Highlights

 

·        
Force Commander Delivers New Year
Message to UNOCI Officers;

·       
Ivorian forces increase joint
patrols;

·       
Identification continues around
country, but some obstacles persist.

 

Force Commander issues New Year Message to staff officers

 

Praising the members of the
military force of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) for the good work it
did in 2008, Force Commander Major General Fernand Amoussou said the force will
strive to become even more efficient and goal-oriented in implementing its
mandate in 2009. Speaking to his staff officers at the daily morning briefing at
Force Headquarters in Abidjan, he also said that the force's mandate might
change by the end of January and that all soldiers and officers must continue to
do all they can to help the Ivoirian people to definitively end the crisis that
has hampered Côte d'Ivoire over the last years. He praised and thanked his
staff, and called on them to remain committed as the peace process continues to
be implemented.

Security

 

The Integrated Coordination
Centre (CCI) is continuing to deploy mixed brigades around Côte d'Ivoire. Over
the last days, a new contingent from the Defence and Security Forces of Côte
d'Ivoire (FDS-CI) was deployed to Bouaké, the headquarters of the Forces
Nouvelles, where it replaced a force that had been in place over the past few
weeks. A mixed brigade comprising soldiers and officers from  FDS-CI and the
Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) was deployed to reinforce security
along the border with Guinea following the coup d'état in that West African
country in late December. A mixed contingent of FAFN and FDS-CI soldiers
continues to patrol and reinforce security in the West of Côte d'Ivoire towards
the border with Liberia. A temporary headquarters for this force has been
established in the western town of Bangolo.

At the same time, UNOCI's
Force continues to undertake on average 250 patrols a day, including joint
patrols with the UN Police (UNPOL) and with the Licorne, the French force
deployed to support UNOCI. The UN forces continue to visit and patrol near
identification and voter registration centres, as well as areas where there are
reports of banditry or human rights violations.

UNPOL reported that four
people were killed and several others wounded as a result of clashes last week
in a village located on the Katiola-Dabakala road in northern Côte d'Ivoire. The
conflict appears to have been between two families and is believed to have
originated from the murder of a woman by her estranged husband, who was in turn
killed by the family of his deceased wife. UNPOL has opened an inquiry into the
matter.

 

Elections

 

Collection centres continued to open in different regions of the country over
the last three days. On Sunday, most centres visited by UNOCI were
operational. However, in the eastern town of Tanda, the identification process
was temporarily stopped because of a lack of fuel. And in Abengourou, also in
the east, the process was stopped because agents of the Securafrique company,
which is in charge of security for the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI)
throughout the region of Moyen Comoe, began an unlimited strike to press demands
for back pay. Meanwhile, a meeting was held on Sunday evening by the Prefet of
Guiglo to address complaints about the identification and voter registration
process by political party observers.

 

UNOCI continues to provide
transport for identification and voter registration agents in various locations.

.

Humanitarian Assistance

 

A delegation from the UNOCI
Staff Association (APEL) in Bouaké on Saturday 3 January made a donation to the
Maison des bébés (House of Babies) in Bouaké. The donation, which consisted
mainly of medicines, is intended to help the center improve the quality of its
services to various vulnerable families unable to provide adequate care for
their children. The Maison des Bébés hosts about 30 children aged up to five
years, including orphans and children born to mentally ill parents.

UNOCI is looking at ways to
provide assistance for a city-cleaning campaign that is being planned by the
Town Hall of Bouaké. Côte d'Ivoire's second largest town, which has not had a
functioning civil administration for years, benefited from UNOCI support during
previous campaigns. Many of the streets in the city have become dumping grounds
for garbage.

 

Human Rights

 

On 4 January, the Regional
Human Rights Office in the western town of Duekoué, in collaboration with the
local Catholic church, organized a human rights sensitization session in
Bohossoukro (52 km west of Duekoué) for 800 villagers, including members Malian,
Burkinabe, and Baoulé communities. The session focused on the equal right
to education for all children and highlighted the negative impact of forced and
early marriages on girls.

Over the last week UNOCI's
Human Rights Division continued to monitor detention conditions in Duekoué, Man,
Bondoukou and Séguéla. During visits to prisons and police stations, human
rights officers reiterated to law enforcement officials the need to respect
international norms relating to detention. They also facilitated the release of
three minors who had been detained in the Bondoukou prison for four months for
minor offences, and facilitated their reunification with their respective
families. Ends