28 August 2001
Abidjan — Leading government officials in Côte d'Ivoire have deliberately encouraged a culture of violent xenophobia that is threatening to destabilise the country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) of New York reported on Tuesday.
In a new report titled 'The New Racism: The Political Manipulation of Ethnicity in Côte d'Ivoire,' HRW describes atrocities committed during presidential and parliamentary elections in October and December 2000 based on interviews with victims and witnesses. It cites more than 200 killings in the past year as well as incidents of torture, rape and arbitrary detentions.
Most of the victims come from the largely Muslim north or are immigrants to Côte d'Ivoire. Opposition leader Alassane Ouattara and his party Le Rassemblement des Republicains largely draw their support from these groups.
"Africans have often been the victims of racism but they can also be its perpetrators," Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa Division of HRW, said.
Earlier this month eight gendarmes were found not guilty of killing 57 civilians whose bodies were found in a forest clearing on the outskirts of the commercial capital, Abidjan. Several human rights organisations and investigation teams, including one from the United Nations, concur that the gendarmerie bear the greatest responsibility for the killings. The bodies were discovered a few days after the October 2000 presidential election in which the leader of the opposition Front Populaire Ivoirien, Laurent Gbagbo, deposed military ruler General Robert Guei.
Following Gbagbo's victory, HRW says, security forces began targeting civilians solely on the basis of their religion, ethnic group or national origin. Atrocities committed by the authorities include the shooting of civilians in several smaller killings, the torture of hundreds of detainees held by the police and the gendarmerie, the disappearance of at least 15 young men and the sexual abuse of young women by gendarmes and police.
HRW acknowledges that Gbagbo was not the first leader to manipulate ethnic tensions for political gain. His predecessors Robert Guei and President Henri Konan Bedie prevented Ouattara from standing in elections on the ground that he was a foreigner. Moreover, since 1995 when President Henri Konan Bedie invoked a concept of 'Ivoriete' or Ivorian-ness there have been several outbreaks of violence against foreigners, HRW reported.
HRW published the report just a few days before the opening of the World Conference against Racism in Durban on 31 August. The conference, HRW says, should condemn the Ivorian leaders who have promoted intolerance based on ethnic and religious differences.
"In Côte d'Ivoire we see the kind of intolerance and bigotry that the Racism Conference is designed to address. The Ivoirian leaders and security forces responsible for these atrocities must be widely condemned and brought to justice," Takirambudde said.
Over three decades after independence from France in 1960 Côte d'Ivoire, ruled by President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, was seen as a pillar of stability and attracted immigrants from around West Africa. About 25 percent of the population of Côte d'Ivoire was born abroad or is descended from immigrants.
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