UN prepares I Coast inquiry
2004-04-02 14:06
Geneva - The United Nations is preparing an inquiry into grave human rights abuses in Ivory Coast during an anti-government protest a week ago, a spokesperson said on Friday.
"The allegations speak of summary and extra-judicial executions, rape and sexual violence, arbitrary arrests and detention among other reported abuses," said Jose Diaz, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Diaz told journalists that "ground work" had started to set up an international commission of inquiry to look into "allegations of grave human rights violations" during and after the demonstrations in Abidjan on March 25.
"There seems to be a consensus on the need for such a commission of inquiry from among others the president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo. We expect it to go ahead," he added.
France said on Wednesday it had approached the UN High Commissioner's office about the clashes, which left 37 people dead according to police in Ivory Coast.
The political opposition in the troubled former French colony has said up to 500 people died when the army followed presidential orders and cracked down on the demonstration, called in defiance of a presidential ban on public protests.
Ivory Coast's security minister said on Thursday there was "incontestable evidence" that atrocities were committed after the anti-government protest, but blamed them on "parallel forces."
The commission is likely to be formed by three internationally recognised experts, Diaz said.