IRIN Focus on hopes for sustainable reconciliation // Year ender//

In the last 12 months Cote d'Ivoire has striven to emerge from the shadows of political and economic instability that has plagued it since a coup d'etat just over two years ago. The 24 December 1999 coup toppled President Henri Konan Bedie, leader of the ruling Parti democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), that had been in power since independence from France in 1960. It brought into office Cote d'Ivoire’s first military ruler, General Robert Guei. Guei, leader of a military junta, headed a turbulent period in the country's political history. In the nine months leading up to presidential elections in October 2000 and spilling over into early 2001, Cote d'Ivoire witnessed army mutinies, reports of assassination and coup attempts, demonstrations against foreigners, electoral violence and arrests, human rights abuses, increased crime and generalised instability. During late 2000 and early 2001, ethnic and religious division was heightened. Various human rights groups reported rights abuses by security forces, targeting mainly people from northern Cote d’Ivoire, where the main opposition leader, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, and his Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) party draw much support. But the latter part of the year saw a turnaround. Highpoints include the holding of a national reconciliation forum which brought together hundreds of representatives from political parties, civil society and academia, as well as the country’s four main political leaders, Bedie, Guei, Ouattara and President Laurent Gbagbo. The forum, which dominated the last three months of 2001, was held in response to events in Cote d'Ivoire since the 1999 coup. The first bout of electoral violence came when Guei declared himself winner of presidential elections held in October 2000, after suspending the publication of the results. But he was forced from office by mass street demonstrations in Abidjan. Gbagbo was declared winner and officially sworn in as president on 26 October. Protests by the RDR calling for the annulment of the election, from which Ouattara had been barred by the Supreme Court, were followed by clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters, as well as clashes between protesters and security forces. The upheavals resulted in the death of some 300 people, including 57 young men whose bullet riddled bodies were discovered in a forest clearing in Yopougon, a suburb of Abidjan, on 27 October. Reports by international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch incriminated the gendarmes (security forces) in the killing of the men. However eight gendarmes accused of their murder were acquitted by a military court and released. The reopening of the inquiry into the Yopougon massacre was among recommendations made by the steering committee of the forum, which ended on 18 December 2001, and submitted to Gbagbo. In his closing speech to the forum, Gbagbo responded to each of the recommendations, including the one that suggested delivering a certificate of nationality to Ouattara. "Let us leave it in the hands of the judiciary", Gbagbo said. Ouattara's nationality has been a source of division within Cote d'Ivoire's political class for several years, culminating in the rejection by the authorities of his bid to run for president and parliament. In both cases, he was declared ineligible because he was unable to prove that his parents were Ivorian. To be eligible, the constitution says, candidates must be Ivorian nationals of Ivorian parentage and must never have held another nationality. Ouattara's opponents say his parents were from Burkina Faso and that he has used Burkinabe nationality in the past, which he denies. The RDR boycotted presidential and parliamentary elections in protest against the barring of its leader. Analysts said that while the recommendation that Ouattara be awarded a certificate of nationality was a welcome step, it would only solve part of the problem. The crux of the dispute, they point out, lies in Ouattara's eligibility for political office which does not automatically follow a recognition of citizenship. Political commentator, Constant Zeze, told IRIN the forum and its outcome were positive and will have a beneficial effect on the country. Despite the continuing impasse over Ouattara's eligibility, RDR spokesman Aly Coulibaly told IRIN that, overall, the party approved the resolutions and recommendations put forward at the forum. "The forum was a stage in the process of reconciliation,” he said. “It was necessary to organise. We think that the resolutions will bring peace." Other events during the year which indicate a lessening of tension include the release of political prisoners and the holding of peaceful municipal elections. Several opposition members detained since the political unrest in 2000 and a failed coup in January 2001 were released during the course of the year. These included Coulibaly. Local elections that took place in March were commended by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), who praised the "spirit of concord displayed during the recent municipal elections in Cote d'Ivoire". Observers said the elections were generally fair although marred by violence in a few areas of the southwest of the country between indigenes and migrants from other parts of the country who supported opposing candidates. While the coup had led to strained relations with neighbouring countries and the international community, and worsened the economic situation, there are indications that better times lie ahead. France resumed aid in February 2001 after a 14-month suspension to help its former colony regain "stability and democracy," according to its foreign ministry. A visiting delegation from the European Union (EU), which had suspended cooperation after the coup, said in November 2001 that following "significant evolutions", a resumption of full economic aid and cooperation was likely to occur in early 2002. Partial aid was restored in the middle of 2001. The International Monetary Fund, which had also suspended cooperation, recently agreed to discuss with the government a three-year programme to reduce poverty and encourage economic growth. However, 2001 also had its share of negative developments, including a failed coup of 7 January, when armed men simultaneously attacked the state-owned radio and television stations, a gendarmerie camp in Abidjan and the home of President Gbagbo. The government accused neighbouring countries of supporting the coup makers who, it said, included non-Ivorians. Prior to the coup attempt Gbagbo had accused the Liberian government of allowing Guei to recruit mercenaries in Liberia, a claim which was denied. Cote d'Ivoire also accused "armed elements from Malian territory" of perpetuating violence in the north of the country during parliamentary elections in December. Continuing rights abuses against foreigners, particularly Burkinabe and northerners, were also documented during the earlier part of the year. In February, the Ivorian human rights league, LIDHO, issued a statement deploring abuses by security officials against foreigners, accusing them of extorting money, seizing and sometimes destroying identity documents. The recently ended national reconciliation forum recommended a tightening of immigration laws and a reform of the judiciary. Land disputes also caused death and displacement. In May, six people were killed and around 1,000 displaced following a dispute between an indigene and a Burkinabe in the village of Goya, some 450 km west of Abidjan, the Ivorian Red Cross reported. What does 2002 hold for Cote d'Ivoire? According to Zeze, if the country’s politicians fight their battles within the boundaries of law and democracy, Cote d’Ivoire could become an example for other African countries of democratic co-existence between opposition parties and government.