|
|
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
COTE D'IVOIRE: Government bans demonstrations for three months, disbands youth group
ABIDJAN, 17 October 2003 (IRIN) - The government of Cote d'Ivoire has banned public marches and demonstrations for three months to try and cool heads as it tries to persuade rebels occupying the north of the country to resume their seats in the cabinet and start to disarm.
It has also ordered the disbanding of one of several hardline youth groups that was associated with violent anti-rebel demonstrations in Abidjan last week.
Both measures were announced on Thursday night following a cabinet meeting.
The immediate effect of the ban on demonstrations will be to prevent the youth groups, which are close to President Laurent Gbagbo and his Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party, from going ahead with a planned march against the rebels in the central town of Tiebissou on Saturday. Teibissou lies on the frontline between the government-held south of the country and the rebel-held north.
The ban will also prevent two of the three main parties represented in parliament from holding a planned demonstration in Abidjan in support of a French-brokered peace agreement between Gbagbo and the rebels signed in January. No date had been set for the march, but the militia-style hardline youth groups, known as "Young Patriots", had threatened to disrupt it.
The January peace agreement led to the rebels joining a government of national reconciliation in April, but the rebels suspended their participation in the broad-based coalition on 23 September in protest at Gbagbo's refusal to delegate effective power to independent prime minister Seydou Diarra and his ministerial team. Eight of the nine rebel ministers in the government subsequently withdrew to the rebel capital Bouake in central Cote d'Ivoire.
Since then, there has been an uneasy stand-off between the two sides who are kept apart by over 5,000 French and West African peacekeeping troops.
However, the "Young Patriots" have become increasingly vocal as the stalemate continues.
During demonstrations in Abidjan on Thursday and Friday last week, they attacked the offices of the French-owned water and electricity companies and shops of the French-owned mobile phone company Orange. FPI leaders have repeatedly accused France of favouring the northern based rebels in the civil war which erupted in September 2002.
The government ordered the immediate disbanding of one hardline youth group, called the Grouping of Young Patriots (GPP), saying its members had been using identity cards similar to those used by the security forces. The GPP was widely accused of being responsible for the damage caused in last week's demonstrations.
However, the government has taken no action against the other "Young Patriot" organisations, which according to diplomatic sources have recruited about 20,000 members in towns throughout the south of Cote d'Ivoire. They openly conduct military-style training and some claim to have access to arms. Many of these hardline youth groups been involved in the harassment of immigrants from other West African countries.
Charles Ble Goude, the leader of COJEP, one of the three main federations of "Young Patriots," told IRIN on Friday that he would accept the government ban on demonstrations and call off plans for the March in Tiebissou.
Ble Goude, who is often seen in public with police bodyguards, said: "I will obey the decision taken by the council of ministers and last night I asked my friends who were already there to go back to Abidjan because we must respect the institutions of the republic."
Charles Groguhet, a leader of the now banned GPP, blamed the trouble caused in last week's demonstrations on "rebel infiltrators" into his movement.
Diplomats highlighted the fact that the disbanding of the GPP and the three-month ban on street demonstrations were both measures that had been proposed by the newly appointed ministers of defence and internal security. The two men are political independents and both were now demonstrating their independence from Gbagbo and his FPI, they noted.
On 13 September, Rene Amani was appointed Defence Minister and Martin Bleou was appointed Minister of Internal Security, filling portfolios that had remained vacant for six months while Gbagbo argued with the other political parties over who to appoint.
Their appointment should have cleared the way for the rebels to begin disarming and permit the return of government administrators to the north of Cote d'Ivoire. However, 10 days later the rebels suspended their participation in government and put the disarmament process on ice.
Rebel spokesman Sidiki Konate told IRIN that he was unimpressed by the latest government measures. He particularly criticised the ban on demonstrations. "The existence of a small group which the police or gendarmerie should be able to control is not sufficient reason for banning all demostrations," he said.
Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance
[ENDS]
The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
