|
"No
war, No peace" in Cote d'Ivoire and the way
forward
Monday,
December 05, 2005
By
Emmanuel Abalo
The intractable climate
of ‘No war, No peace” in the West African nation
of Cote d’Ivoire, continues to challenge peace
efforts of the African Union and the United Nations,
and prolong economic and political instability in the
sub-region..
The once relatively
stable nation often referred to as the “Paris” of
Africa remains divided between the northerners who are
predominantly of foreign origin and Islamists, and the
southerners who are predominantly Christians.
The crisis in Cote
d'Ivoire finds its genesis in an attempted 1999
military coup which led to national elections in which
President Laurent Gbagbo emerged as the winner and a
second attempted coup by rebels in 2002 - all of which
have failed to address the gripe of the rebels.
In 2002, the rebels
known as the New Forces Movement launched their
rebellion and quickly took control of the northern
half of the country which also included the cocoa
belt. Cote d’Ivoire is the world largest cocoa
producer. Interestingly, the rebels did not trumpet
economic disparity as the centerpiece of their
rebellion. Instead, they have complained and maintain
that they have been discriminated against as
immigrants, and relegated to “second class’
citizens and denied political representation through
the promulgation of laws by the ‘Christian” south
dominated government of President Gbagbo
And so the rebels say
to address their concerns, they are demanding the
resignation of President Gbagbo, and new elections
held to end discrimination against northerners.
They rebels are also calling for a reintegration of
exiles into the Ivorian army and the premiership in
government.
The Ivorian President
is countering the rebels demand by demanding that they
surrender their weapons and areas they occupy.
International peace efforts by the former colonial
power France and the African Union have so far failed
to broker a deal to end the impasse resulting into a
fragile, but tense truce.
In November,
2004, government troops violated the 18-month
ceasefire by launching an attack on rebels’
positions. There were dozens of deaths among civilians
and the French military which is manning a buffer zone
between the belligerents suffered nine casualties. The
French military swiftly retaliated against the
military and destroyed that country’s air force.
The French government,
however, not wanting to become a victim of “mission
creep,” and not wanting to be perceived as
perpetuating its colonial influence ceded its peace
making role to an active African Union solution which
has the blessings of the United Nations. France has
about 4,000 troops in Cote d’Ivoire charged to
enforce the uneasy peace between the government and
the rebel forces.
The danger is that both
the Ivorian government and its supporters, and the
rebels led by Mr. Guillaune Soro are digging in along
political, ethnic and religious lines. Hate speech
against the rebels and immigrants, and media reports
supportive of President Gbagbo continues to fan
tensions. The rebels in their area of control are
reported to be utilizing cocoa resources to purchase
arms and ammunitions, engaging in human rights abuses
and benefiting personally from the stalemate.
According to a recent U.N. team of expert report,
“cocoa plays an important role in providing funds
for the off-budget and extra-budgetary military
procurement efforts of the Government.,"
Two years since 2003,
and after the Linas-Marcoussis Accord was signed by
the Ivorian government and rebels in France aimed at
settling the internal conflict, a resolution remains
elusive. The Peace Accord addresses the issues of
citizenship, presidential eligibility and land
ownership
At a U.S House
Committee Congressional hearing in February, 2003 on
the Ivorian situation, chaired by Republican
Representative Ed Royce, the Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs Mr. Walter Kansteiner a
panelist asserted the U.S. Administration’s position
when he said, “…we have made clear to all of Cote
d'Ivoire's neighbors that we cannot tolerate
interference to further destabilize the country. We,
and others, have made this point with particular
emphasis to President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso
and President Charles Taylor of Liberia. While both
presidents deny any connection with or support for the
rebels, circumstantial evidence suggests that there is
ample reason to remain concerned and vigilant…”
Burkina Faso and the
then Charles Taylor government have been accused by
the Ivorian government of “supporting, protecting
and training armed opposition groups, especially the
rebels.
