AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: PRE 01/071/2011
22 February 2011

Côte d’Ivoire: Sexual violence and other human rights abuses must stop

Human rights violations including sexual violence and unlawful killings are being perpetrated by forces loyal to both Côte d’Ivoire’s outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo and internationally recognized incumbent Alassane Ouattara, an Amnesty International investigation has revealed.

Victims and eyewitnesses first-hand accounts of the ongoing abuses, which follow the disputed November 2010 election, are contained in a six-page summary of preliminary findings compiled by Amnesty International researchers during a four-week visit to Côte d’Ivoire.

“In the west of the country, women told us that they have been gang-raped in January 2011 in their homes in view of their children and others told us they were raped on their way to the market. Eyewitnesses have also seen men beaten and deliberately killed in the street,” said Gaëtan Mootoo, one of the two researchers who carried out the investigation.

“The eyes of the world may have shifted from the political stalemate in Côte d’Ivoire, but the abuses are clearly continuing.”