Highlights

-Deputy Human Rights Chief meets SRSG and Ivorian PM
-FAFN cancels regrouping process in Séguéla
-UNOCI returns weapons handed in during regrouping process in Bouaké

Visit

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Kyung-wha Kang today met with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Cote d'Ivoire, Mr. Y.J Choi after arriving in Abidjan yesterday for a two-day visit. The two high officials discussed the human rights aspects of the Ivorian peace process. Mrs Kang later met with Ivorian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro and other government officials. She is scheduled to hold press conference tomorrow, 27 May 2008 at UNOCI before leaving on the same day for Liberia, which will be the second and last stage of her West African tour.


Information and communication

The Public Information Office, on 24 May 2008, organised a civil society forum in Bouaflé on the theme "Bouaflé encourages actors in the peace process and gets involved in national reconciliation". Some 600 people, including traditional chiefs, members of the local authorities and civil society groups, participated in the forum.

Security

A ceremony to reconcile the newly redeployed FAFN soldiers and their counterparts based Séguéla, was held at their local headquarters this morning. The ceremony, which was attended by representatives from UNOCI and Licorne, was reportedly organized by the new Acting Zone Commander of Vavoua and Séguéla, Commander Issiaka Ouattara alias Wattao, to reconcile the two sides in an attempt to defuse tension in the town. A group of soldiers, who were faithful to the previous Zone Commander, Koné Zakaria, are reported to have returned to their camps for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, BANBATT peacekeepers over the weekend intensified their patrols in Séguéla and surrounding areas and kept in close contact with the FAFN authorities amid a flurry of meetings involving the Ministers of Tourism and Science and Technology and high ranking FAFN officials in Vavoua and Séguéla. The meetings focused on the latest political and security situation in the region.

A robber died and a villager was seriously injured during an attempted robbery near Ninkoumanou, close to Sakassou, 40 km from Bouaké, on 24 May 2008. The injured villager was treated by PAKBATT medical staff at Sakassou before being evacuated to Bouaké. The PAKBATT camp commander and a special patrol later visited the site of the incident to get more information from the village chief and eyewitnesses.

On the same day, a passenger vehicle was ambushed by roadside robbers armed with AK-47s on the Duékoué - Bangolo road in western Côte d'Ivoire. The attackers made off with 726, 000 FCFA ($1720), 11 mobile phones and other personal belongings. The Bangolo Mixed Brigade is investigating the incident.

Accident

Three Senegalese peacekeepers were injured, one of them seriously, after their vehicle was involved in a road accident on 24 May 2008, near Sikensi (south), while travelling from Abidjan to Bouaflé (central) on official duty. The UN vehicle went off the road after one of its tyres burst. This morning, one soldier was reported to be in a coma in intensive care, while the other two were in a stable. No other vehicle was involved in the accident.

Human Rights

Following several reports of a conflict between Satama and Sokoura villages, located some 90 km north-east of Bouaké, the Regional Human Rights Office in Bouaké went to the villages on 23 May 2008 to carry out further investigation. The Office discovered that the reason for the dispute was the alleged brutal arrest of a man who had killed a cow for destroying his crops. After hours of mediation, the Office managed to secure an agreement that the owner of the cow would be paid 65,000 FCFA as compensation for his animal, while the farmer who killed it, would be released.

UNOCI's Human Rights Division continues to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Education in its efforts to implement the World Programme for Human Rights Education in Cote d'Ivoire. On 22 May, a meeting was held with representatives of various ministries, civil society and education experts to review the draft-decree establishing the National Commission for Human Rights Education, and the draft national plan for human rights education in primary and secondary schools.