Former President Taylor
was forced out of power by advancing Liberian rebels
in August, 2003, granted and remains in exile in
Calabar, Nigeria and under criminal indictment by the
United Nations backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.
There is enough blame
to go around in Cote d’Ivoire. However, the argument
can be made that both rebel northerners and the
government may have legitimate cases that need to be
addressed through constitutional and peaceful means,
in order to end the division of the country and
resolve the political impasse. But the use of force of
arms by either side to gain an advantage at the
“political table” is totally unacceptable and a
violation of international law.
Cote’d’ivoire
remains a “magnet” for mercenaries looking for
“work” in the sub region and the continued impasse
directly threaten the fragile peace in Sierra
Leone and Liberia. In late October, 2005, the
Washington DC based Human Rights Watch in a release
issued said, “… Since September, Ivorian army
officers and Liberian former commanders have been
conducting a recruitment drive seeking ex-combatants
in Liberian towns and villages bordering Côte
d'Ivoire.
The Ivorian government
is bolstering its military manpower by recruiting
children who fought in Liberia's brutal civil
war," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director
of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
"The international community must do all it can
to ensure that these children are demobilized and that
their recruiters are prosecuted."
In October, Human
Rights Watch interviewed 19 Liberian ex-combatants;
including three children ages 13 to 17. All of them
had been approached by Liberian and Ivorian recruiters
to join a fighting "mission" on behalf of
the Côte d'Ivoire's government. Several of those
interviewed, including the children, said that they
themselves were involved in the recruitment of
additional fighters…”
A striking cross border
threat is the fact that an ethnic conflagration may
erupt on the Liberian-Ivorian border, pitting the
Ivorian Guere tribe and their Liberian cousins
squarely behind President Gbagbo in a battle against
the Yacoubas who live on both sides of the borders,
and are reported to be sympathetic to the rebels.
There is also a large
Burkinabe poverty-ridden immigrant population in Cote
d‘Ivoire, who has complained of been harassed and
subjected to intimidation and violence by Ivorians in
the south, who accuse the Burkinabes of supporting the
rebels. Burkinabes from the homeland could come to the
defense of their fellow nationals in the instance of
an all out war between Cote d‘Ivoire and Burkina
Faso.
Religious fanatics’
and terrorists intent on attacking western interests
and their supporters may also gravitate to this West
African hotspot, establish a foothold and foment
trouble. After all, a stable West African sub region
is strategically important for continued economic,
military, social and political growth and dynamism.
The Way Forward
The solution here then
is the full implementation of the U.N. Security
Council Resolution backed by the African Union. A
recently passed U.N. Security Council resolution
supported allowing President Gbagbo up to 12
additional months in power, after presidential
elections scheduled for October, 2005 were deemed
impossible by the United Nations. Although peace
mediation efforts by an African head of state
delegation, the international community must insist
and make clear that the post of Prime Minister is
filled by a credible Ivorian candidate acceptable to
all sides, in order to facilitate a movement to a
national resolution.
According to latest
news reports, an Ivorian financial heavyweight Mr.
Konan Banny, who has been serving as the governor of
the Central Bank of West African States, has been
named as interim Prime Minister. Diplomatic and
political sources say the new interim Prime Minister
has a reputation for being “competent and
strong-willed.” . His mandate will be to disarm the
rebels and organize and conduct national elections
paving the way for a government to acceptable to all
sides.
The government and
rebels and their supporters must also be put on notice
by the United Nations and the African Union that they
will be indicted and prosecuted for war crimes, human
rights abuses and violation of international law if
they persist along this path.
We call on ordinary
Ivories to begin collecting and preserving evidence of
abuses by any side for potential criminal and civil
actions against those responsible.
Additionally, we urge
the imposition of economic and travel sanctions now
against those stifling the resolution of the Ivorian
crisis.
Never again should any
African warlord or insurgent group be rewarded with
the political power, except through the constitutional
and democratic process undertaken through free and
fair elections sanctioned by the international
community.
.Emmanuel Abalo is an exiled Liberian
journalist, media and human rights activist.
|
