A/HRC/19/72 I. Introduction 1. This report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 17/21, in which the Council established the mandate of independent expert on the human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire and requested the expert to submit a report on his activities for consideration at its nineteenth session. 2. The report covers the period from 1 November to 26 December 2011. It is based on two visits to Côte d’Ivoire, the first from 14 to 25 November 2011 and the second from 7 to 13 December 2011. It contains a list of recommendations addressed to the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and to the international community. 3. The independent expert would like to thank the Government of Côte d’Ivoire for making it possible for the two missions to be carried out under excellent conditions. During the missions, the independent expert listened to the views of all stakeholders in order to gather their views and opinions on the human rights situation and possible ways of improving it. In this context he met with the country’s highest authorities. He is grateful to President Alassane Ouattara for his frank and clear comments. 4. The independent expert met with the Prime Minister, Guillame Soro, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Human Rights and Civil Liberties, the Minister for Justice, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister for the Family, Women and Social Affairs, the Minister for Veterans and War Victims, and the chief of staff of the Minister of Defence. 5. The expert met with the public prosecutor, the military prosecutor, the head of the national police force, the chief of staff of the Forces Républicaines de Côte d`Ivoire, the president of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the members of the National Human Rights Commission, the vice-president of the Independent Electoral Commission, the vice-president of the National Commission of Inquiry and the Special Investigative Unit. The independent expert also met with representatives of political parties, including the former president, Henri Konan Bedié; the president of the Parti Démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire; and leaders of the Front Populaire Ivoirien and Liberté et Démocratie pour la République, including the latter’s president, Mamadou Koulibaly. 6. The independent expert met with representatives of civil society, of human rights organizations, of women’s organizations and of victims, with religious leaders and with representatives of the brotherhood of traditional hunters (Dozo). He met with representatives of the diplomatic community, including the Special Representative of the African Union for Côte d’Ivoire, and European Union officials. The expert also met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), Albert Gerard Koenders, and his deputy, Arnaud Akodjenou, who provided key support for his mission. 7. In addition to Abidjan, the independent expert visited Korhogo, where he met with former president Laurent Gbagbo, Odiénné, where he met with Simone Gbagbo, and Boundiali, Bouaké, Daloa, Katiola and Bouna, where close associates of former president Gbagbo are being held. In all those places the expert met with administrative, judicial and security authorities to hear their views on ongoing developments in their areas of activity. 8. The independent expert met with many witnesses and victims of human rights violations in Abidjan and elsewhere in the country and visited places associated with human rights violations, such as the camp for internally displaced persons in Duékoué. The expert would particularly like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of UNOCI and his deputy, as well as the Acting Director of 4 GE.12-10060