Abidjan, Paris, 5 December 2024. In Ivory Coast, for those whose lives were shattered by the crimes committed after the 2010 presidential election, President Alassane Ouattara’s amnesty law represents an intolerable denial of justice. Although presented as a means to heal a divided society, the lack of prosecutions only perpetuates the violence and suffering of the victims. For them, judicial truth is irreplaceable.
"This amnesty has destroyed the hopes of justice for the victims of the post-electoral crisis, who placed their trust in the national justice system by joining as civil parties", says Drissa Traoré, lawyer and Secretary General of FIDH. "We urge the ECOWAS Court of Justice to declare these measures incompatible with regional and International Law, as well as with Ivory Coast’s commitments to human rights."
International law obligates states to prosecute those responsible for grave crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, to ensure that victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparations are upheld. The key regional and international treaties to which Ivory Coast is a party —including the Convention Against Torture, the Geneva Conventions, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court— mandate the prosecution of individuals suspected of committing such serious crimes.
"The appeal for abuse of power that our organisations submitted to the Council of State was dismissed. The cycle of impunity persists, leaving the victims without any possible recourse at the national level", says Willy Neth, President of LIDHO.
"The reconciliation imposed by the Ivorian authorities has been achieved at the expense of the victims and their fundamental right to truth, justice, and reparation", adds Drissa Bamba, President of MIDH.
The organisations’ request filed today, argues that the amnesty measure also violates the principles enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.