PRESS STATEMENT ON CÔTE D'IVOIRE BY PRESIDENT OF SECURITY COUNCIL

PRESS STATEMENT ON CÔTE D'IVOIRE BY PRESIDENT OF SECURITY COUNCIL

This is the text of a press statement today on Côte d'Ivoire by the President of the Security Council, Martin Belinga-Eboutou (Cameroon):

      Members of the Security Council strongly condemned the attempt to seize power by force of arms or to overthrow the democratically elected Government of Côte d’Ivoire.  In this connection they called for full respect of the constitutional order in that country and emphasized their full support for the legitimate Government of Côte d’Ivoire.

Members of the Security Council called on all parties to resolve the current crisis peacefully and to abstain from any actions or statements or demonstration that might jeopardize or otherwise hamper the search for a negotiated solution.  They called on the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and other parties to recognize that only through a political solution can the crisis be solved.

Members of the Security Council furthermore called on all parties to ensure respect for human rights, in particular with respect to civilian populations and to bring to justice all those responsible for any violations of those rights.

Members of the Security Council called on the international community to support the upcoming United Nations Flash appeal by providing urgent humanitarian assistance to needy populations in Côte d’Ivoire and countries of the subregion affected by the Ivorian crisis.

Members of the Security Council commend the initiatives and activities undertaken by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict.  In this connection, they lent their full support to the efforts of the ECOWAS Contact Group on Côte d’Ivoire and called on the international community to stand behind ECOWAS and to provide the necessary assistance required for the immediate deployment of the ECOMOG force agreed at the Contact Group summit meeting on 23 October 2002.

Members of the Security Council took note of the decision adopted on Côte d’Ivoire by the eighty-sixth Ordinary Session of the Central Organ of the African Union Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, as contained in its Communiqué issued on 29 October 2002 in Addis Ababa.

Members of the Council have expressed their appreciation for the efforts made by France to prevent, upon request of the legitimate authorities of Côte d’Ivoire, further fightings in the country, on a provisional basis, pending the deployment of the ECOMOG force.

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