and elders from two villages around Duékoué. Elders in both towns, as well as a local journalist in Duékoué, told Human Rights Watch that tens of villages in the region had signed similar agreements.[138] A town elder in Fengolo explained:

We used to have really big problems with bandits along a secondary route that goes from here to Blolequin. But we have created our own self-defense checkpoints … manned mostly by the Dozo, but also by Burkinabé, Malian, and Ivorian community members. We entered into a formal agreement with the Dozo, who use regular hunting rifles and their [mystical] powers to keep away the robbers.[139]

At least one transport workers’ union in the region has likewise tasked the Dozo with protecting the roads from banditry, as a driver in Duékoué explained:

There are certain places where you can’t go, but now we have the traditional hunters [the Dozo] who help us with security along the routes. The hunters are gaining control [in some places] and, slowly, the coupeurs de route are moving into town, where they cause more problems now.[140]

While the town elder and the drivers felt that the Dozo had reduced rampant criminality at least in some areas, armed self-defense strategies may increase lawlessness and even violence in the region. Several persons interviewed believed that the Dozo would likely resort to extrajudicial means of punishing an alleged perpetrator, including detention and execution.[141] As discussed above, western Côte d’Ivoire is already rife with arms largely due to the proliferation of militias before and during the 2002-2003 armed conflict. Individuals from at least several of these former community defense groups are implicated in the region’s banditry. State authorities must fulfill their responsibility to ensure the population’s security, so that these vigilante groups are not deemed necessary.