Ouattara’s rampant justice

The exhumation of the first of at least 29 bodies buried in a grave in the Doukouré area of Yopougon in Abidjan district was coordinated by Ivorian state prosecutor Simplice Koffi. Yopougon was the last part of Abidjan to be held by pro-Gbagbo forces.
By John James, Abidjan
[related-articles]Residents say the arrest of former president Laurent Gbagbo on 11 April triggered a wave of violence as angry pro-Gbagbo militants carried out house-to-house searches for northerners, foreigners and members of the Baoulé ethnic group. There are tens of other informal burial sites needing to be investigated, often dug by communities themselves as the battles continued for control of Abidjan, according to the UN peacekeeping mission UNOCI.
The most high-profile case from the post-election crisis concerns the former head of state Laurent Gbagbo, who was transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in November. Several other transfers are likely to follow, as ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo assured last October when he said was looking at investigating “two to six” people in both camps, seen as most responsible for the post-election violence.
But otherwise the evidence being uncovered by the state prosecutor’s team will be used for national prosecutions. In June and August the state prosecutor’s office charged around 40 pro-Gbagbo civilian leaders with economic crimes and “attacks against the state”. Nearly 20 remain in prison. They’re being held in various towns in the northern half of Ivory Coast in the area formerly controlled by the New Forces rebels.
Their imprisonment in that part of the country is seen as a useful strategy to both decrease their chances of escape and also remove them from the hub of the country in Abidjan. The north voted overwhelmingly for the current president Alassane Ouattara in the presidential and recent legislative elections.
The ICC may look further back in time - Ocampo said in October that witnesses had been coming forward to give evidence of crimes committed before the recent post-election crisis and that he was already looking into possible crimes prior to the election. The judges asked the prosecutor to report back on options for extending the current five-month period under review. 
Laurent Gbagbo was transferred to the northern town of Korhogo by UN helicopter two days after his arrest. But the majority of his arrested supporters spent a few weeks at the up-market Hotel Pergola in Abidjan before being moved to the north.
Despite initial complaints about their treatment in the north and a video showing Michel Gbagbo being forced to do press-ups, things seem to have settled down and the prisoners receive visits from the UN peacekeeping mission, the ICRC and their own lawyers. The cases of those charged with economic crimes and attacking the state are now in the hands of the examining judges, who will decide whether to proceed or not with a trial.

“You will be informed when the time comes”
Aside from these initial charges against those arrested in the immediate aftermath of Laurent Gbagbo’s capture, further charges are likely to follow. As yet there’s no timetable for court cases to start and the wheels of justice often turn slowly in Ivory Coast.
“You will be informed when the time comes”, was all the prosecutor could tell us.
The on-going investigations focus on so-called ‘blood crimes’ related to the specific acts of violence in the post-election crisis, during which an estimated 3,000 people were killed. These charges, if brought, will almost certainly target many of the same group of pro-Gbagbo prisoners. The prosecutor has set up a special inquiry cell to collect statements around the country and so far some 4,000 witnesses have given testimony to police officers.
Two specific cases are now being investigated by the state prosecutor – the kidnapping and assassination  of a retired colonel, Adama Dosso, who disappeared on 12 March and whose body was found near the  highway north of Abidjan. Then there’s the kidnapping, torture and killing of four men, including leading businessman Yves Lambelin, who were taken by an armed gang from the Abidjan Novotel hotel on 4 April. Around 20 people, mainly state security officers, have been charged.
Duekoue massacres
A separate investigation is being led by the prosecutor in the western town of Daloa. Ouattara Gbéri-Be is looking into the massacres in the west of the country, particularly in Duekoue, against pro-Gbagbo communities.
Then there are the 12 suspected Liberian mercenaries arrested by the Liberian authorities near  the Ivorian border.  Reports at the time said they would be transferred to Ivory Coast for trial, but it is still not clear when or how this transfer will proceed.
Finally, investigations into around 20 military officers, including a couple of pro-Gbagbo generals, are also continuing, with most of these suspects in detention in Korhogo. The national military prosecutor, Ange Kessi, is in charge of these investigations. Several international arrest warrants have also been issued for suspects in exile.
Footballers and reconciliation
Meanwhile, a Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission (TRDC), led by former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, officially opened in September. Although the idea of a South African-style TRC captured international media interest, especially following the appointment of Ivorian football star Didier Drogba as one of the commission members, the reality on the ground has yet to live up to the hype. The commission, which has a two-year mandate, only just opened its main office in Abidjan. 
In a way the TRDC is hamstrung from the start. By choosing a wealthy technocrat who actively supported Ouattara in the second round of elections and still nurtures political ambitions of his own, it remains far removed from the civil society-led equivalent in South Africa.
The TRDC considered holding public meetings throughout the country to address the key causes and events of the crisis. Untill now, none have taken place. Nevertheless Banny continues to meet with key constituents, including a meeting in late January with pro-Gbagbo supporters in Paris.
Alongside the TRDC, which has no judicial wing or the ability to grant amnesty, there is also the National Commission of Inquiry, which was given a six-month mandate from July, renewable once, to gather confidential testimonies on human rights abuses committed during the post-election period.
The commission started work in September under the authority of the Ministry of Human Rights as a direct response to critical reports by the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who detailed abuses committed by forces on both sides during the crisis. The commission’s job is to produce a report.
President Ouattara recently indicated this could be used as a basis for prosecutions: “We’ve put in place a National Commission of Inquiry which I hope will finish its work at the end of February, early March. The report will be sent to everyone concerned and then the judges will be able to judge those who’ve committed crimes according to the law,” he told Radio France International (RFI) at the end of January.

“Victor’s justice”
“The tragedy in this country has been impunity”, Ouattara said in a recent interview with  French newspaper, Le Monde. But the president, despite the plethora of judicial proceedings and investigations, still faces accusations that he’s meting out ‘victor’s justice’.
The government  says that 500 soldiers in the new national army have been suspended for lack of discipline since Ouattara took over, but  legal proceedings linked to the post-election crisis have yet to target anyone from the pro-Ouattara camp.
Victims of all colours have been encouraged to come forward and provide testimony to the national committee of inquiry, the special investigation cell and, when they’re ready, to the TRDC. But we’ll have to wait until these reports are published to see how critical of pro-Ouattara forces these committees are.
The TRD commission does contain a notable Gbagbo supporter, Professor Zackarie Sery Bailly, the official representative from the west of the country. He is close to Gbagbo, with whom he spent several years in a military prison in the early 1970s for opposition activities.
But the splintered nature of the pro-Gbagbo camp, even prior to the disputed election, means there is no undisputed replacement for Gbagbo, who could  lead the opposition towards a reconciliation process. The new government continues to have strong backing from the international community.
This year will be crucial in determining how impartial such investigations are. While the president talks about ending impunity, the former IMF Number Two seems to feel that economic matters are perhaps just as important - and that a thriving economy can do as much to help the country move on as human rights reports and judicial proceedings.