Abidjan — Reports from Daloa, Cote dIvoires western cocoa heartland, say men in military uniform have been carrying out arbitrary killings of civilians in the town, since it was recaptured from rebels by government forces last week.
Daloas mainly Muslim, Dioula community appears to be the target, with reports that dozens of men have been summarily executed, "by people wearing camouflage". Sources who wished to remain anonymous told journalists that Daloas Dioula, and hundreds of other Muslim residents, had taken refuge in the towns main mosque in fear for their lives and of retaliation by government forces.
Some are calling it a witch hunt targetted at northerners, many of whom complain that their part of the country has been marginalized by the authorities in the capital.
Reports early Tuesday said hundreds of demonstrators tried and failed to breach the main gate of the permanent French military base, close to the airport in Cote dIvoires economic capital, Abidjan. The protestors were demanding that the French hand over Alassane Dramane Ouattara, a Muslim northerner and the main opposition leader and one-time Ivorian prime minister, who took refuge at the French Embassy residence in Abidjan after the failed coup of September 19.
The Dioula, who originate from northern Cote dIvoire, are perceived by many Ivorians to be natural supporters of the rebels, many of whom are also Muslim northerners. The dissident soldiers briefly held Daloa, the countrys cocoa capital, until they were dislodged by loyalist troops in bitter fighting last week, days before signing a ceasefire agreement on Thursday.
An official communiqué explained away early reports of such abuses, saying people masquerading as government soldiers were carrying out human rights violations "to discredit the Ivorian army and security forces".
"For some time, individuals with evil intentions, who are disguised and dressed in military uniforms, have been committing acts of violence of all kinds against a certain section of the population," a Defence Ministry statement broadcast on national television declared last Saturday, giving no other details.
A senior government official repeated similar claims this week. But on Monday night, the Ivorian army spokesman warned that troops who commit atrocities could be shot on sight.
But more and more testimony from Daloas Dioula community points to reprisal attacks against, and even killings of, Muslim residents. Desperate and frightened telephone callers from the town have contacted allAfrica.com and other international news organizations to report missing family members and friends and to relate even grimmer tales.
Some describe how Dioula men, especially heads of households, were being singled out, led away and, in some cases, shot dead. Asked how they were identified as Dioula, one anonymous caller told the BBC that the soldiers were led to houses, probably by informers, who considered the Dioula community to be rebel sympathisers.
"These men in fatigues enter houses and strip the men naked, looking for talismans and amulets that we Muslims wear. If they find them, they take the men away. If they dont find anything, then they take money or whatever electrical goods they see before they go," said the unidentified BBC caller. Many others have repeated similar stories. They say Muslim households in Daloa have been deserted, as their owners flee in search of safe houses or seek shelter in the mosque.
Asked whether the local authorities had been contacted to report these crimes, the anonymous caller said the provincial prefect had informed them that an investigation would be conducted, but they should meanwhile return to their homes. "But people do not want to go back home as long as this continues. I am so afraid that I dont live at home," he said.
The BBC reported that Muslims who asked to bury their dead in Daloa were warned that if they attempted such a move, they would meet a similar fate.
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Radio France Internationale featured another caller from Daloa who said that not only northern Ivorian Dioula, but also residents from neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea were being targeted, "some killed in cold blood".
The Daloa resident said the Muslim community elders was having no success trying to organize a meeting with the local military authorities. "From what we have been able to gather, there are about least twenty bodies lying out there (in the neighbourhood of Orly Deux). The Red Cross went to investigate and we are waiting to hear what they have to say."
After the failed September 19 coup, the Cote dIvoire government obliquely blamed unidentified "northern neighbours" of being behind the rebellion. Reports last week said Muslim-owned shops and businesses were attacked in Daloa, once the rebels lost control of the town to government forces.
