Continued rights abuse could trigger more violence

Ongoing human rights abuse by the two sides in Cote d'Ivoire’s civil conflict, coupled with a continuing climate of impunity, threatens to mar efforts to organise presidential elections as scheduled next October, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday. Security forces and pro-government militia in the south, and rebels who control the north of the West African nation, remain free to harass civilians and extort money at roadblocks nationwide, the report said. The climate of almost total impunity "raises the risk of violence in the pre-election period and threatens the ability of individuals to exercise their political rights," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at HRW. "The international community should develop a concrete strategy to combat the pervasive impunity that could lead to pre-election violence in Côte d'Ivoire," he said. Cote d'Ivoire has been split into a government-run south and rebel north since a failed coup in September 2002. Presidential elections scheduled last year were postponed until October 2006 under a UN-backed plan as rebels and pro-government militia failed to hand in their guns. The rights group said that immigrants and Ivorians from the mainly Muslim north were still being systematically harassed during identity checks in the south, while people living in rebel territory complained of extortion, theft and arbitrary detainment. The abuse of civilians was aggravated during political crises, one example being an as-yet unexplained January attack on a military barracks in the main city Abidjan, that led to the arrest of scores of immigrants, the report said. "Despite increased talk of national unity on Ivorian radio, television and in the street, there is no mistaking that Cote d'Ivoire heads towards these elections strongly divided," the report warned. In January, the UN Security Council imposed a travel ban and asset freezes on three Ivorians seen as inciting violence or blocking the peace process. According to Human Rights Watch, the council should now consider sanctions against those responsible for serious human rights abuses. The group also recommended that the International Criminal Court investigate crimes committed by rebels and government forces as "this would send a strong signal that the era of impunity in Cote d'Ivoire must be addressed and that further violence ... will not go unpunished". pb/ccr