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VII. Justice for Crimes by Pro-Government and Rebel Forces

The 2002-2003 armed conflict and the political upheaval that followed resulted in numerous atrocities by both government and rebel forces in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.  Killings, sexual violence against women, and the use of child soldiers was rampant within both government and rebel controlled areas. Ivorian state security forces and pro-government militias frequently and sometimes systematically killed, attacked and arbitrarily detained suspected rebel supporters on the basis of ethnicity, religion, nationality or political affiliation. Militias, either tolerated or abetted by state security services, have engaged in political violence and intimidation and targeted immigrant communities, particularly village-based Burkinabe farmers in the west.

Neither the Ivorian government nor the rebel leadership has taken concrete steps to investigate and hold accountable those most responsible for these crimes. Perpetrators have no doubt been emboldened by the current climate of impunity that allows grave abuses to go unpunished.

A March 2005 report by the human rights section of UNOCI on the human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire during January and February 2005 noted serious abuses by both pro-government and rebel forces. It noted “an intensification of the activities of militias and armed groups responsible for acts of violence and revenge, including summary and extra-judicial executions” in government controlled areas.  In the New Forces area, it characterized the problems of arbitrary detention, torture and “disappearances” of suspected government supporters as ongoing, including within the homes of local commanders.¹³¹ One international observer noted that the rebel leadership has little effective command and control over its soldiers, resulting in frequent attacks against villages. “Many local village leaders now send their women out to sleep in the bush so as to avoid being targeted by the rebels.”¹³²

The United Nations, including the Secretary-General, Security Council and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has taken a proactive role in denouncing and investigating serious international crimes committed in Côte d’Ivoire. In response to the grave human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire OHCHR has, dispatched three independent commissions of inquiry to the country: the first following the election violence of October 2000; the second following the violent crackdown on an opposition demonstration in March 2004; and the third, following a request by all parties to the Linas-Marcoussis agreement to investigate all serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated in Côte d’Ivoire since September 19, 2002. 

The government of Côte d’Ivoire remains primarily responsible for ensuring accountability for human rights violations, however, the U.N. should be taking several concrete steps that would more likely permit those suspected of human rights violations to be both restrained and held accountable for their crimes.

Firstly, the U.N. Security Council should make public the findings of a U.N. commission of inquiry report into violations of international humanitarian law committed in Cote d’Ivoire since September 2002. Secondly, in an effort to restrain the future actions of alleged human rights violators, the U.N. should without delay impose travel and economic sanctions against individuals “determined as responsible” for serious human rights violations. Lastly, in an effort to seek justice for the victims of these violations, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should at the earliest possible opportunity take concrete steps to lay the groundwork for an investigation into war crimes committed by all sides during the Ivorian armed conflict.

Commission of Inquiry Report

The U.N. Security Council has yet to make public or discuss the findings of the last Commission of Inquiry report. The report, handed to the U.N. Secretary General in November 2004, is still waiting to be published, although a draft in French was leaked in January 2005.¹³³ UN officials say the delay in publishing the report is technical, citing translation hold-ups. The report contained a secret annex listing people accused of human rights abuses that could eventually face trial.  Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported in January 2005 that the list contained 95 names including Simone Gbagbo, the president’s wife, who is also the parliamentary leader of the FPI, Kadet Bertin, a former defense minister and key Gbagbo security adviser, and rebel leader Soro. RFI said the president's wife was accused of organizing death squads, while Soro was charged with ordering extrajudicial killings.¹³⁴

Travel and Economic Sanctions allowed under U.N. Security Council 1572

Another list of human rights violators is being drawn up by a U.N. sanctions committee. The Security Council authorized in Resolution 1572 of November 2004 the application of one year sanctions against Ivorians who violated human rights, broke an arms embargo, indulged in hate speech or blocked the peace process.¹³⁵ These sanctions include travel bans and the freezing of assets of those who “constitute a threat to the peace and national reconciliation process in Côte d’Ivoire, in particular those who block the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis and Accra III Agreements.” Diplomats working the political track suggest the delay in taking concrete steps to both restrain through sanctions and hold accountable through a judicial process key players identified as persistent human rights abuses is political: that to pursue either goal would only hamper peacemaking efforts by alienating leading figures deemed necessary for the implementation of peace process.

Numerous diplomatic sources confirmed to Human Rights Watch that Mbeki and the African Union seemed to have effective veto power over whether or not to impose sanctions. As one diplomat noted, “Unless Mbeki says he has failed or specifically recommends sanctions it is unlikely the issue will come to the Council.”¹³⁶ They say that sanctions against individuals have been put on hold indefinitely.¹³⁷ China and Russia have objected, with Beijing the most vocal opponent.

Most diplomats and UN officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch questioned this stance and supported using the threat of pursuing justice and imposing of individual sanctions as a “political stick” to pressure both sides into complying with the peace process and curb further human rights violations. “The real purpose of Resolution 1572 was to push people toward the peace process,” said one senior UN official in New York. A Western ambassador in Abidjan agreed. “We are in a very serious situation and must use every lever in order to bring pressure to bear,” the envoy said.¹³⁸

The International Criminal Court

Human Rights Watch is concerned about the politicization of justice, and believes that holding accountable those individuals on all sides most responsible for serious international crimes committed since at least 2002 is an indispensable part of combating the prevailing culture of impunity and ensuring that peace and stability take root in Côte d’Ivoire.  Furthermore, accountability would act as a deterrent to future abuses. While Human Rights Watch welcomes efforts to restrain those accused of serious human rights crimes, including the imposition of travel and economic sanctions, they do not go far enough. The pursuit of justice for victims must play a central role in all future peace summits, negotiations and other efforts by the international community to end the conflict.

Given serious concerns about the ability and willingness of the Ivorian national courts to try these crimes and about the degree of social and political instability in the country, justice for Ivorian victims of serious international crimes requires significant support and engagement from the international community.¹³⁹

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should take concrete steps to lay the groundwork for an investigation into war crimes by all sides to the Ivorian armed conflict at the earliest possible opportunity. The chief prosecutor announced on January 28, 2005 that he would send a team to Côte d’Ivoire to lay the groundwork for a possible investigation of war crimes.¹⁴⁰ The prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, was acting on an ad hoc request to the ICC by the Ivorian government in September 2003 that had sought its help to bring the rebels to justice. Ocampo said government officials could also face eventual prosecution.¹⁴¹