Highlights

-Public Hearings suspended until beginning of next week
-Ghanaian ambassador to CI visits UNOCI's GHANBATT

Public Hearings

No Public Hearings were held in Ferkessedougou or Ouragahio yesterday following the official relaunch in these two towns on 25 September 2007. The hearings, which are being held to provide birth certificates for people who were born in Cote d'Ivoire but have no identity papers, are scheduled to restart at the beginning of next week.

Security

A UNOCI patrol which went to Doumayadogou village was told by the Chief that there had been an increase in robberies along the Pinhou - Gbapleu road and that the criminals usually escaped towards Guezon village.

Armed bandits yesterday attacked the offices of an NGO in Abengourou after which they escaped with several mobile phones, an unknown amount of money, a video projector, camera and computer. There has been a spate of such armed burglaries in the area recently, including at the offices of the Ivorian Electricity Company (CIE) and SODEFOR, the Society for the development of forests.

Military

Joint patrols were conducted yesterday by MORBATT and UNPOL in Bouaké; by JORBATT and Licorne in Abidjan, by MORBATT and Licorne along the Brobo - Aossi Lossankro road; by MORBATT and Licorne along the Sakassou - Zededian axis and by
Military Observers from Yamoussoukro and UNPOL along the Gla to Aya Prikro axis.

Visit

The Ghanaian ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, Kabral Blay-Amihere, yesterday started a three-day visit to UNOCI's Ghanaian battalion in Bondoukou. During his visit, the ambassador will hold discussions on various issues with GHANBATT as well as meet members of the local authorities.

Miscellaneous

Heavy rains have seriously damaged a bridge in Zomplou village, western Côte d'Ivoire, making it difficult for BENINBATT to travel to their camp in Toulepleu and vice versa. In a related report, the Mixed Brigade at Teapleu told a UNOCI patrol that the bridge between Gbapleu and Biantous had been washed away by rain, making it difficult for people to travel between the two villages.

Human Rights

"General" Gabriel Banao, leader of the Union Patriotique pour la Résistance du Grand Ouest (UPRGO) and three other militiamen were arrested on 26 September and detained at the gendarmerie in Duékoué after violent demonstrations by former UPRGO militiamen paralyzed the cities of Guiglo and Duékoué respectively on 22 and 25 September . Although the situation appears to have returned to normal, the Regional Human Rights Office in Duékoué is following the case.

On 25 September, a man informed the Regional Human Rights Office in Daloa that his father died on 14 September for lack of medical assistance as a result of the strike of the members of the medical union Syndicat National des Cadres Supérieurs de la Santé de Côte d'Ivoire (SYNACASS-CI) from 4 to 14 September. [Comments: During the nationwide strike of the medical personnel no minimum service was guaranteed. Consequently two persons were reported dead in Boundoukou while many others had recourse to traditional medical practioners.]

On 25 September, the Regional Human Rights Office in Daloa visited the Maison d'Arrêt et de Correction of Daloa to assess the conditions of detentions of the 844 inmates held in that prison. The Office expressed concern about the general conditions and, in particular, about the increasing number of minors detained without any guarantee of the minimum rules for the protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty.

An 18-year old woman was raped in Ahougnanssou, Bouaké district, on 21 September by an unknown hooded man armed with a knife. The man tied her up and tried to cut her throat before raping her. The victim is receiving medical care at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire of Bouaké (CHU).

On 26 September, the Regional Human Rights Office in Abidjan, accompanied by UNPOL, investigated an extra-judicial killing alleged to have occurred on 24 September in Marcory (Abidjan District). Police officers opened fire, supposedly in self-defence, on two alleged criminals who shot at them while attempting to escape from arrest. The incident resulted in the death of the two robbers, as well as a woman, and injury to two passers-by. A criminal police investigation has been opened into the case by officers of the 9th police precinct.