Highlights

- PDSRSG and DFC attend meetings in Bouaké on implementation of Ouaga 4
- Militias in Daloa to be disarmed and dismantled this month
- Alleged ringleaders of attack by FAFN dissidents arrested in Man

Ouaga 4

The Principal Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Mr Abou Moussa and the Chairman of the Electoral Independent Commission (EIC), Mr Robert Beugré Mambe went to Bouaké today to meet Ivorian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro, to discuss the implementation of 4th Supplementary Agreement (Ouaga 4) of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA) with regard to the ongoing identification and voter registration operation. Early last month, the IEC announced that the operation would end 28 February 2009, but the date has since been questioned by other organizations involved in the process. UNOCI recently increased its logistical support to the operation by providing of air, land and river transportation in an effort to ensure that the maximum number of Ivorians who need to register and be identified are able do so.

Also in connection with the implementation of Ouaga 4, UNOCI's Deputy Force Commander, Brigadier-General Elhadji Mouhamadou Kandji, along with the Force Commander of Licorne, General Philippe Houbron, yesterday attended a meeting convened by Prime Minister Soro to discuss the military aspects of the agreement and the role of their Impartial Forces. The meeting was also attended by the Chiefs of Staff of the Defence and Security Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FDSCI) and the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN), Generals Philippe Mangou and Soumaila Bakayoko and the Ivorian Minister of Defence, Michel Amani N'Guessan. A roadmap on the implementation of the military aspects of Ouaga 4 was agreed at the end of the meeting.

DDM

A delegation composed of the representatives from the Integrated Command Centre (ICC), UNOCI and the National Programme for Community Reinsertion and Rehabilitation (PNRCC), yesterday visited Daloa, as part of a sensitisation campaign on the disarmament and dismantling of militias (DDM). The delegation held discussions with 1,200 militia members led by "General" Froufrou of the Association of Self-Defence Movements in Centre-West (CMACO). The dismantling of Daloa-based militias is scheduled to be held from 14 to 18 February 2009 while the DDM process should end in April 2009.

Security

Following violent clashes between dissidents and loyalists from the FAFN in Man (west) earlier this week, two people identified as the allegedly leaders of the armed attack, which resulted in three deaths, have been arrested. According to the FAFN Zone Commander for Man, the suspects belong to the 62nd FAFN Battalion based in the Semien area. He added that two officers were reported missing and around 12 people were under investigation.

UNPOL started patrolling in Divo, the capital of the South Bandama region (south-west) on 2 February 2009. Military Observers based in the newly-established UNOCI camp in the city, paid a courtesy call on the local gendarmerie and police commanders, who told them that they looked forward to working harmoniously with UNOCI. Divo had previously been hostile to the presence of the Mission in Cote d'Ivoire. However attitudes changed in 2008 after a series of meetings between local people, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y.J. Choi and other Mission personnel.

Human Rights

The Human Rights Division yesterday reported on a case of three high-ranking military officers who were arrested on 7 and 8 October 2008 in Abidjan by the Direction de Surveillance du Territoire and were released in January 2009. The three officers were arrested for allegedly instigating unrest among the military rank and file on 27 and 28 September 2008 in Daoukro (east) and Yamoussoukro (centre) during which soldiers shot into the air in protest at the non-payment of their allowances. The accused were also charged with disturbing state security and causing the disappearance of weapons in Yamoussoukro. The Division is following the case.

The Regional Human Rights Office in Odienné (north-west), along with the Prefect of the Denguélé, representatives of the Ministry of Family, Women and Social Affairs and NGOs Horizon Verte Santé and Save the Children UK facilitated the reunion of a 13 year-old girl with her parents in Odienné. The girl had been taken to Abidjan to work for an aunt who allegedly tortured her for more than two years. She received medical treatment from International Catholic Office for Children before she was sent back to Odienné on 2 February 2009.