Highlights

- SRSG and FC attend Flame of Peace anniversary celebrations
- Militiamen demonstrate in Bangolo against "exclusion"
- UNOCI funds project to rehabilitate secondary school in Adzopé

Political

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Côte d'Ivoire, Y.J. Choi, accompanied by the Force Commander, General Fernand Marcel Amoussou, today attended the first anniversary celebrations of the Flame of Peace ceremony in Bouaké. The event was presided over by President Laurent Gbagbo and attended by the President of Burkina Faso and Facilitator of the Inter-Ivorian Direct Dialogue, Blaise Compaoré as well as leaders of opposition parties, the Parti Démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI and the Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR) , Henri Konan Bédié and Alassane Dramane Ouattara. Speaking after the ceremony, the SRSG called on Ivorians to consolidate the advances made in the peace process so far by preparing for elections, which are scheduled to be held on 30 November 2008. The original Flame of Peace ceremony, held in Bouaké on the same day in 2007, symbolically marked the end of the Ivorian crisis and the unification of the country.

Security

Some 470 militiamen from the Wê community, yesterday demonstrated in the western town of Bangolo because they said they had not been included in the profiling operation of the National Programme for Reintegration and Community Rehabilitation (PNRRC), which began in Duékoué on 29 July 2008. Officials from the Integrated Command Centre (ICC) and the PNRRC promised to review the situation. The Mayor of Bangolo provided and accommodation and food for the militiamen. The profiling, which is part of the disarmament and dismantling of militias (DDM) process, involves groups from Bangolo, Zouan Hounien, Toulepleu, Blolequin, Guiglo, Zagné, Tai and Duekoué in western Côte d'Ivoire.

UNPOL and Military Observers in Danané reported yesterday that tension remains between the population and Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) soldiers following the death of a young boy in the latter's custody two weeks ago. The family of the deceased has asked UNOCI to intervene to ensure that a proper investigation is carried out into the incident.

UNOCI has confirmed media reports that a civil servant working with the Veterinary Service in Sakassou, 45 km south of Bouaké, was physically assaulted by market traders in the town on 25 July 2008, when he tried to prevent one of them from selling hippopotamus meat. The victim told UNOCI that Forces Nouvelles (FN) gendarmes who had been sent as his security escort also joined in the assault. The Sous Préfet of Sakassou, whom the reports claimed had been arrested, told UNOCI this was not the case but that he had met with the FN authorities and had appealed to them to put in place adequate security measures so that civil servants can carry out their duties without incident. The FN authorities said that the gendarmes involved in the attack would be disciplined. Both the Sous Prefet and victim said that they intended to carry on working although they admitted that a number of their colleagues were still anxious about working in areas under FN control.

Dozos (traditional hunters) in Korhogo yesterday handed over 22 suspected armed robbers to the Gendarmerie Brigade in the northern town. The 19 civilian suspects are being held at the local prison while three FAFN soldiers from Fansara 110, a battalion under the command of the Zone Commander of Katiola, are held at the Gendarmerie Brigade.

Information and sensitization

UNOCI today handed over a cheque for more than 8 million FCFA to a Schools Management Committee (COGES) in Adzope during the civil society forum organized by the Mission in the town today. The money is for a Quick Impact Project to rehabilitate two classrooms and a hostel at the Lycee Morderne d'Adzope. During the event women, youth, religious and traditional leaders groups declared that they were in favour of UNOCI peacekeepers being redeployed in the town. They also promised to put in place a number of initiatives to promote peace and social cohesion.

Humanitarian

Some 600 people were treated for various illnesses by JORBATT medical staff in Adzopé yesterday. The medical camp was organized as a prelude to a civil society forum organized by the Mission in the southern town today. On the same day a similar medical camp was conducted by NIGERBATT in Saint Camille Hospital in the northern city of Korhogo, while BANBATT did the same in Daoukro (east).

Human Rights

On 29 July 2008, a member of an opposition party, the Parti Démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) in Tioroniaradougou, asked the Regional Human Rights Office in Korhogo for protection following the publication of an article in the local newspaper discrediting him. In the article, the Mayor of Tioroniaradougou, who is a member of another opposition party, the Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR), accused him of fraud. In September 2006, the man said that he was abducted and publicly assaulted by Forces Nouvelles soldiers. His case is cited in UNOCI's 7th Report on the Human Rights Situation in Côte d'Ivoire, published in December 2006