By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DUEKOUE, Ivory Coast – The International Committee of the Red Cross (Red Cross) reports that a massacre has taken place in western Ivory Coast. The Red Cross estimates that at least 800 people were killed in this attack while the United Nations claims over 330 people are dead. During the past week violence has increased in many parts of Ivory Coast as followers loyal to president-elect Alassane Ouattara have captured parts of the country held by forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo.

The massacre took place in the town of Duekoue on March 29 and left hundreds of people dead. According to Red Cross spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitas, the massacre was a result of “inter-communal” violence. The killings came at a time when forces loyal to Mr. Ouattara were sweeping through the region heading towards the city of Abidjan.

There is disagreement about who is responsible for the killings and exactly how many people died. The Red Cross is not sure whether this attack was undertaken by forces loyal to Mr. Ouattara or Mr. Gbagbo. Each side has accused the other of perpetrating the attack. Kelnor Panglun, a Red Cross spokesman who has been to Duekoue said “It’s truly horrific. We don’t have any information about the authors of these killings.” Alternatively, Guillaume Ngefa, the deputy human rights director at the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast claims that 220 people were killed by force loyal to Mr. Ouattara while at least 100 people were killed by forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo. On Sunday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Mr. Ouattara to launch an investigation into the attack.

Violence in Ivory Coast has fluctuated since the disputed November election but this past week has seen a spike in the number of people killed and injured. According to the Caritas charity website, between March 27 and 29 at least 1,000 people have been killed or disappeared. Along with these deaths, up to a million people have been forced to flee their homes since the election. This has led to a massive humanitarian crisis for both Ivory Coast and its neighbors. In Liberia, Ivory Coast’s neighbor to the west, up to a 120,000 Ivorians have crossed the border overwhelming U.N. refugee camps that have been set up.

Contributing to the violence and unrest, during the past five days forces loyal to Mr. Ouattara have successfully captured over 80 percent of Ivory Coast. While Mr. Ouattara has made gains, power and legitimacy is slipping away from Mr. Gbagbo. Reports claim several of his military generals have defected to the opposition or fled the country. Moreover, he has lost control of critical infrastructure including the Abidjan airport.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Ivory Coast: UN presses Ouattara over Duekoue massacre – 2 April 2011

CNN – Red Cross: 800 killed in Ivory Coast town – 2 April 2011

The Sydney Morning Herald — 800 dead in Ivory Coast massacre – 4 April 2011

The Times of India — UN chief presses Ouattara over Ivory Coast massacre – 3 April 2011

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up to one million people have fled the escalating violence in Ivory Coast. The UNHCR, along with other aid agencies, has not been able to access the western part of Ivory Coast due to increasing violence. Additionally, the United Nations Human Rights Council is sending a commission to investigate allegations of human rights abuses.

The number of refugees trying to escape the violence in Ivory Coast, and in particular the city of  Abidjan, has nearly double over the past two weeks. The most recent report from UNHCR claims the number of refugees has increased from half a million up to one million people. Specifically, the UNHCR has warned that somewhere between 700,000 and 1,000,000 people have fled their homes since the November election.

Violent clashes are taking place between forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, the president-elect. Much of the heavy fighting is occurring in and around the city of Abidjan. Consequently, most of the refugees being displaced are also from Abidjan.  The UNHCR has noted heavily populated neighborhoods such as Abodo, Adjamame, Willaimsville and Yopougon have seen many of their residents leave as violent clashes have intensified.

Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba, a UNHCR spokeswoman for Africa, said her agency is finding new pockets of displaced people in Abidjan on a daily basis. UNHCR believes refugees are fleeing Abidjan for the more peaceful northern, central, and eastern regions of the country.

Further complicating this situation are reports that Liberian militiamen have been crossing the western border of Ivory Coast to loot, rape, and kill. The UNHCR does not believe these mercenaries are an extension of the Liberian government but simply groups of armed men who are taking advantage of the chaos in Ivory Coast. Aid agencies have curtailed operations in the western region of Guiglo because law and order has broken down and the police force is not operating.  In one incident, the UNHCR claims that English-speaking mercenaries, likely Liberians, looted a warehouse and office complex making off with supplies, office furniture, and pick-up trucks.

The United Nation Human Rights Council is sending a delegation to Ivory Coast to investigate post-election violence. Specifically, the Council has approved a request to establish a Commission of Inquiry that will look into allegations of human rights abuses that have taken place since the November 28th election. According to Human Rights Watch Director Julie de Rivero, the situation in Ivory Coast includes a “steady crescendo of abuses including targeted killings, enforced disappearances, politically motivated rape, and indiscriminate shelling.” De Rivero also notes the actions of the Council in “establishing a Commission of Inquiry for Cote d’Ivoire sends a strong signal to all parties to the conflict that they will be held accountable for their actions.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — UN: One million flee Cote d’Ivoire violence – 25 March 2011

AOL News — ‘Humanitarian Tragedy’ Unfolding in Ivory Coast – 25 March 2011

BBC — Ivory Coast: One million refugees feared, UNHCR says –25 March 2011

Bloomberg – UN Human Rights Council to Send Commission to Ivory Coast – 25 March 2011

BusinessWeek — Ivory Coast Unrest Forces Up to 1 Million to Flee, UN Says – 25 March 2011

Human Rights Watch – UN: Rights Body Acts Decisively on Iran, Cote d’Ivoire – 25 March 2011

Voice of America — UN: One Million Flee Ivory Coast Violence as Crisis Deepens – 25 March 2011

Zee News — Liberian mercenaries ‘loot, rape, kill’ in Ivory Coast – 26 March 2011

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – A special unit of Uganda’s police force routinely engages in brutal torture of prisoners, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch.

