Highlights

- SRSG attends Monitoring and Evaluation Committee meeting in Ouagadougou
- Profiling of militias starts in Daloa area

Political

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y.J. Choi travelled to Ouagadougou today to participate in a meeting of the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, charged with overseeing the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA). At the start of the meeting, the Facilitator of the Inter-Ivorian Dialogue, Burkinabé President Blaise Compaoré thanked UNOCI and the international community for the support they had given to the implementation of the OPA. He also urged Côte d'Ivoire and the international community to provide the necessary funding for the implementation of the 4th supplementary accord of the OPA, signed on 22 December 2008. Mr. Choi is expected to brief the meeting on the latest developments in the peace process during which he will highlight the progress made in the electoral process with more than 4,600,000 people enrolled or identified.

DDM

The profiling of militias based in the Daloa (centre west) area started yesterday on two sites in the city centre. An official from the Integrated Command Centre based in Yamoussoukro (centre), which is in charge of the operation, told UNOCI that some 4000 militias would be profiled during the exercise. The first stage of the operation involves collecting arms from the militias, the second stage requires them to fill in a questionnaire giving their full details about themselves and the final stage entails photographing and finger-printing each militia. The ICC official said that all the militias had agreed to be paid the 3,000 FCFA due to them for taking part in the process, at a future date.

Redeployment of administration

The Court of the First Instance in Bouaké was due to reopen today to start issuing civil documents such as birth, death and citizenship certificates as well as carrying out registration of businesses. However due to lack of equipment, the Court was not functioning this morning but officers were carrying the necessary preparations to start working. Magistrates and their assistants were standing by to take up their duties.

Security

BANBATT peacekeepers in Odienné have intensified their patrols after 13 prisoners escaped from jail in the northern city on 14 February 2009. The peacekeepers are also closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with the Forces Nouvelles police and gendarmerie.

Demonstration
Residents in the Anono area of Abidjan demonstrated on 14 February 2009 against what they described as Government's appropriation of their land without compensation. They burnt tyres in the middle of the main road and prevent traffic from moving. The demonstrators were quickly dispersed by gendarmes after which they tried to see Prime Minister Guillaume Soro at the Golf Hotel but did not succeed. The situation has remained calm but UNOCI's TOGOBATT is monitoring it.
Human Rights

The Regional Human Rights Office in Bouaké is following up the case of a member of the "Fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d'Ivoire" (FESCI) from the Lycée classique who was severely beaten with truncheon by a dozen members of rival student groups, the "Comité des Elèves des Lycées et Collèges de Bouaké" and the "Comité des Elèves et Etudiants des Zones CNO". They also ripped off his clothes before he was able to escape. He took refuge in the office of a local NGO, where he was treated for injuries to his head and upper body. These rival student groups strongly oppose FESCI leadership within the Bouaké University or other schools in the city. On 12 February 2009, Forces Nouvelles authorities convened a meeting with all the student groups and warned them against the ongoing violence in schools which they said impacted negatively on the right to education and to the physical integrity of students and staff.

On 10, 11 and 12 February 2009 respectively, UNOCI human rights officers monitored detention conditions in Vavoua, 55 km north of Daloa (centre west), Man (west) and Korhogo (north). Following their intervention in Vavoua, three minors aged 13, 15 and 17 suspected of theft were released. The officers observed that law enforcement officials generally failed to respect the legal limits for the duration of pre-trial detention and that some people had been arbitrarily detained, while others had been physically abused and deprived of their visiting rights.