Cote D Ivoire Post Gbagbo

Côte d'Ivoire is emerging from a severe political-military crisis that followed a disputed November 28, 2010, presidential runoff election between former president Laurent Gbagbo and his, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. Both claimed electoral victory and formed opposing governments. Their rivalry spurred a full-scale civil military conflict in early March 2011, after months of growing political violence. Armed conflict largely ended days after Gbagbo's arrest by pro-Ouattara forces, aided by United Nations (U.N.) and French peacekeepers, but limited residual fighting was continuing to occur as of April 20.

The three articles in this "Discussion Paper" explore different perspectives to the complex causes of the civil war that broke out in C te d Ivoire in September 2002. They are written against the background of the signing of yet another peace agreement between the Ivorian government and the former rebel New Forces (NF) in March 2007. This volume also provides a context where the prospects for post-conflict peace, national reconciliation and democracy in C te d Ivoire could be critically analyzed.

Cote d'Ivoire, a West African country of 21.5 million people, is emerging from a severe political crisis. It grew out of a disputed November 29th, 2010 presidential runoff election between former president Laurent Gbagbo and his opponent, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, who both claimed electoral victory and formed opposing governments. Their rivalry erupted into a full-scale civil military conflict between their armed supporters in early March 2011. After the election, the United States, together with most governments around the world, had endorsed Ouattara as the legally elected president and pressed for Gbagbo to cede the presidency to him. This book examines Cote d'Ivoire's election crisis and aftermath with a focus on maintaining security and public order, economic recovery, transitional justice and accountability for human rights abuses, and national political reconciliation and reunification in the region.

The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories are put into perspective in Human Rights Watch's signature yearly report. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2016 by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.

What happens when the international community simultaneously pursues peace and justice in response to ongoing conflicts? What are the effects of interventions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the wars in which the institution intervenes? Is holding perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable a help or hindrance to conflict resolution? This book offers an in-depth examination of the effects of interventions by the ICC on peace, justice and conflict processes. The 'peace versus justice' debate, wherein it is argued that the ICC has either positive or negative effects on 'peace', has spawned in response to the Court's propensity to intervene in conflicts as they still rage. This book is a response to, and a critical engagement with, this debate. Building on theoretical and analytical insights from the fields of conflict and peace studies, conflict resolution, and negotiation theory, the book develops a novel analytical framework to study the Court's effects on peace, justice, and conflict processes. This framework is applied to two cases: Libya and northern Uganda. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the core of the book examines the empirical effects of the ICC on each case. The book also examines why the ICC has the effects that it does, delineating the relationship between the interests of states that refer situations to the Court and the ICC's institutional interests, arguing that the negotiation of these interests determines which side of a conflict the ICC targets and thus its effects on peace, justice, and conflict processes. While the effects of the ICC's interventions are ultimately and inevitably mixed, the book makes a unique contribution to the empirical record on ICC interventions and presents a novel and sophisticated means of studying, analyzing, and understanding the effects of the Court's interventions in Libya, northern Uganda - and beyond.

Ousted from power by the French army on April 11, 2011, following the disputed presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire of November 2010, Laurent Gbagbo was charged with crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on December 5, 2011. This book, written from 2012 onwards, thanks to numerous prison visits and interviews, is the only one to have been produced with the participation of the Ivorian president during his incarceration and trial. This unique testimony is more than ever a document for history, because it sheds light on the manipulations of the 2010 elections, the collusion between Nicolas Sarkozy's France and the ICC to get rid of Laurent Gbagbo, and the stalling tactics and maneuvers that marred "Gbagbogate." Over meetings with François Mattei, Laurent Gbagbo looks back on his seven years in prison, explains what they mean and shares his vision for the future—that of a free man, come what may. Laurent Gbagbo, historian and university professor, has campaigned all his life for the establishment of true democracy in his country, Côte d’Ivoire. He was elected President of the Republic in October 2000. His struggle to give meaning to the word “independence” has always pitted him against powerful interests. François Mattei is a journalist and author of numerous books.

Was the partnership between the French Army and the Opposition in Ivory Coast that resulted in the removal of Laurent Gbagbo from power during the post-election civil strife an effort to restore democracy or the final piece in a plan to remove a threat to the infamous "Colonial Pact" that France imposed on its colonies in Africa before granting them independence in the 1960s? Was the removal of Laurent Gbagbo and the ascension to power of Alassane Ouattara an effort to maintain the anachronistic autocratic French-imposed system in Ivory Coast and the rest of Francophone Africa; and was it a French commitment to maintain the rule of puppet heads of state who lack the support of their citizens, by encouraging the use of electoral farces organized by the puppets and supported by puppeteers in a mafia-style relationship that drags these African countries into abyss?