Ouattara's forces said to commit abuses
April 11, 2011, Monday
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FORCES loyal to Cote d'Ivoire's democratically elected president killed hundreds of civilians, raped his rival's supporters and burned villages during an offensive in the country's west, a human rights group said.
Human Rights Watch called on Alassane Ouattara to investigate and prosecute abuses by his forces and those supporting his rival, strongman Laurent Gbagbo.
The group also said that forces loyal to Gbagbo killed more than 100 civilians to retaliate against pro-Ouattara fighters who launched a major offensive advancing toward Abidjan.
Gbagbo is holed up in a bunker in his residence in Abidjan. After a decade in power, he still refuses to step aside even though the United Nations has ruled that he lost the November presidential election to Ouattara.
Intervention
After four months of diplomacy, Ouattara gave the go-ahead for a military intervention led by fighters from a former rebel group. They swept across the country, advancing hundreds of kilometers and taking dozens of cities in a matter of days before being held up at the door of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's biggest and most strategically important city.
The UN yesterday said the Golf Hotel in Abidjan where Ouattara is based came under attack late Saturday and one peacekeeper was injured.
UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said that rockets and mortars landed on the hotel grounds shortly after UN forces came under attack nearby on Saturday evening. One peacekeeper was evacuated to hospital with serious injuries, he said.
Massere Toure, a communications adviser for Ouattara, said that a patrol sent out from the hotel was also ambushed on Saturday afternoon by forces loyal to Gbagbo. Gbagbo's forces broke out of the presidential compound on Saturday and advanced into position in the downtown core and near the Golf Hotel.
But the human rights group warned there is more going on outside Abidjan.
Atrocities
"While the international community has been focused on the political stalemate in Abidjan over the presidency, forces on both sides have committed numerous atrocities against civilians, their leaders showing little interest in reining them in," said Daniel Bekele, Human Rights Watch Africa director in the report obtained by The Associated Press late Saturday.
People interviewed by the group described how pro-Ouattara forces "summarily executed and raped perceived Gbagbo supporters in their homes, as they worked in the fields, as they fled, or as they tried to hide in the bush."
The report said that many of the abuses occurred from March 6-30, as villages in the west including Toulepleu, Doke, Blolequin, Duekoue and Guiglo fell to pro-Ouattara forces.
The UN said peacekeepers and human rights officials discovered about 60 bodies in the western town of Guiglo. The UN human rights agency said another 40 corpses were found lying the street in Blolequin.
Human Rights Watch called on Alassane Ouattara to investigate and prosecute abuses by his forces and those supporting his rival, strongman Laurent Gbagbo.
The group also said that forces loyal to Gbagbo killed more than 100 civilians to retaliate against pro-Ouattara fighters who launched a major offensive advancing toward Abidjan.
Gbagbo is holed up in a bunker in his residence in Abidjan. After a decade in power, he still refuses to step aside even though the United Nations has ruled that he lost the November presidential election to Ouattara.
Intervention
After four months of diplomacy, Ouattara gave the go-ahead for a military intervention led by fighters from a former rebel group. They swept across the country, advancing hundreds of kilometers and taking dozens of cities in a matter of days before being held up at the door of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's biggest and most strategically important city.
The UN yesterday said the Golf Hotel in Abidjan where Ouattara is based came under attack late Saturday and one peacekeeper was injured.
UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said that rockets and mortars landed on the hotel grounds shortly after UN forces came under attack nearby on Saturday evening. One peacekeeper was evacuated to hospital with serious injuries, he said.
Massere Toure, a communications adviser for Ouattara, said that a patrol sent out from the hotel was also ambushed on Saturday afternoon by forces loyal to Gbagbo. Gbagbo's forces broke out of the presidential compound on Saturday and advanced into position in the downtown core and near the Golf Hotel.
But the human rights group warned there is more going on outside Abidjan.
Atrocities
"While the international community has been focused on the political stalemate in Abidjan over the presidency, forces on both sides have committed numerous atrocities against civilians, their leaders showing little interest in reining them in," said Daniel Bekele, Human Rights Watch Africa director in the report obtained by The Associated Press late Saturday.
People interviewed by the group described how pro-Ouattara forces "summarily executed and raped perceived Gbagbo supporters in their homes, as they worked in the fields, as they fled, or as they tried to hide in the bush."
The report said that many of the abuses occurred from March 6-30, as villages in the west including Toulepleu, Doke, Blolequin, Duekoue and Guiglo fell to pro-Ouattara forces.
The UN said peacekeepers and human rights officials discovered about 60 bodies in the western town of Guiglo. The UN human rights agency said another 40 corpses were found lying the street in Blolequin.
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