Highlights

- FAFN soldiers attack camp to free detained colleagues in
- Young Patriot leader asks for extension of identification operation

FAFN unrest

UNOCI peacekeepers have increased patrolling in the Séguéla area (centre west) after two soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) were killed during an armed attack by dissident soldiers against the local FAFN headquarters at Camp Highlander in the early hours of this morning. The attackers succeeded in freeing 12 of their colleagues, as well as others who were being held at the camp. They then attacked the homes of the Acting Zone Commander Issiaka Ouattara (alias Wattao), who has not been in Séguéla for the past two months, and his deputy, Djoman Coulibaly, who is the chief of security for the Séguéla – Vavoua area. The Forces Nouvelles authorities have appealed to people to stay in doors while they carry out arrests. All UNOCI staff have been evacuated to the BANBATT camp in the town.

Electoral process

Following last week's announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) that the identification and voter registration operation in Abidjan will end on 29 November 2008, the leader of the Young Patriots, Charles Blé Goudé, has asked for an extension.

Security

Youths in Zeaglo village, near Blolequin (west), armed and still opposed to the return of internally displaced persons to plantations they fled from during the Ivorian crisis, last night shot at the returnees killing one and injuring two others. The youths have so far burnt 18 huts and six tons of rice while 300 IDPs are taking refugee in the compound of Zeaglo Sous-Prefecture. Two platoons from the National Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FANCI) have been deployed in the area to ensure security. It should be recalled that the same youths staged violent demonstrations in Zeaglo last week during which one of them was shot dead after opening fire on FANCI soldiers who were escorting the IDPs.

33 prisoners, most of them alleged roadside bandits, escaped from Man prison (west) on the night of 21 November 2008. The prison manager told UNPOL that the prisoners had been transferred to the section for minors while their building was being rehabilitated. They are alleged to have escaped through a window. The FN communication officer in Man told UNOCI that they had intensified patrols and that six of the escaped prisoners had already been caught.

Five members of the Mixed Brigade at Zeale in the Danane area (west) this morning set up roadblocks on the road to Teapleu, 25 km south of Danane, along the Danane- Zouan Hounien road, as a protest against unpaid salaries and allowances. No vehicles, except those belonging to the UN agencies and UNOCI, were allowed beyond the barricade. Traders were hardest hit because toady is market day in Teapleu, while vehicles going to nearby Ity mine were also stranded. The demonstrators said they would not remove the roadblocks until they were paid all the money due to them.

Human Rights

The Regional Human Rights Office in Daloa went to Séguéla on 19 November 2008 to investigate the case of four sympathizers of Zacharia Koné, former Forces Nouvelles (FN) military zone commander, who were arrested on the night of 8 November 2008 for "subversion". The Office found that two of the soldiers were detained at the Highlander Camp while the other two, including the driver of Zacharia Kone's security chief, were transferred to the central prison on 12 November 2008. The driver claimed he had been tortured in Highlander Camp. The Office noted visible marks of torture on his back and chest. Following the visit, the Office expressed its concern to the FN authorities over the allegations of torture and the disappearance of two other alleged sympathizers of Zacharia Koné, who had been arrested and detained at Highlander Camp on 10 September 2008. The FN authorities insisted they knew nothing about the disappearance of the two men.

Within the framework of activities to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Regional Human Rights Office in Abidjan organized, jointly with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, a two-day mission to Dabou, 40 km south of Abidjan. On 19 November 2008, the delegation visited Dabou prison and distributed kits containing soap, rice, sugar and milk to inmates. On the same day, four human rights clubs were launched in the town during an official ceremony led by the delegation. On 20 November 2008, 70 participants, including local authorities, community, religious and traditional leaders as well as representatives of national NGOs, participated in a round-table discussion on human rights protection mechanisms in Côte d'Ivoire.