by Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast– Hundreds of people have been killed in Ivory Coast since the mid-December election in which opposition leader Alassane Ouattara beat long-time incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.  The results, which have been certified by the U.N. and are internationally recognized, show Ouattara winning with an eight point margin.  Despite this, Gbagbo has refused to hand over power and there is strong evidence that he is coordinating military attacks against those who voted for Ouattara.

Since mid-December as many as 300 people have been killed.  However, the number of those murdered could be higher.  Since the election, Gbagbo has refused to release the bodies of the dead, halting autopsies on bodies with gun-shot wounds.  These bodies have remained at the city morgues and continue to come, with another 22 people killed this week alone.  Reporters with the Associated Press investigated in the former capital of Abidjan and found as many as 113 bodies at 9 different morgues.  The U.N. believes another morgue is holding 80 bodies, calling these cites “mass graves”.  Morgue employees told the AP that government officials stand guard at the morgues to monitor all activity.  The government is also refusing the release the names of many of the bodies being held and family members have had to physically search through the remains to try and identify their missing loved ones.

Gbagbo, who has been in power for the last ten years, has been suspected of carrying out ‘government death squads’ since 2002.  These squads are accused of ‘disappearing’ people and many are still missing.  One such individual, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, worked for a non-profit group that was associated with Ouattara during the election.  Coulibaly was thrown into a vehicle after soldiers surrounded the café he was at and started shooting.  His family has not seen him since and has not been able to find anything that points to his whereabouts.

The victims have been those who either supported Ouattara or those even suspected of supporting his campaign.  Many of the killings have occurred in the northern region of the country which is predominately Muslim and supported Outtara who himself is a Muslim from the north.  The names obtained by the AP indicate the victims of these killings are Muslim.

The U.N. has repeatedly been denied access to sites of reported mass graves and entrance to the government-run morgues.  A report prepared by the human rights division of the U.N. stated:

The fact that we have been prevented twice from conducting a fact-finding mission. . .suggests that there may be some truth in the alleged existence of a mass grave in that area and/or deposit of 60 to 80 corpses at a mortuary in Anyama.

For more information, please see;

Reuters- Nearly 300 Killed in Ivory Coast Violence, UN Says– 10 Feb., 2011

AFP– At Least 296 Killed in Ivory Coast Unrest: UN– 10 FeB., 2011

AP- AP Impact: New Proof of Ivory Coast Vote Killings– 15 FeB., 2011