Highlights

- PDSRSG heads UNOCI delegation at identification launch in Abidjan;
- Impartial Forces patrol Daoukro and Yamoussoukro after demonstrations by FDSCI soldiers.

Electoral process

A delegation of senior officials of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), led by Principal Deputy Special Representative Abou Moussa, today attended the start-up of the population identification and voter registration operation in Abidjan. Mr. Moussa described the event as a direct line to transparent and credible elections. Today's event was presided over by Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who appealed to the military to stay calm and allow the Government to do its work. His appeal was a reference to weekend demonstrations by members of the Defence and Security Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FDSCI) in the capital, Yamoussoukro, and the east-central town of Daoukro. The population identification and voter registration operation was piloted in seven towns, including Yamoussoukro, where it was officially launched on 15 September 2008. Today's ceremony marked the start of the extension of the operation to the rest of the country.

DDR

A group of ex-combatants from the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) decided on 27 September 2008, to set up a new organization which will be in charge of regrouping demobilized FAFN soldiers. This was announced at a meeting attended by Minister of Tourism and Spokesperson of the Forces Nouvelles (FN), Mr. Sidiki Konaté. However, a final agreement could not be reached about the management team of the new organization, known as "Association des Démobilisés de Côte d'Ivoire" (ADCI). In a statement delivered after the meeting, Mr. Konaté declared that, from now on, the management and monitoring of the reinsertion of the demobilized soldiers will no longer be handled by the FAFN but rather by the Secretariat of the Forces Nouvelles (FN).

Security
The Impartial Forces have been carrying out regular patrols in Daoukro (east) and Yamoussoukro (centre) following violent demonstrations by soldiers from the FDSCI over the weekend. The two cities were reported calm this morning. On 26 and 27 September 2008, angry FDSCI soldiers in both places fired live rounds into the air resulting in five people being injured. They were protesting against the non payment of what they described as arrears of their war allowances. The FDSCI has sent reinforcement to both places and the ring leaders of the unrest have been arrested and are being detained in Abidjan. Government Forces say the situation is under control.

Participants in a security coordination meeting held in Danané (west) on 27 September 2008 were told by the city's Mayor and Sous Prefect that security situation has recently deteriorated considerably. They said that the crime rate had increased but that (FAFN) officials refuse to acknowledge this. According to UNOCI Military Observers, the local authorities have become increasingly vocal in their criticism of the FAFN's attitude towards the population, especially with regard to what they describe as extortion by the soldiers.

Humanitarian

GHANMED and PAKBATT on 27 September 2008 organised an integrated medical camp at Grogro village, near Tiebissou (centre), in collaboration with an NGO called "Carrefour Jeunesse" to celebrate International Day of Peace. Apart from giving free medical treatment to hundreds of villagers, the peacekeepers distributed books, sports equipment and clothing among the children.

Human Rights

The Regional Human Rights Office in Bouake is following up the case of a six-year-old girl whose body was found yesterday in the Dar-Es-Saalam neighbourhood of Bouaké. She had been strangled and raped. The body was discovered in an uncompleted construction near the girl's home, a day after she was reported missing by her family. UNPOL, along with the local police, is investigating the incident.

On 24 September, the Regional Human Rights Office in Daloa, met with a Forces Nouvelles soldier, who was arrested and detained in "Camp Highlander" in Séguela since 11 September 2008. He is accused of being involved in the attempted murder of Zone Commander Issiaka Ouattara in Bouaké on 26 December 2007. The soldier seemed to be in relative good health but the Office was denied a request for a private meeting with him.

The Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué, on 24 September 2008, organized a human rights training workshop for 62 FAFN elements in Kouibly, 130 km north of Duékoué (west), including sector and gendarmerie commanders and the local Dozo (traditional hunter) chief. Basic human rights principles and their interdependence and inalienability were highlighted during the workshop.