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VII. POLICE RAIDS ON OTHER ABIDJAN NEIGHBORHOODS-ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND EXTORTION

Residents in some other districts have been targeted for harassment and arbitrary arrest even though their homes have not been destroyed. The police raided "Marcory sans fil" neighborhood in the early hours of October 11, and arbitrarily arrested around seventy men. The area may have been selected because much of the property there is owned by Burkinabés. The main purpose of the attack seemed to be extortion and intimidation, especially of immigrants and northern Ivorians. Human Rights Watch interviewed witnesses who had been forced to pay over substantial sums of money to avoid being arrested. Those who were taken into custody were only released when their relatives paid for their release. The stories from these witnesses combine to give a comprehensive picture of the ordeal they faced.

A twenty-nine-year-old Ivorian man told how he protected Burkinabés living with him:

I was asleep in my house in Marcory when the police came. They asked if we had any Burkinabés living with us. I said, "we're all Ivorians here." In fact, I do live with Burkinabés, but I wasn't going to tell the police that. They then broke into other homes, took money from many Burkinabés-if they did not pay, they were arrested. They were all over the place from about midnight until 6:00 a.m. this Friday morning [October 11]. At least twenty men were taken away. They were rounded up just over there wearing nothing more than their trousers and made to lie on the ground until a truck arrived to take them away. At one point the police played music from their vehicles and made the detainees dance. There were no deaths last night, but they did fire shots in the air. They also took mobile phones. I was not touched myself. I was born here and I'm now twenty-nine years old.34

An Ivorian woman aged twenty-one, whose mother is Burkinabé, saw police taking away foreigners and extorting money:

Two men from our house were taken away-they were both foreigners, one Guinean and a Burkinabé, both men about twenty-five years old. The police knocked on the door, but when we did not open up, they broke it down. They searched our rooms looking under the mattresses, they did not even look at your ID cards if you gave them money. I was hit on the buttocks with a truncheon [matraque]; they were very rude. They took nothing from my house because I paid them money. I did not recognise the police who came here, they were not from the local commissariat.35

In one compound, there were ten men and seven women living together, all Burkinabé. One of the men told Human Rights Watch:

The police knocked and told us to open the door. We did. They came in, they said this is a house search. They searched all our houses, from one to the next. Then, they told one of our women, twenty-five years old and with her baby on her back, to come with them, and she followed them. We ran after them, the police told us we'd have to pay 50,000 CFA [approximately U.S.$70] for her release. We did not have that much so we offered 15,000 [approximately U.S.$20], which they accepted and let her go.36

A young Burkinabé man described being detained, beaten, and eventually released on payment of a bribe:

At 4:00 a.m. there were knocks on my door at our courtyard, I opened the door. There were about five police officers, with uniforms, and pistols in their hands. They asked for money and I had none. They asked me where I'm from, I said I was from Burkina Faso. They asked about my friend, he said he's Ivorian, and they let him go. They took me, with my little brother, eighteen. They took us out, into the open courtyard [at the edge of the district], and said to get undressed. Then they took us to the 26th police post, there were approximately seventy-five of us, all male, none under eighteen I think. There they made us sing the national anthem of Côte d'Ivoire. Then they made us all clap for ourselves. Some of us were whipped, myself included, but I was not badly injured. Then they took us to the Zone 4 Commissariat. My big brother came to pay to get me out, which he did and I was out by 11:30 a.m. Four others had been let go before me, also by having someone come to pay for their release.37

In another compound, police extorted money on seeing posters identifying the occupant as a supporter of RDR leader Alassane Ouattara:

At 3:00 a.m. the police came to our compound and knocked on our door. I opened the door to find the police there, and in the street there were crowds of police, all dressed in black or grey, all around, with pistols and "kalashs" [AK-47 ( Kalashnikov) machine guns]. Three of them came in, and searched the house. They asked for my ID card, when they saw the [surname] and saw that I come from Korhogo, then they saw the photo of ADO [Alassane Dramane Ouattara] in my house, they slapped me. Then they took 15,000 CFA [approximately U.S.$20] and left.38

Another person from the same compound added:

They said: "You are northerners here? You're the `assailants.' Give us your money, or we'll take you away." I had to give 45,000 CFA [approximately U.S.$60].

A young woman described how police broke into a house owned and occupied by Burkinabés, beat several, and extorted money:

At 4:30 a.m. that night there was a knock on the door. They said, "if you don't come out, if we enter, we will kill you." They knocked and we still did not open the door because we were afraid. They broke in the door with a brick [showing the broken door and the brick used]. I told the young man who was with us and whom they wanted that he should go out with them, and that if not, they will shoot him. They took his phone and his money. There were six police who entered, all in green uniforms, and all had machine guns in their hands. The wife of one of the men in our courtyard gave the police money. They searched the whole place, took money from everyone, they beat one young man and his wife. I saw them beating them. They told me to leave but my husband gave them money. The landlord, a Burkinabé also, was arrested.39

34 Human Rights Watch interview with male resident, Abidjan, October 11, 2002.

35 Human Rights Watch interview, Abidjan, October 11, 2002.

36 Human Rights Watch interview with thirty-two-year-old Burkinabé man, Abidjan, October 11, 2002.

37 Human Rights Watch interview with twenty-two-year-old male, Abidjan, October 11, 2002.

38 Human Rights Watch interview with man aged around thirty from northern Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, October 11, 2002.

39 Human Rights Watch interview with Burkinabé woman aged around twenty-five, Abidjan, October 11, 2002.

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