1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Côte d’Ivoire

Amnesty to review human rights situation

Amnesty International logo [OLD] Amnesty International
Amnesty International says Equatorial Guinea must put an end to executions
A team from the international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, arrived in Cote d'Ivoire on Monday to investigate human rights violations perpetrated since the beginning of an armed conflict in the West African country. The 10-day mission will focus mainly on the economic capital, Abidjan, where Amnesty plans to investigate 'Death squads'- groups of armed men in military uniforms who have kidnapped and killed - usually at night - opposition activists and other civilians in recent months. The four-member mission will meet President Laurent Gbagbo, officials of the defence and justice ministries, other top government officials, political leaders and representatives of civil society, Amnesty sources told IRIN on Tuesday. The team is also scheduled to visit prisons and other detention centres, something Amnesty was unable to do during its last mission - in October 2002. Security forces had said then that such visits required a "green light" from the Minister of Defence even though, according to Amnesty, Justice Minister Desire Tagro had authorised the visits. The Abidjan mission follows last week's highly publicized report on killings committed by Cote d'Ivoire's main rebel group, the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire. The report accused the MPCI of executing soldiers, gendarmes and their children. The MPCI denied this, saying the victims died in the heat of battle. Amnesty called on the Ivorian government to ensure the team's protection so that its mission could be conducted "without obstacles and intimidations", the organisation said in a communique. It recalled that during its October mission, a delegation member was arrested by security forces as he spoke with women who had lost their homes as a result of the destruction of shantytowns. According to Amnesty, the team member - Gaetan Mootoo - and the women were eventually released on the order of Minister Tagro. Mootoo is participating in the present mission, along with Demba Cire Bathily, Alex Neve and Hubert Dubois. For more information from Amnesty on Cote d'Ivoire

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

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join