A/HRC/17/48 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 1 July 2011 English Original: French Human Rights Council Seventeenth session Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council's attention Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Côte d'Ivoire* Summary By its resolution 16/25, the Human Rights Council established an independent, international commission of inquiry to “investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the allegations of serious abuses and violations of human rights committed in Côte d'Ivoire following the presidential election of 28 November 2010, in order to identify those responsible for such acts and to bring them to justice”. The Commission is composed of Vitit Muntarbhorn (Chair), Reine Alapini-Gansou and Suliman Ali Baldo. The Commission visited Côte d'Ivoire from 4 to 28 May 2011. Besides Abidjan, it travelled to the western, northern and southern parts of the country, including the towns of Duékoué, Guiglo, Korhogo, Odienné and San Pedro. It had meetings with the Ivorian authorities, including President Alassane Ouattara, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, political figures, national institutions, international organizations and civil society organizations. Assisted by a technical team provided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, it interviewed hundreds of victims and direct witnesses of human rights violations and took testimony from relatives of victims or other persons with indirect knowledge of certain violations. It also went to Liberia, where a large number of Ivorians have taken refuge and met there with governmental authorities and representatives of the United Nations Mission in Liberia. The many victims in the western and south-western parts of the country and in Abidjan are paying a heavy price. The Commission considers that every person killed is one victim too many and has chosen not to become involved in the debate about the number of victims. Owing to time and resource constraints, no estimate could be made of losses of human life during * Late submission. GE.11-14375 (EXT)