By Tamara Alfred

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Wednesday to face charges of murder, rape and other crimes allegedly committed by his supporters after last year’s election.  He is scheduled to appear before judges at a hearing Monday afternoon to confirm his identity and that he understands his rights as a suspect and the charges against him.

Gbagbo, 66, is the first former head of state arrested by the court since it was established in 2002.  After having been under house arrest since his arrest in April, Gbagbo was transferred to the court in The Hague on an overnight flight on Tuesday.  He is the sixth suspect taken into custody by the court, which has launched seven investigations, all of them in Africa.  In fact, Gbagbo will now be sharing a cell block with former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is awaiting for a verdict in his trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges of orchestrating atrocities in Sierra Leone.

“Mr. Gbagbo is brought to account for his individual responsibility in the attacks against civilians committed by forces acting on his behalf,” Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

The court charged Gbagbo with individual criminal responsibility as indirect co-perpetrator, for four counts of crimes against humanity – murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, and other inhuman acts.  In his application for authorization to investigate possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, Moreno-Ocampo cited sources who said at least 3,000 people were killed, 72 people disappeared and 520 other were subject to arbitrary arrest and detentions after Gbagbo refused to concede defeat following the presidential election last year.  President Ouattara eventually took power in April of this year after help from French and United Nations (UN) forces.

Gbagbo, a history professor, came to power in a flawed election in 2000.  He failed to hold elections when his first five-year term expired and reschedule the vote a half-dozen times before it finally went ahead in November 2010.

News of Gbagbo’s arrest sparked both elation and anger in Abidjan, which is still divided into neighborhoods supporting Gbagbo or Ouattara.

“This is a great day for Laurent Gbagbo’s victims, for the people of Cote d’Ivoire, for international justice,” said Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch.  “This is a very important message to all the leaders in the world that if they use the atrocities and crime to stay in power that they too could face justice.”

Adama Diomande, a local leader of Ouattara’s political party, says there are 42 bodies in the mass grave and a total of 91 people were killed in the neighborhood during the post-election fighting.

Moreno-Ocampo stressed, however, that both sides of the political divide in Ivory Coast committed crimes and that his investigation is continuing.  “We have evidence that the violence did not happen by chance: widespread and systematic attacks against civilians perceived as supporting the other candidate were the result of a deliberate policy,” he said.

The UN, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have all documented how forces loyal to Ouattara torched villages that voted for Gbagbo, and executed those that could not run away.  The elderly and the disabled were killed by rolling them inside mattresses and then setting them on fire.

Brody said Gbagbo’s indictment was only half the story as victims of crimes by forces loyal to Ouattara have so far gone unpunished.  “This created the perception of victor’s justice.  And if the cycle of violence in Cote d’Ivoire is to stop there has to be justice that is even handed and justice for the victims on both sides.”

“Ivorian victims will see justice for massive crimes,” Moreno-Ocampo said.  “Mr. Gbagbo is the first to be brought to account, there is more to come.”

Additionally, Gbagbo’s arrest comes a week before parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Ivory Coast.  Three political parties in an umbrella coalition with Gbagbo’s Front Populaire Ivoirien issued a statement saying they would boycott the elections as a result of Gbagbo’s transfer.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Former Ivory Coast president in international court custody – 30 November 2011

Huffington Post – Laurent Gbagbo: International Criminal Court Charges Former Ivory Coast President With Crimes Against Humanity – 30 November 2011

Reuters – Gbagbo faces charges of crimes against humanity: ICC – 30 November 2011

By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – Despite an ongoing threat of further bloodshed, elections took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s least developed country, Monday to determine the constitution of the war-torn country’s government.  Attacks over the weekend killed at least nine people, forcing the cancellation of some campaign events.

Monday’s elections were only the second in which the entire country was eligible to vote.  Up to 32 million Congolese waited out delays that marred the proceedings as officials struggled to deliver materials to the polls.  In some places, polling stations opened late, while others were so remote that helicopters were deployed to bring ballots.  Though polls were supposed to have closed, they may remain open to allow all to vote because some of them never opened.

The ballots themselves were a problem in many locations.

“It was not really a ballot paper – more like a broadsheet newspaper,” said the BBC’s Will Ross, reporting from the capital, Kinshasa.  “For the national assembly election in central Kinshasa there were 13 pages packed with candidates’ faces.”

The 500-member parliament had more than 18,000 candidates running for seats.  In some districts, the candidates were listed by number and by name, a requirement for a country where a third of the adult population can neither read nor write.  As a result, some voters brought slips of paper filled out by relatives to provide their chosen politician by number.  Even with this assistance, the numbers did not always match the names.  Problems such as this lead watchers to believe that the election’s legitimacy could be delegitimized.

