Man, 08 October 2009... A mission from the Rule of Law Office of the Department of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in New York is on a ten-day visit to Côte d'Ivoire to understand the realities of restoring judicial authority and have discussions with various actors.

The mission, composed of two experts, Agneta Johnson and Gwendolyn Chellam, on Wednesday went to the western city of Man with the Chief of the Rule of Law section of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Françoise Simard.

The UN experts met with the local officials involved in the redeployment of judicial and prison administration. They discussed on various issues concerning the status of redeployment of the administration with the president of the local office of the National Pilot Committee of Administration Redeployment (CNPRA), Magistrate Edouard Ntamon Béhou.

"We also discussed the need for the redeployment of the judicial police through the Integrated Commandment Centre (ICC). And we believe that the United Nations will be able to influence the acceleration of this process", Mr. Béhou said after his meetings with the UN mission.

The delegation visited the prison in Man and discussed the issue of the redeployment and planning of prison administration with the head of the institution, Frédéric Deya. The discussions also focused on the treatment of prisoners and the difficulties encountered in running the prison as well as the support of the central administration based in Abidjan.

The mission should enable the international community, which contributed to the renovation of judicial and prison structures, to assess what has been done and what remains to be done, explained Françoise Simard. The delegation is also scheduled to go to Daloa and Bouaké.