Thirteen months of research and testimony from more than one hundred interviews with former detainees, their families and members of the police unit exposed a unit that carries out torture, extortion and sometimes, extrajudicial killings, which are deliberate unlawful killings by security forces.

The R.R.U., created by President Yoweri Museveni in 2002 as an ad hoc security entity, was renamed the Rapid Response Unit in 2007. The unit makes arrests for crimes ranging from petty offenses to terrorism. Last year, it assisted the United States investigate terrorist attacks in Kampala during the World Cup, in which seventy people died.

A Human Rights Watch researcher in Uganda, Maria Burnett, said, “In cases we looked at by R.R.U., suspects were beaten until they confessed, paraded before journalists and dubbed hard-core criminals and then put on trial before military officers.”

The report stated that the R.R.U. frequently beats detainees with batons, glass bottles and metal pipes. In some cases, officers inserted pins under detainees’ fingernails. “I cannot recall the number of times they pierced my nails. My nails were destroyed. They were black, swollen, and painful. The needles were inserted under the nail, on both my hands and feet. They pierced every nail,” said a former female R.R.U. detainee charged with counterfeiting.

Though suspects in Uganda have the legal right to counsel, the report noted that “in practice, defendants do not receive a state-provided lawyer until their case is at trial and often spend years in detention before they ever meet a lawyer.” However, the absence of a lawyer during a suspect’s interrogation allows rampant torture to persist.

The report offered recommendations to various groups, including the Ugandan president and government, the police force, and other concerned governments, including those of the United States and the United Kingdom.

On Wednesday, the U.S. embassy in Uganda said that it would continue to encourage Uganda police forces to respect human rights and the rule of law.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Ugandan police use torture, Human Rights Watch reports – 23 March 2011

Human Rights Watch – Uganda: Torture, Extortion, Killings by Police Unit – 23 March 2011

New York Times – Rights Group Accuses Ugandan Police of Torture and Killings – 23 March 2011

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DJIBOUTI- Djibouti’s government has ousted Democracy International (DI), a United States based election observation and reporting agency, less than a month before the upcoming presidential election on April 8.  Foreign minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told the Financial Times that DI had failed to maintain political neutrality by supporting opposition parties against the incumbent president Ismael Guelleh.  In declaring DI ‘illegal’ earlier this month, Youssouf said the government hopes to avoid the “chaos and upheaval” seen in the protests and demonstrations of other African and Middle East countries in the last several months.

The head of DI’s operation in Djibouti, Chris Hennemeyer, has denied the group was involved in any illegal activity and asserts DI was only trying to help resolve disputes between Guelleh’s administration and opposition groups when protests began in February.  That protest, which took place on February 18 of this year, attracted approximately 6,000 anti-government supporters.  That rally ended violently when police fired on the crowd, many of whom were throwing rocks.  Dozens were injured and at least one protesters was killed.  Another opposition rally was scheduled for March 4 but did not take place after security forces filled the streets making it impossible for people to gather.

Much of the discontent is aimed at Guelleh himself.  Guelleh’s family has maintained exclusive political control of Djibouti since its independence in 1977 and he has been president since 1999.  In March 2010, Guelleh amended the constitution to remove the two term limit, which would have forced him from office this year, giving himself two more six-year terms.  Opposition leaders are boycotting the upcoming election, saying Guelleh’s actions are illegal and the polls will be rigged.  Many have demanded his resignation and as fears of violent demonstrations escalate, individuals within the opposition movements have been arrested.  Four leaders of one such group were arrested and held for several hours last Friday.  After being released, the group leaders said, “We warn the illegal candidate [Guelleh] against his irresponsible actions at the risk of seeing radicalization of our actions, which have up to now been peaceful. . .The opposition can no longer continue to respect the law when the ruling power itself tramples on it.”

Guelleh’s administration has extended invitations to the European Union, the African Union and the Arab League to observe Djibouti’s April 8 elections and insists they will be fair and free.  However, it is unlikely any of these groups will be able to set up an adequate system to monitor the elections in time.  Hennemeyer said he does not know what will happen in Djibouti, stating “I don’t see Djibouti moving backward, but I’m not sure I see it moving forward in a democratic sense either.”

For more information, please see;

Bloomberg– Djibouti Bans a US-Backed Democracy Advocacy Group One-Month Before Vote– 15 March, 2011

Sify News– Djibouti Evicts US Vote Group Ahead of Election– 21 March, 2011

Financial Times– Election Observers Quit Djibouti– 15 March, 2011