He said the clarification became necessary, because it constitutes the authentic and unambiguous position of ECOWAS on the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire.

The crisis in Cote D’Ivoire emanated after the country’s general election that was postponed severally by the out-going President, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to relinquish power to the widely acclaimed winner of the last general elections, Alassane Ouattara. The election was meant to unite the country after the devastating civil war that erupted in November 2004, dividing the country into two with Gbagbo holding sway in the South, while the New Forces held the North.

President, Laurent Gbagbo who still blatantly refuses to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, scored 54.1% to 45.9% by Gbagbo, understandably made ECOWAS call for an intervention that will ensure power was handed over to the winner. The bottom line of the ECOWAS position was indeed to recognize the sovereign will of the Ivorian electorate which should not be toyed with. But going by the dynamics of the politics in Cote D’Ivoire, the ECOWAS position is by no means a straitjacket wish that can be implemented with ease. Thus the regional body, realizing this, placed every option on the table including the use of “legitimate force” to oust the incumbent from office. This option amongst others angered some sympathizers of Gbagbo both at home and abroad. However, the ECOWAS president in clarifying the contentious issues, said that ECOWAS had not taken a decision to invade Cote d’Ivoire for whatever reason as is being alleged. However the regional body is to keep the issue of using “legitimate force” as an option, but only after all other peaceful avenues of persuading the out-going President, Laurent Gbagbo, to cede power to Alassane Ouattara should fail. This rendition he stressed, presumed that there were other peaceful measures available to ECOWAS and that legitimate force shall be the option of last resort.

As the eyes of the world have left the Ivory Coast to political problems further north in the continent abuses have continued unabated. Gaëtan Mootoo was one of two researchers who carried out an investigation during a four week trip to the country. He said ‘both the security forces and the Forces Nouvelles (supporters of Outtara) are committing these horrific acts… This reign of terror must end.’

The extent and brutality of the violence has forced 70,000 people in the west of the country to flee their homes. One woman described the horrific ordeal she was put through. ‘They came early in the morning…they had knives and machetes. They broke the door and grabbed me. Their faces were blackened with charcoal. They said nothing, threw themselves on me and did horrible things to me. They raped me, three or four of them. They burned my house – the house of my family – and they killed my brother. They stole everything from my shop and then burned it down. We fled the same day.’

Amnesty has called for both the security forces loyal to Gbagbo and the Forces Nouvelles loyal to Ouattara to issue orders to their members that human rights must be upheld and those found violating them will be held accountable.

13 July 2009 –The top
United Nations envoy to Côte d’Ivoire has held talks with the President of the nation on progress made in the peace process, including voter identification and registration, and the upcoming presidential elections.

During the meeting held Sunday 12th July in the capital, Yamoussoukro, with President Laurent Gbagbo, UN envoy Y. J. Choi, congratulated the Ivorian Government for its identification and voter registration scheme, which wrapped up on Tues 30th June.

With 6.5 million voters having been identified or registered, Choi said the operation ‘constitutes a solid basis to accelerate the crisis resolution process.’

The stalled elections, scheduled for Nov 29th, present an ‘exceptional window of opportunity,’ he told Gbagbo.

Financing for the polls has been secured and the political will needed is in place, with technical, management and planning issues being the remaining challenges, the Choi said.

In his latest report on the work of the UN operation in the country, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon stressed that the country’s political parties have the responsibility for ensuring that the elections are held on time and are free, fair and transparent.

He wrote that he has been encouraged by the progress so far, including the ongoing pre-electoral campaigning activities and the parties’ reaffirmation that all signatories of the 2003 peace accord are eligible to stand as candidates in the upcoming polls.

‘It is the political will and calculations of the main Ivorian political
players that will ultimately determine whether or not the election date will
be respected’ the UN scribe wrote.