Highlights

- UNOCI reinforces its military presence in Séguéla amid tension
- Deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Côte d'Ivoire
- DSRSG attends workshop on social cohesion in the west

Security

Participants at a security meeting held in Séguéla yesterday to assess the situation in the northwestern town, agreed that it remained tense and that everyone should remain vigilant. The BANBATT commander of UNOCI's Séguéla camp told the meeting that the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) had suggested carrying out joint patrols involving UNOCI and the FAFN. Meanwhile, UNOCI has already dispatched an extra platoon to boost its presence in the town, since the dismissal of the zone commander Zakaria Koné on 20 May 2008. In addition, an extra armoured personnel carrier (APC) has been placed in its camp and continuous patrols with an APC are also being carried out by peacekeepers to reassure the local population and defuse tension.

Visit

The United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Kyung-wha Kang, is expected to arrive in Abidjan on Sunday, 25 May 2008 for a three-day visit. During her visit, she will meet with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Cote d'Ivoire, Mr. Y.J.Choi, Ivorian government officials, officials from the National Human Rights Commission, representatives of UN agencies as well as members of civil society.

Military

UNOCI Force Commander, General Fernand Marcel Amoussou met with Guinean military officials in Conakry on 21 May 2008 to discuss the possibility of the country's armed forces providing security on the border with Cote d'Ivoire during the forthcoming elections, scheduled to be held on 30 November 2008.

A PAKBATT platoon was yesterday redeployed in Dabakala (north east) from Tiebissou (central) as part of UNOCI's military redeployment plan, following the signing of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. The camp in Tiebissou is being dismantled.

Arms embargo

Arms embargo inspections were yesterday successfully carried out by UNOCI peacekeepers at the National Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire's (FANCI) gendarmerie brigades in Niable, near Abengourou (east), in Meagui (south) and at its 2nd regional headquarters in Daloa. On the same day, similar inspections were carried out at the FAFN Units in Lalebra, near Ferkéssedougou (north) and Kouto, near Korhogo (north).

Humanitarian

The Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG) and UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator, Mr. Georg Charpentier, along with representatives of UN agencies, yesterday participated in a workshop in Bloléquin, western Côte d'Ivoire, on the search for a peaceful solution to the inter-community problems in the region. The workshop was organised by the Ivorian Ministers of Solidarity, War Victims and National Reconciliation. There have been a number of initiatives to solve the problem of inter-ethnic clashes, which have forced returning internally displaced persons (IDPs) to go back to the camps in which they took refugee at the height of the Ivorian crisis. Some of these IDPs are farmers whose land has been taken over by others during their prolonged absence,

Human Rights

As part of human rights promotion, the Regional Human Rights Office in Bouaké in collaboration with the Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH) a local NGO, yesterday launched human rights clubs in three schools in Bouaké. The Office took the opportunity to distribute documents on international human rights standards.

On 21 May, the Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué conducted a human rights training session for students and teachers from the Lycée Modern in Bangolo (35 km from Duékoué). Discussions focused on the prevailing human rights violations in the region such as racketeering, ill-treatment, inter-community clashes resulting in death and rape perpetrated by unidentified armed roadside bandits. Copies of international documents on human rights were distributed to the 100 participants.