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Cote d'Ivoire: Civilians Must Not Be Targeted, Rights Body Says

Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
NEWS
November 5, 2004
Posted to the web November 5, 2004
Nairobi
As new fighting flared up in C_d'Ivoire, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on all
parties to refrain from targeting civilians and to respect international
humanitarian law. According to their mandate, United Nations peacekeepers
deployed in the country should protect civilians under imminent threat of
violence, the New York-based organization told CISA in statement dated November
4, 2004.
On Thursday, Ivorian government aircraft launched a series of bombing raids on
the main rebel-held cities of Bouaké and Korhogo, signaling an end to the
ceasefire declared in January 2003 and the peace process initiated at the same
time.
Several civilians were reported killed and many wounded when a checkpoint
manned by New Forces (Forces Nouvelles) troops came under aerial attack.
Militant youth from a pro-government group known as the Young Patriots (Jeunes
Patriotes) attacked unarmed United Nations (UN) personnel in Abidjan.
"C_d'Ivoire's civil war and its ongoing political crisis have been
characterized by shocking brutality. Civilians have often been attacked solely
on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality," said Peter
Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "If
the government and rebels resume fighting, they must take all steps possible to
limit harm to the civilian population."
Human Rights Watch urged all parties to the Ivorian conflict -including the
Ivorian military, gendarmes, police forces, pro-government militias and
combatants from several rebel factions making up the New Forces- to distinguish
at all times between combatants and the civilian population.
They must not attack civilians including aid workers, medical personnel, UN
personnel and members of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Captives
must be treated humanely, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or
nationality.

   

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