| Ivorian Civil War |
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The Ivorian Civil War is an ongoing Civil War in Côte D'Ivoire that began on September 19 , 2002 , and restarted in November 2004 . CONTEXT OF THE CONFLICT The civil war revolves around a number of issues, particularly:
RISING TENSIONS Violence was turned initially against African foreigners. Indeed, the prosperity of the Côte d'Ivoire attracted many Africans from West Africa, who constituted in 1998 26% of the population, 56% of whom were Burkinabés . In this atmosphere of increasing racial tension, Houphouët-Boigny's policy of granting nationality to Burkinabés resident in Côte d'Ivoire was critized as being solely to gain their political support. In 1995, the tensions turned violent when Burkinabés were killed in plantations at Tabou , at the time of racial riots. CATALYST TO THE CONFLICT The catalyst for the conflict was the law quickly drafted by the government immediately before the elections of 2000 which required both parents of a presidential candidate to be born within Côte d'Ivoire. This excluded the northern presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara from the race. Ouattara represented the predominantly Muslim north, particularly the poor immigrant workers from Mali and Burkina Faso working on Coffee and Cocoa plantations. CIVIL WAR The North rebelled on September 19 , 2002 ; troops mutinied and gained control of north of the country. Their principal claim relates to nationality of the Ivory Coast, the voting rights and their representation in Abidjan . On the night of September 19 in Abidjan, the gendarmerie was seized by the rebels and former president Guéi was murdered with fifteen persons in his home, Alassane Ouattara took refuge in the French embassy. What happened exactly that night is confused; some report the events as a military coup attempt, but other sources report that opponents were executed by pro-Gbagbo Death Squad s and that the rebellion was at least there an unplanned reaction. The events in Abidjan shows that it is not a tribal issue, but a crisis of transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, with the clashes inherent in the definition of citizenship. Forces involved in the conflict include:
The rebels were immediately well armed, most probably supported by Burkina Faso. According to some sources, the rebels were supported by France ; however, the rebels also denounced France as supporting the government. The rebellion was planned in Burkina Faso by soldiers of the Ivory Coast close to General Guéï. Guillaume Soro , leader of the Patriotic Movement Of Côte D'Ivoire (MPCI), leader of the rebels, comes from a Trade Union close to the FPI of Gbagbo, but was also a substitute for an RDR candidate in the legislative elections of 2000. Louis Dacoury Tabley was also one of the leaders of the FPI. The rebels moved quickly southwards. At this point in time France intervened, on September 22 , to protect its nationals and the Westerners, the USA contributed in helping to secure the Airport during the evacuation. On October 17 , a Cease-fire was signed, and negotiations started. On November 28 , the popular Movement of the Ivory Coast of the Great West (MPIGO) and the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP), two new rebel movements, take the control of the towns of Man and Danané , in the west of the country. France conducted negotiations. SEPTEMBER 2002 The rebels seized power in the north of the country, and moved towards Abidjan, intending to take over there. Laurent Gbagbo considered deserters from the army, supported by interference from Burkina Faso, as the cause of destabilization. The principal difference in interpretation related to defence. The consequence is that Paris wished for reconciliation, when the Côte d'Ivoire government wanted military repression. Paris sent 2500 soldiers to man a peace line and requested help from the United Nations . THE KLéBER (MARCOUSSIS) AGREEMENTS To bring parties together, the parties signed a compromise at Linas - Marcoussis (see Kléber Agreements ) on January 26 {Link without Title} . President Gbagbo was to retain power, opponents were invited into a government of reconciliation and obtained the ministries for Defense and the Interior. Soldiers of the CEDEAO and 4000 French soldiers were placed between the belligerents - a ''peace line''. The parties agreed to work together on modifying national identity, eligibility for citizenship, and land tenure laws which many observers see as among the root causes of the conflict. As of February 4 , anti-French demonstrations took place in Abidjan, in support for Laurent Gbagbo. The end of the civil war was proclaimed on July 4 . An attempt at a Putsch , organized from France by Ibrahim Coulibaly (FPI), was thwarted on August 25 by the French secret service. The UN authorized the formation of the UNOCI on February 27, 2004 , in addition to the French forces and those of the CEDEAO. On March 4 , the PDCI suspended its participation in the government, being in dissension with the FPI (President Gbagbo's party) on nominations to office within the administration and in public companies. On estimated at least 120 dead, and implicated highly-placed government officials. The government of national reconciliation, initially composed of 44 members, was reduced to 15 after the dismissal of three ministers, amongst them Guillaume Soro , political head of the rebels, on May 6 . That involved the suspension of the participation in the national government of the majority of political movements. The French consequently were in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. The two sides each accused France of siding with the other: the loyalists because of its protection of the rebels, and the non-implementation the agreements of defense made with the Côte d'Ivoire; the rebels because it was preventing the capture of Abidjan. On June 25 , a French soldier was killed in his vehicle by a government soldier close to Yamoussoukro . On July 4 , 2003, the government and New Forces militaries signed an "End of the War" declaration, recognized President Gbagbo's authority, and vowed to work for the implementation of the LMA and a program of Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR). 