Highlights

- Thousands participate in SMS-for-peace campaign ;
- Sharp increase in armed burglaries reported in western town;

International Day of Peace

Over 20,000 Ivorians participated in an SMS-for-peace initiative organised by the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire as part of a worldwide campaign conducted by the UN in commemoration of the International Day of Peace (21 September). The campaign had been advertised in local newspapers, on state television, on the UN radio in Côte d'Ivoire, ONUCI FM, and local mobile telephone companies. Invited to say what they had done for peace, Ivorians responded via text messages which they were allowed to send free of charge by the four mobile telephone operators here, KOZ, MOOV, MTN, and Orange. The four companies have been compiling the messages and sending them to ONUCI, which is forwarding them to the UN in New York for presentation at the General Assembly this week. Many respondents said they prayed for peace, or practiced tolerance and forgiveness. Others cited initiatives ranging from housing displaced colleagues for free to talking to people in their communities about peace, and teaching people to read and write so that they can better resist manipulation.

Security

On 20 September, four robbers armed with Kalashnikovs and a hunting rifle shot dead a man from the Baoulé ethnic group who was travelling by motorcycle along the Séoun Guiglo- Kahen-Zarabaon road in western Côte d'Ivoire. The son of the deceased escaped and alerted the Bangolo Mixed Brigade. On the same day, four robbers fleeing a Bangolo Mixed Brigade patrol shot and killed a Burkinabe man in his farm and tied another Burkinabe man to a tree.

On 19 September, 12 masked bandits armed with Kalashnikov rifles attacked Dji Lélé, a hamlet about 1 km from Séoun-Guiglo inhabited by the indigenous Guéré ethnic group and raped two women after severely beating the husband of one of them. The residents of Séoun-Guiglo have fled the hamlet and sought refuge in Diourouzon.

The Bangolo Mixed Brigade is investigating the incidents.

In a special report issued on 20 September, UNOCI's military observers in the western town of Duékoué reported a sharp increase in armed burglaries in the area. The latest incidents recorded included two armed robberies on 19 September in the Antenne neighborhood of Duékoué. In one case, four masked bandits armed with Kalashnikov rifles broke into the home of a trader, shot and wounded the victim on his right arm and raped two of his daughters. An unspecified sum of money and valuable items were reportedly stolen. In the second incident, six robbers armed with Kalashnikov rifles broke into two homes of national staff members of the Norwegian Refugee Council, an international NGO, and stole money, mobile telephones and other valuables.

Residents of Lazabia village near Daloa, in the centre-west, also complained of banditry. They told an UNOCI patrol that armed robberies happened quite frequently at night along the Daloa-Baléa road.

Military

On 20 September, French Licorne forces started large-scale manoeuvres in the western areas of Man and Duékoué. The exercise, which will last until 30 September, is aimed at testing their capacity to deploy rapidly in support of UNOCI.

Human Rights

On 19 September, the Human Rights Office reported that a twenty-four year-old man had been detained without charges at the Odienne gendarmerie since 6 September by an FDS-FN element, and that the detainee's parents had to pay his captor 500 CFA (about 1 dollar US) whenever they visited their son.

On 17 September, two brothers were arrested in Korhogo by three (3) Dozos (traditional hunters), tied up and taken to the home of a Dozo chief, on suspicion of complicity in a case of "identity theft" allegedly committed by their brother. The brother, who remains at large, allegedly copied the identity card of the Dozo chief.

The Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué held a training session on 18 September, in Logoualé for 49 members of the Moroccan battalion stationed in Bangolo. The training provided an overview of human rights in general and types of human rights violations as well as the mandate and work of the Human Rights Division. It also aimed at exploring ways for the battalion and the Human Rights Division to assist each other with their daily activities with regard to monitoring human rights violations.