It is Urgent to Prevent the Escalation to a Civil War

FIDH organised a fact-finding mission in Côte d’Ivoire from February 22 to March 2, 2011 to identify the human rights violations perpetrated in the post-electoral context. The mission delegates fear that the country is sinking into the abyss under the eyes of the international community.

The political crisis prevailing in Cote d’Ivoire since the second round of the November 28 presidential election, and which arose after the former president, Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to step down despite the election results, has been accompanied by a wave of violence and repression of which civilians have been the main victims. According to the information gathered by the FIDH mission, since the second round of the elections, there have been nearly 400 people killed
and 68 enforced disappearances. Human rights organisations have identified hundreds of injured, hundreds of cases of torture and mistreatment,
hundreds of arbitrary arrests and detentions as well as allegations of sexual crimes. This alarming report is far from being exhaustive and will most likely
worsen every day. Throughout the course of its mission, FIDH witnessed the sudden deterioration of the situation in Abidjan, and fears that the outbreak of an armed conflict is imminent.

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