The human rights watchdog Amnesty International has warned against an increase in violence and repression of dissident voices in Cote d’Ivoire in the run-up to the October 31 presidential election.
Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday that the Ivorian authorities must “immediately take measures” to prevent violence, including between political opponents belonging to different communities, and to protect the population and its right to demonstrate peacefully.
In the towns of Divo and Bonoua, in the south and southeast of the country, the Friday August 21 march of women opposed to Alassane Ouattara’s third term bid for the presidency was brutally dispersed by young people, the NGO claimed, stressing that the violence that followed caused several injuries and looting and burning of shops.
Amnesty International said it has also interviewed several eyewitnesses and collected information confirming that women were demonstrating with “bare hands” when they were attacked by groups of young people armed with machetes and clubs.
“In Divo, violence between political opponents from different communities erupted. In a country that less than 10 years ago was experiencing serious human rights violations in an electoral context with more than 3,000 deaths, it is important to react immediately to calm the situation,” said the Director of Dakar-based Amnesty’s West and Central Africa office, Samira Daoud.
“Authorities must protect the population and put an end to the violence. Impunity is likely to be a key driver of further violence if all those suspected of being responsible in Divo and elsewhere are not brought to justice in fair trials,” she warned.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has since 16 July been inviting aspirants to file their candidacy, an exercise which will close on August 31.
Incumbent Alassane Ouattara was on August 22 officially endorsed as the candidate of the ruling Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) for the next presidential election.
His candidacy for a third term which is deemed “unconstitutional” by his opponents, is the catalyst for the recrnt spate of demonstrations.
Former Prime Minister and National Assembly Speaker, Guillaume Soro, who is also a declared candidate in the presidential election, was sentenced in absentia on April 28 to 20 years in prison for embezzlement of public funds and money laundering by the criminal court in Abidjan.
ODL/te/lb/as/APA