PRESS CONFERENCE BY CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Briefing correspondents today on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, that country’s Permanent Representative, Philippe Djangone-Bi, said that notable progress had been made towards peace, owing to the efforts of the country’s leadership, but that peace could be jeopardized by the behaviour of certain elements of the international forces operating under United Nations mandate.

Describing recent events in the West African country, the Ambassador highlighted tensions between troops from various contributing countries operating under direct United Nations command and the French Force Licorne, which were part of the international forces operating under the command of their own national authorities.  The international forces operated in the east-west strip dividing the north and the south of the country, known as the zone of confidence, and the events of 26 February in the zone, if left unpunished, would slow the peace process and seriously tarnish the image of the international forces and that of the Security Council.

From the start, he said, his Government had drawn the attention of the Secretariat and the Security Council to the need for merging the two forces into a single force under United Nations command.  Apparently, for reasons he had not understood, those two organs preferred to maintain the duality of structure and command, which was among the root causes of the February incident.

On 26 February, he recalled, under the pretext that elements of the Ivorian defence and security forces had been in a locality close to the southern border of the zone of confidence, which the Force Licorne considered to be located in the zone, a group of the Force Licornehad arrested seven from the Forces of Defence and Security and subjected them to cruel and degrading treatment; the troops were stripped naked and bound, and exposed to the sun for nearly eight hours, receiving from their tormenters only warm water for food.

He said that the chart attached to the eighth report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire (document S/2006/222) clearly showed that the locality in question was indeed located in the zone under government control.  By taking the law into their own hands, the French forces, or Force Licorne, “trampled on our national sovereignty”.  The Permanent Mission had made a presentation on the matter, on 12 April, to the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee.  Absent a reaction from the Committee to that “absolutely unacceptable” incident, the Mission had sent a reminder to the Security Council President on 2 May.

“We are sure that the very tight agenda of the Council has not yet allowed for the consideration of this question, which, for my Government, is of utmost importance,” he said.  The various resolutions creating the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) had stipulated that one of the main tasks entrusted to the “Blue Helmets” was to integrate human rights in all their activities, with in the ultimate aim of helping to restore peace and stability, and to reinforce the rule of law in his country.

He stressed that the lack of reaction by the Council, which considered the fight against impunity to be one of its major concerns, would likely encourage the continuation of such incidents and impede the peace process.   Moreover, that silence could give the impression that punishing human rights violators varied according to the nationality of the alleged perpetrators.  He, meanwhile, commended the self-control and responsibility of the Ivorian defence and security forces, which did not yield to provocation, thus preventing a real catastrophe.

France was considered by his Government to be a friendly country, and, thus, it did not understand how those acts of such gravity, committed on the ground, under the cover of UNOCI, had gone unpunished, he said.

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For information media • not an official record