Security in Côte d'Ivoire: UNOCI has its doubt on the Army

Soir Info
- The twenty-eighth (28^th) report of the Secretary General on the
United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) was presented, on July 18,
2011, to the Security Council by Choi Young-Jin. UNOCI, in accordance with its
mandate has taken control of the security of the Ivorian territory because the
Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI) are unable to do it. Indeed, Young-Jin
Choi, Special Representative of UN Secretary General for Côte d'Ivoire, has
asked the UN Security Council to authorize the retention of UNOCI military
capability. UNOCI will continue to protect the civilian population by its
presence. It will directly intervene in accordance with its mandate. Choi
informed the council that UNOCI will deploy its forces in Tabou, Toulépleu and
Tai. UNOCI will maintain a reserve forces that can be deployed at any time.
According to Young-Jin Choi, the national forces are disintegrated in such a way
that the military and police components of UNOCI have to provide security and
order. Their role will be strengthened to assure the protection of the
personnel, facilities and the property of the United Nations as well as the
essential facilities of Cote d'Ivoire.

 

The Council of Ministers in
Yamoussoukro, today Ministers are going to tremble again

Le Democrate
– Today Alassane Ouattara is going to hold his first Cabinet meeting in
Yamoussoukro since he became president. This meeting will be an opportunity for
the President of the Republic to ask each minister to present the work he has
done two (2) weeks after the seminar of the government at Plateau. Alassane
Ouattara, who sent his ministers on mission, has decided to watch them like milk
on fire, given different challenges. For this meeting on the homeland of the
founding father of modern Côte d'Ivoire, each minister would have to explain
what he has already done. According to reports, things are looking difficult for
some ministers. For those who have started implementing their road map, there
would be no problem. Those who did nothing will still be shaking as was the case
during the government seminar. The meeting will also issue an update of the trip
made by the President to Liberia. Through this first Cabinet meeting in
Yamoussoukro President Ouattara wants to allow the political capital to fully
play its role.

 

Dialogue, Truth and
Reconciliation Commission - After the post- electoral violence Banny warns: "In
two cases out of 3 the war resumes when..."

L'Inter
- In his first public appearance since his appointment, the President of the
Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CDVR), Charles Konan Banny, met
yesterday, Tuesday, July 19, with nine associations and Islamic movements in the
Sunni mosque of Adjamé Bracody. For an hour, the Ivorian Desmond Tutu explained
to dignitaries and Muslim religious leaders the objective of the commission for
the future of Côte d'Ivoire. For an hour, Imam Koné Idriss Koudouss of the
National Islamic Council (CNI), El Hadj Babily Dembele, president of the Islamic
Development Confederation, Dr Farouk Musa Fadiga, president of Sunni movements
of Cote d'Ivoire, Koné Daoud, President of High Council of the Imamat and
scholars of the Cote d'Ivoire and members of the Forum of religious
denominations listened to the message of the President of the CDVR. Banny
stressed the need to meet the challenge of bringing peace by making possible the
reconciliation of Ivorians. "The objective is to ensure that we will never
experience again what we have suffered" he said. He added that, "the statistics
have shown that in two cases out of three the conflict resumes." In other words,
it is likely that clashes can resume if nothing is done to permanently kill the
seeds of violence. He therefore called for more vigilance to make reconciliation
a success.  According to Banny the success of their mission depends on the
socio-political stability of the country.

 

Reintegration of former
combatants, Badini learns about difficulties facing PNRRC

L'Inter
- The representative of the President of Burkina Faso in Côte d'Ivoire, Boureima
Badini, went on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at the headquarters of the National
Reinsertion and Community Rehabilitation (PNRRC) in Cocody-les-II Plateaux. He
was there to see the difficulties of this structure created by the Ouagadougou
Political Agreement, whose mission is to address the reintegration of young
people who took up arms and those likely to do so. Mr. Badini was received by
the Coordinator of PNRRC, Daniel Kossominan Ouattara. With him he talked about
the activities of the structure. Mr. Ouattara asked for Mr. Badini's support. "I
would like to thank you on the behalf of Ivorians. With you, we will meet the
challenge of reconciliation in Côte d'Ivoire," the coordinator of PNRRC said.
Boureima Badini said that he appreciated the work already done by Mr. Ouattara
and his team, before promising the support of Burkina Faso to the PNRRC.

 

Post-electoral crisis: Ghana
Secret Service arrests 55 former members of Ivorian defence and security forces

L'Inter –
Fifty Five (55) Ivorian fighters who sought refuge in Ghana were arrested by the
Ghanaian secret services in Ghana with weapons of war at a refugee camp
bordering Côte d'Ivoire. The information comes from koaci.com which
talked to the coordinator of the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP),
Section Ghana, Justin Bayor. According to koaci.com, these fighters were
arrested at ​​Brong Ahafo at the west-central border of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana.

 

Bacongo Cissé (Minister of
Higher Education `): "After 16 years at university, 5,000 FESCI students have
not got their Masters degree."

Le Nouveau Réveil
– "If you ask me, I am against the dissolution of FESCI. I am a lawyer and I
cannot accept that we dissolve this organization. We are in a country of freedom
of association. However, we cannot rule out the fact that FESCI behaved in such
a way, because it got its funding from the state under Laurent Gbagbo. It would
have been a normal organization, if it had confined its activities in schools
only" the minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Cissé Bacongo
said yesterday during a press conference. He also revealed that "more than 5,000
students, members of FESCI, spent nearly 16 years at the University of Cocody
without being able to get their Masters degree in their respective fields".
According to the Minister, research on that matter continues.

 

100 days of
Gbagbo in Korhogo: The truth that they continue to hide from his relatives

Le Mandat –
It is now 100 days since the former president, Laurent Gbagbo has been under
house arrest in Korhogo since he was captured on 11 April by the Forces
Républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI).
His
supporters still refuse to face reality.
As in a western,
they continue to hope that there will be a « come back'' by the champion of the
refondateurs.
The
arguments are going well on this issue.
The issue has
increasingly become the news in the forestière zone, the birthplace of Laurent
Gbagbo. In this area, the illusion is very strong. The facts are set aside in an
effort to keep hope alive....(...)

 

After just one
month, the rehabilitation of Maca is finished: a paradise prison for future
detainees.  

Le Nouveau
Réveil –
It seems that President Alassane Ouattara has spared nothing for
the well-being and comfort of prisoners.  The main prison, the Maison
d'arrêt et de correction d'Abidjan that we had visited had nothing to see
compared with the Maca that we have discovered after one month of building works
to rehabilitate the prison. Everything is new. The main gate, the sanitation,
the kitchen, running water, nothing was neglected to give a proud face and a
more humane dimension to the largest prison in Côte d'Ivoire. (...).