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Cote d'Ivoire's human rights league, LIDHO (French acronym), has condemned the heavy-handedness used by security forces in their battle against rising crime, saying the agents must respect human rights while carrying out their duties.
"Insecurity certainly demands appropriate, robust dissuasive measures by the state, but it does not permit everything," LIDHO said.
In its declaration on Sunday illustrating police wrongdoing, the human rights body demanded that officials make clear the circumstances surrounding a recent police shooting of an Abidjan taxi driver. The incident - not the first - led to a strike by drivers of other private public transporter operators.
"LIDHO is taking this occasion to remind government of the requirements it has drawn up in respect to people killed by the gendarmes or police officers," the rights body said.
Meanwhile during his meeting on 15 March in Brussels, Belgium, with Ivorian Prime Minister Affi N'Guessan, the European Union Commission member for development and humanitarian aid, Poul Nielson, urged Cote d'Ivoire to remain focused on the issues of foreigners in the country and to act against unpunished crimes.
There has been an upsurge of robberies on banks, stores and travellers, and murders throughout the country, the rights body said, creating "a climate of insecurity for nationals and foreigners alike".
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