2004 saw serious challenges to the Linas-Marcoussis Accord. Violent flare-ups and political deadlock in the spring and summer led to the Accra III talks in Ghana . Signed on July 30 , 2004 the Accra III Agreement reaffirmed the goals of the LMA with specific deadlines and benchmarks for progress. Unfortunately, those deadlines–late September for legislative reform and October 15 for rebel disarmament–were not met by the parties. The ensuing political and military deadlock was not broken until November 4, 2004. THE RESUMPTION OF FIGHTING But the timetable was not respected. The bills envisaged in the process were blocked by the FPI the Ivoirian National Assembly. The conditions of eligibility for the presidential poll were not re-examined, because Laurent Gbagbo claimed the right to choose a prime minister, not in accordance with agreements suggested in Accra. Faced with political ''impasse'', the disarmament whose beginning had been envisaged fifteen days after the constitutional modifications did not begin in mid-October. A sustained assault on the press followed, with newspapers partial to the north being banned and two presses destroyed. Dissenting radio stations were silenced. UN soldiers opened fire on hostile demonstrators taking issue with the disarmament of the rebels on October 11 . The rebels, who took the name of ''New Forces'' (FN), announced on October 13 their refusal to disarm, citing large weapons purchases by the Côte d'Ivoire national army (FANCI). They intercepted two trucks of the FANCI full of heavy weapons travelling towards the demarcation line. On October 28 , they declared an emergency in the north of the country. On November 4 , the new FANCI planes, apparently manned by Belarusian Mercenaries , began a bombardment of Bouaké . On November 6 , FANCI planes bombed a French base in Bouaké, apparently by accident, killing nine French soldiers and an American aid worker and injuring 39 others. The French forces responded by destroying both Sukhoï Fighter-bomber s based at Yamoussoukro, 15 minutes after the attack. Jacques Chirac gave the order to destroy five other Helicopter s. One hour after the attack on the camp, French forces established control of the airport of Abidjan. Simultaneously, the Young Patriots of Abidjan (see Politics Of Côte D'Ivoire for more details), rallied by the State media, plundered possessions of French nationals. Rapes, beatings, and murders followed. Several hundreds Westerners, mainly French, took refuge on the roofs of their buildings to escape the mob, and were then evacuated by helicopters of the French Army. France sent in reinforcements of 600 men based Gabon and France while foreign civilians were evacuated from Abidjan airport on French and Spanish military airplanes. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS As from the week of Monday November 8 2004 , expatriate Westerners (French mainly, but also Moroccan, German, Spanish, British, Dutch, Swiss, Canadian, and Americans) in Côte d'Ivoire chose to leave. On November 13 , President of the Ivorian National Assembly Mamadou Coulibaly (FPI) declared that the government of the Ivory Coast did not take any responsibility in the bombardment of November 6 , and announced its intention of approaching the International Court Of Justice :
In an interview with the Washington Post, Laurent Gbagbo called into question even the French deaths. Lastly, on the morning of 13 November , 2600 expatriate French had returned to France, and 1600 other European expatriates had left. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1572 (2004) on November 15 , enforcing an arms embargo on the parties. A meeting of the Ivorian political leaders, moderated by {Link without Title} . Presidential elections were due to be held on October 30, 2005, but in September the UN Secretary General, proposals to keep President Laurent Gbagbo in office for up to an additional 12 months beyond the end of his mandate. {Link without Title} UN PEACEKEEPING FORCES ''Main article: UNOCI '' As of May 18 , 2005 the UN Forces , as result of the continued flaring up of ethnic as well as rebel-government conflict, have experienced difficulty maintaining peace in the supposedly neutral "confidence zone", particularly in the west of the country. UN troops have been deployed laterally, forming a belt across the middle of Côte d'Ivoire (streching across the whole country and roughly dividing it in two from north to south). This area has a mixture of Ethnic Groups , notably the Dioula (who are predominantly Muslim and typically aligned with the ''New Forces''), who typically sway to both government and rebel loyalties. This conflict of interests has created widespread looting, pillaging and various other Human Rights abuses amongst groups based on the typical political alignment of their ethnicities. This is not to say that there are no regions where ethnic groups co-exist peacefully, however, the UN troops lack the man-power to prevent inter-ethnic violence. {Link without Title} |
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