Highlights

- Regrouping ceremony for FAFN ex-combatants held in Man
- Village chief accuses FAFN soldiers of carrying out road attacks
- UNOCI opens human rights clubs in Issia school

DDR

A regrouping and demobilization ceremony for 130 ex-combatants of the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) was held in Man (west) yesterday. The event was also scheduled to include the reinsertion of the ex-combatants into the civic service programme, which is being organized by the German international aid agency GTZ. However, due to an accident, a team from the PNRRC, the national programme for reintegration and reinsertion, could not reach Man and a cashier who was due to handout allowances to the ex-combatants was working in Séguéla. A new date for both operations will later be decided by the FAFN hierarchy.

Security

A UNOCI joint patrol which went to Koni, near M'bengue (north), was told by the village chief that FAFN soldiers are responsible for attacks against people on their way to the weekly markets near his village. According to him, such incidents occur at least three times a week. NIGERBATT has promised to send a special patrol to the area in order to determine what can be done to stop the attacks.

UNPOL reported yesterday that six criminals armed with Kalachnikovs, ambushed a freight vehicle on the road to Koagho, 5km from Kouibly (west) on 2 June 2008. The attackers exchanged fire with a FAFN soldier who was providing security for the vehicle before running away. The local gendarmerie is investigating the incident.

A man who claims his life is in danger took refuge in the NIGERBATT camp in Korhogo (north) in the early hours of this morning. He claimed he had worked in the police department in Ferkessedougou (north) before the war and that since his return to the area, the Forces Nouvelles have been looking to harm him because they believe he is a member of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party. The Civil Affairs office is investigating his claims.

Arms embargo

Arms embargo inspections were yesterday successfully carried out by UNOCI peacekeepers at the Former Sous Groupement 3 of the Defence and Security Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FDSCI) in Abengourou (east), at its National Gendarmerie Brigade in Issia (west), as well as at the FAFN's unit in Sirana, near Odienne (north) and at its artillery battalion "Sol-Sol" in Bouaké.

Human Rights

A school teacher from the Tolakouadiokro district of Bouaké told the Regional Human Rights Office in Bouaké on 4 June 2008 that he had been physically assaulted by two armed FAFN soldiers. He said that the soldiers burst into his classroom while he was teaching on 22 May 2008 and asked him to follow them to the Corridor HQ. When he refused, he was beaten up in front of his pupils, dragged into a taxi and taken to the HQ where he was interrogated. He said he was released after paying 2,600 FCFA ($6), 2000 FCFA of which he was said to owe a woman who had brought a complaint against him to the FAFN authorities. The teacher, who said he was suffering from back pains as result of the beating, was treated at UNOCI's level II hospital in the Bouaké. The Office is following up the case with the FAFN authorities.

To mark the official launch of human rights clubs in the Lycée Moderne d'Issia, the Regional Human Rights Office in Daloa on 4 June, made a presentation on the theme "Rights and duties of school staff members" to 82 students and teachers. The Office emphasized the need to establish and maintain good communication between students, parents and teachers as a way of achieving the right to education and a culture of non violence in schools.

The Regional Human Rights Offices in Duékoué and Odienné conducted a human rights awareness raising session for community leaders in Nanandi village (16 km from Duékoué) and Séguéon (64 km South-East of Odienné) respectively. Around 340 participants attended.