The West African country has been beset by political uncertainty, with factional fighting and other forms of violence flaring up in Abidjan and the western region, since incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to leave office after he was defeated by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara in a presidential election held November 2010, whose result was certified by the UN.

Ghana’s former President Jerry John Rawlings believes the political stalemate in Cote d’Ivoire — which has left 200,000 persons internally displaced — could have been easily resolved if the international community had not rushed to take sides. Speaking at a charity dinner on February 26, 2011 in Lagos, Nigeria, he said in such electoral disputes it is logical to seek a recount of votes or a re-election if circumstances called for it.

*”Unfortunately the international community overlooked such peaceful overtures and rather took a tough stance against one candidate even though all he was seeking was a further authentication of the results,”* the Ghana Web quoted him saying.

*”The stalemate has dragged on for too long and the threat of military intervention nearly exposed us to ridicule because how often have incumbent governments not stolen elections on a massive scale in other countries; where people are intimidated and brutalized and despicable things are done; nothing but plain thievery, in circumstances that are more deserving of intervention but no such suggestions were made,”* he added.

Rawlings said if we want to distance our political dispensation from coup d’états then it is incumbent upon us to maintain the sanctity of the right of choice and the electoral process, the Ghana web reported on March 5, 2011.

**UN expert committee**

In a decision under its early warning and urgent action procedure, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), however, has underlined its concern about *”reports of the seriously declining human rights and humanitarian situation in Cote d’Ivoire, including ethnic tensions, incitement to ethnic violence, xenophobia, religious and ethnic discrimination.”*

The CERD is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties.

The Committee deplored *”that the political stalemate that followed the proclamation of presidential election results continues to be marked by a number of serious and escalating human rights and humanitarian violations across the country.”*

Violations include ethnic clashes that have resulted in deaths, numerous injured people, destruction of property, and the displacement of population inside and outside the country, the Committee added, reported UN News.

The Committee also called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to continue drawing the attention of the Security Council to the situation in Cote d’Ivoire, which “could evolve into a threat to international peace and security, along with extended violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Against this backdrop, Choi Young-jin, the UN special representative for Cote d’Ivoire, said on March 5 that the world body would send 2,000 more troops to the strife-torn country to reinforce the existing peacekeeping force there.

*”What we are seeing is clearly an escalation of violence,”* Choi told the French newspaper ‘Liberation’ in an interview published March 5. *”Since Feb 19, incidents have gotten more serious.”*

‘Al Jazeera’ online reported on March 5 that the 8,000-strong UN force is trying to prevent violence between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of the disputed election, from tipping into a civil war. Gbagbo has refused to step down as president, three months after the election.

**What Africans could do**

Commenting the situation, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report on March 3 that an impending new civil war *”can only be avoided if Africans and the wider international community stand firm behind the democratically elected president, Alassane Ouattara, and he launches an initiative for reconciliation and a transitional government of national unity.”*

The European Union and the United States should *”maintain their sanctions regimes against natural and legal persons connected to the illegitimate Gbagbo government until he yields power,”* said the Crisis Group, an independent think-tank headed by Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

It suggested a set of actions that African governments and institutions should take:

— The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) should “adopt individual sanctions targeting individuals associated with Gbagbo’s illegitimate regime and fully support all ECOWAS decisions, including sending a military mission”.

— The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should deploy rapidly a military mission with a mandate to help civilians protected by the United Nations Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI); help create a safe environment for a process to end the crisis and implement a reconciliation and national unity agreement; intervene immediately in case of hostilities to prevent regional contagion; and block maritime access to Abidjan and San Pedro to prevent delivery of weapons and ammunition in violation of the current embargo.

— Fourteen of the 15 ECOWAS Member States that also includes Cote d’Ivoire, should announce that *”members of the unrecognised Gbagbo government and his entourage are persona non grata in their territory and break all economic and financial ties with public or semi-public companies, particularly in the oil and energy sectors, controlled by that regime”*.

— The Government of Liberia and the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) should provide surveillance of the border with Cote d’Ivoire to ensure the safety of refugees and prevent the passage of mercenaries and weapons.

— The governments of Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and relevant UN agencies should update contingency plans and be prepared to accommodate massive refugee flows.

**Over 200,000 internally displaced**

The United Nations refugee agency warned on March 4 that access for humanitarian organizations striving to continue to assist people affected the political unrest in Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan, and other parts of the country was shrinking rapidly amid worsening insecurity.

In Abidjan, the estimated number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has exceeded 200,000, most of them former residents of the northern suburb of Abobo, where fighting has raged in recent days, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

*”We are still very concerned about a group of 60 families trapped inside a church and without proper food, water, or sanitation, and we have appealed to combatants for these people to be let out,”* UN News reported.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, meanwhile, has urged Ivorian authorities to immediately halt inter-ethnic violence and called for an immediate investigation into reported crimes to bring perpetrators to justice, and provide redress to the victims in line with international human rights standards.

Many of the IDPs in Abidjan have moved in with relatives and friends, but large numbers of people have sought temporary shelter in other places around the city, including churches and other communal buildings. Those in temporary shelters are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.

*”UNHCR is seeking access to these vulnerable individuals, including by working through NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that we have been coordinating with, but humanitarian space in Abidjan as elsewhere in Cote d’Ivoire is being squeezed hard,”* she said.

In Abobo, whose population is estimated at about 1.5 million people, mobile telephone and television transmitters were damaged during the recent fighting, disrupting communications. *”We are still very concerned about a group of 60 families trapped inside a church and without proper food, water, or sanitation, and we have appealed to combatants for these people to be let out,”* said Fleming.

The insecurity has also spread to the Deux Plauteaux, Cocody, and Koumassi neighbourhoods and the business district of Le Plateau, she said. *”We are seeing increasing numbers of roadblocks,”* she added.

Heavy fighting has also erupted in the west of the country, around the towns of Duékoué and Blolequin, about 90 kilometres further south. *”We estimate that there are currently around 70,000 displaced people in the west and we continue to see large numbers of people crossing into Liberia,”* said Fleming.

In eastern Liberia, UNHCR has registered some 40,000 refugees since November 2010. An estimated 32,800 other people have arrived since February 24, 2011, putting local communities and the Liberian authorities under considerable strain. Host communities and refugees are in need of food, but poor roads continue to make it difficult to get aid to those in need.

Meanwhile, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, said relief agencies are revising the estimates of the funds required to respond to the Ivorian crisis in the light of the rising numbers of refugees and IDPs. Humanitarian agencies initially requested $87 million, but only $15 million has been provided.

*”I urge donors to support the humanitarian response in Cote d’Ivoire and in Liberia,”* said Amos, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, at a news conference in New York on March 4.

**By Eva Weiler**