I. Introduction



1. By its resolution 2162 (2014), the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) until 30 June 2015 and requested me to provide a midterm report by 15 December 2014. The present report provides an update on major developments and on the implementation of the UNOCI mandate since the issuance of my previous report (S/2014/342) on 15 May 2014; it also contains the findings and recommendations of an electoral needs assessment mission conducted during the period under review.



II. Political situation



2. With the presidential election of 2015 already on the horizon, political posturing and pre-campaign activities have dominated political developments in Côte d'Ivoire. Political dialogue, which had stalled since January, resumed on 22 May, following which the Government committed to a series of confidence-building measures, including the release of additional associates of former President Laurent Gbagbo, welcoming the return of those in self-imposed exile, unfreezing their bank accounts and returning illegally occupied properties.

3. On 23 July, the Government announced that 275 out of 659 persons detained in connection with the post-elections crisis had been released on bail between 22 May and 21 July. The Government also reiterated the commitment made by the President, Alassane Ouattara, that persons returning from exile would not be subject to judicial proceedings. At least 191 bank accounts have since been unfrozen, and more persons have returned from self-imposed exile, including high-ranking officials from the former regime, as well as former President Gbagbo's mother, Marguerite Gado, who returned from Ghana on 12 October, although she passed away from age-related issues on 15 October. The government-led Committee for the Restitution of Illegally Occupied Public or Private Sites made progress, reporting that, as at 1 December, of the 901 claims that it had received, 376 illegally occupied properties had been vacated. A further 153 claims remain under consideration.

4. On 18 June, President Ouattara signed into law a bill on the composition, organization and functions of the Independent Electoral Commission. The new legislation established an Independent Electoral Commission whose governing body