Highlights

- UNOCI delegation told land dispute led to violence in Marahui village
- Peacekeepers reminded of Mission's zero tolerance on sexual exploitation and abuse

Security

A UNOCI delegation, which together with local authorities from the eastern town of Bondoukou, went to Marahui village, 75 km from Bondoukou, after a violent confrontation between Lobis and Koulangos, was told yesterday that land disputes were the real reason for the problem between the two communities. The Koulangos claimed that they had rented their land to the Lobis for farming and it was the Lobis who had attacked them. They recalled that a similar incident had happened between the two communities in 1994. Some of the Koulangos demanded that the Lobi farmers be forced to leave their land while others said that they were ready to make peace but the Lobis had to make the first move. Trouble started in the village on 3 September 2008 when a group of some 60 Lobis went to Marahui and attacked the Koulangos, claiming that they had recived reports that a Lobi had been killed by Koulangos. This report turned out to be untrue. However, a larger group of Lobis again attacked Marahui on 5 September 2008 resulting in ten deaths, 21 injured and some 400 displaced.

Military

UNOCI Force Commander General Fernand Amoussou has been on a four-day tour of Sector West to ensure that the Mission's peacekeepers are ready to meet the challenges of the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections. According to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, the Impartial Forces, along with the Defence and Security Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (FDSCI) and the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) are responsible for providing security during the polls on 30 November 2008. General Amoussou said that he had also told his troops that it was important for them to respect the laws and customs of the host country and to always behave in an exemplary manner. The Force Commander was accompanied by the Chief of Conduct and Discipline, Jean-Paul Proulx, who reminded the peacekeepers, that UNOCI like the rest of the United Nations, had a zero tolerance policy to sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls and relations with prostitutes and minors.

Arms Embargo

UNOCI peacekeepers yesterday carried out arms embargo inspections at the Gendarmerie Squadron in Agban, Abidjan, at the Gendarmerie Brigades in Issia (centre west) and Gouméré, near Bondoukou (east) as well as at the FAFN Unit in Korhogo (north).


Human Rights

Members of a Liberian refugee organization in Zaaglo, 7 km from Guiglo (west) yesterday complained to the Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué about frequent rapes and other gender-based violence against women and girls that are committed in the village, with total impunity, by young men. The latest incident, they said, concerned a 19-year-old Liberian girl, who was attacked and stabbed in the face with a piece of glass by a group of youths, after she resisted a rape attempt.

On 10 September 2008, the Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué, together with the Child Protection Section, conducted a training session for 22 police officers from the Pakistani contingent based in Guiglo, on the work and mandate of the Human Rights Division, and a general introduction on international human rights norms and humanitarian law.