“It’s like leading an animal to the slaughterhouse. It doesn’t realize until it gets there what is in store for it,” said Jerome Bonso, coordinator of the Coalition for Peaceful and Transparent Elections. “They led us into this election. The population was not prepared for it. And now there is a real risk of conflict when the results come out.”

Eleven candidates are running for a five-year term as president, including incumbent Joseph Kabila, who has been accused of attempting to rig the election in his favor.  The son of Laurent Kabila, the man who overthrew longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Kabila has seen his popularity decline since his election in 2006; Mobutu’s son is one of his opponents.  United Nations observers have reported that his backers have employed multiple underhanded tactics, including stuffing ballot boxes and voter intimidation and bribery.

Despite the questions of how free and fair the elections may be, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and MP Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative – Stafford) considered the number of registered voters and registered candidates “a triumph for democracy” in an opinion piece for the Huffington Post.   But that alone is not enough.

“Often the biggest mistake made in peace-building is the belief that, when emerging from conflict, a good election will solve everything,” they added.  “But regular and sound elections are only a first step. Free and fair elections are crucial, but it is what happens between elections that is most important.”

For more information, please see:

BBC — DR Congo Votes Amid Delays and Violence — 28 November 2011

Huffington Post — Congo at a Crossroads — 28 November 2011

Jakarta Globe — DR Congo Votes after Campaign Marred by Violence — 28 November 2011

New York Times — Millions Vote in Congo Despite Fears of Violence — 28 November 2011

Star Tribune — Violence, Late Ballots in Congo May Mar Vote in Sub-Saharan Africa’s Biggest Nation — 28 November 2011

By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JUBA, South Sudan – Explosions rocked the border between Sudan and South Sudan after the bombing of a civilian refugee encampment in Yida.  The South Sudanese army estimates that five people were killed and 26 were wounded as a result.  Following the attack, Oxfam, a British humanitarian organization, removed its staff from the area.

“New bombing raids and a buildup of troops along the border of Sudan and South Sudan over the past few days threaten to escalate what is already a significant humanitarian crisis in the newest country in the world,” a statement said.

Oxfam, which had been providing clean water to the area, was concerned by the attack, calling for a ceasefire so that humanitarian organizations such as it can return to the area, from which over 50,000 people have fled since hostilities began.

“Thousands of refugees are still coming across the border from Blue Nile. They have fled attacks and walked for days to reach a place they thought would be safe – but instead they are now facing more violence. In desperate need of food, water and shelter, the refugees now receive virtually nothing when they arrive,” said Sanjay Awasthi, head of the organization’s mission there.

South Sudan has been in existence for about six months, pursuant to a peace treaty that ended a long-running civil war.  But since then, new violence has taken its place, creating fear that its northern neighbor might attempt to take back its lost territory.  The United Nations was quick to accuse Sudan of conducting the bombing.  The country has denied the attack’s taking place.

“This information is completely false. We didn’t bomb any camps or any areas inside the borders of South Sudan,” said Sudan Armed Forces spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad.

Despite the claim, the U.N. mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported that two bombs fell inside the camp.  Three more fell outside the camp.  Oxfam said that workers saw planes flying overhead.  Camp residents told the media that they identified the planes as a kind that the Sudanese forces used as a bomber.  The U.N. agreed, and had been seeking to relocate the refugees away from the border.  But according to Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, heavy rains had made the trip impossible.

In the meantime, the Human Rights Council seeks an investigation of the incident, as human rights violations may have taken place.  High Commissioner Navi Pillay considered the available information a clear sign that a bombing had taken place.

“There needs to be an independent, thorough and credible investigation to establish the precise circumstances of this aerial bombing,” she said. “If indeed it is established that an international crime or serious human rights violation has been committed, then those responsible should be brought to justice.”

The border between the two countries has been the site of fighting between rebel groups ever since South Sudan’s formation.  Sudan believes that an organization based in Darfur formed an alliance with rebel groups in the south in order to overthrow the northern country’s government.

For more information, please see:

Gurtong Focus — Oxfam Removes Staff from South Sudan Border after Violence — 14 November 2011

New York Times — Major Humanitarian Group Leaves a South Sudan Region — 13 November 2011

BBC — South Sudan Unity State Bombing: U.N. Calls for Inquiry — 11 November 2011

New York Times — U.N. Officials Accuse Sudan of a Bombing — 11 November 2011

Oxfam — Oxfam Relocates Staff after Surge in Violence Along Sudan-South Sudan Border — 11 November 2011

United Nations — U.N. Calls for Probe into Sudanese Bombing of Refugee Camp — 11 November 2011

New York Times — South Sudan Accuses Sudan of Bombing Civilian Camps Amid Fears of War — 10 November 2011