UNITED NATIONS/ABIDJAN (Reuters) – UN advisers expressed grave fears yesterday about ethnic violence in Ivory Coast after its disputed presidential election and Abidjan’s new ambassador to the United Nations warned that the West African nation was on the “brink of genocide.”
The two advisers reported signs “some leaders there are inciting violence between different elements of the population” during a standoff between incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and challenger Alassane Ouattara after elections that were supposed to heal wounds of a civil war in 2002-03.
“Given the history of internal conflict in Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) such actions are highly irresponsible,” a UN statement quoted Francis Deng and Edward Luck as saying.
Deng said allegations the Abidjan homes of political opponents of Gbagbo had been marked to identify their ethnicity were extremely worrying.
The advisers cited unconfirmed reports “of serious human rights violations by supporters of Mr Laurent Gbagbo and by forces under his control as well as the use of inflammatory speech to incite hatred and violence.”
World leaders have stepped up pressure on Gbagbo to quit in favour of Ouattara, who is widely recognized as having won the vote on Nov. 28 in the world’s top cocoa growing nation.
Ouattara and his advisers are holed up in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, protected by UN peacekeepers known as UNOCI.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “deeply alarmed” by reports that a member of Gbagbo’s government has called for an assault on the hotel from Jan 1, his office said.
“Any attack on the Golf Hotel could provoke widespread violence that could reignite civil war,” the statement said, adding UNOCI was “authorized to use all necessary means” to protect itself, Ouattara’s group and civilians at the hotel.
A delegation of three West African leaders will return to Ivory Coast next week to try to persuade Gbagbo, president since 2000, to cede power or risk facing “legitimate force.”
The dispute over the election results has provoked lethal street clashes and threatens to restart open conflict.
It has also pushed up cocoa futures to four-month highs on fears the turmoil could eventually disrupt exports. Ivory Coast’s Eurobond hit a record low last week on concern it would not meet a nearly $30 million bond payment due today.
Deng, special adviser on the prevention of genocide, and Luck, who holds the same position on the “responsibility to protect,” did not directly refer to the possibility of genocide or identify any ethnic groups that might be under threat.
