UN appoints commission to investigate atrocities

In response to widespread reports of atrocities since the presidential election in November, on April 12th the UN Human Rights Council appointed a team of experts to investigate. UN workers have uncovered over 500 bodies in the west of the country, and at least 400 others are believed to have been killed in Abidjan. Human rights organisations estimate that over 1,500 people have been killed in the four months since the election, with massacres reported in Duékoué, Guiglo and Bloléquin. In Duékoué as many as 1,000 people were massacred on March 29th-30th, many of them from the Guéré ethnic group (which supported Laurent Gbagbo), and 30,000 people are still taking refuge in the grounds of the local Catholic mission there; a further 85 were killed in Bloléquin. In addition, Human Rights Watch has reported dozens of rapes, beatings and murders, as well as the burning of ten villages in western Côte d'Ivoire. The atrocities have been blamed on a myriad of perpetrators, including Liberian mercenaries fighting alongside pro-Gbagbo militias and traditional hunters (dozos) fighting alongside the rebels, as well as locals settling scores with their neighbours.

Responding to international outrage at the violence the new president, Alassane Ouattara, has promised to co-operate with the UN investigation and to bring those responsible to justice, even if they are pro-Ouattara forces. This point was emphasised by his justice minister, Jeannot Ahoussou, who admitted that rebel forces had been involved in the killing of up to 70 people in Duékoué, although he insisted that the pro-Gbagbo forces were responsible for the majority of the killings. It is possible that attacks against civilians could be judged by the UN as crimes against humanity, which could lead to indictments by the International Criminal Court. The investigation, which is to report to the UN Security Council by mid-June, is certain to raise awkward questions for both Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouattara, and will test the latter's ability to hold his rebel alliance together if, as is likely, some of its members are held to account for their involvement in atrocities. However, it could also prove awkward for the UN mission in Côte d'Ivoire, which had 1,000 troops in Duékoué, but failed to stop the massacre of hundreds of civilians there.