A/HRC/17/48 Bouaké and controlled 10 zones placed under the leadership of zone commanders who exercised military and administrative authority.3 C. Forces Républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire 21. By Order No. 211-002 of 17 March 2011, President Ouattara established the Forces Républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI) by merging FDS and FAFN. This new force is placed under the authority of Defence Minister Guillaume Soto. Since being established, FRCI have supplanted FAFN in capturing towns under the control of allies of Mr. Gbagbo. A tactical staff unit under the command of General Bakayoko exercised authority over the national territory subdivided from that time into four sectors placed under the command of sector commanders.4 D. Militias and mercenaries 22. Militiamen are civil combatants who are citizens of Côte d'Ivoire recruited and armed to provide military support to an organized group, whether in the camp of Mr. Gbagbo or in that of Mr. Ouattara. Militias loyal to the Gbagbo camp 23. As a general rule, the nature and operation of militias are linked to the Jeunes patriotes (JP) or the “galaxie patriotique” with which they are intrinsically connected. 24. The JP are essentially a political group traditionally used by Mr. Gbagbo following his accession to power in 2000. They come from every social background and are organized into several federations and politicized associations such as the Fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI), les parlements Agora, le Congrès Panafricain des jeunes et des patriotes (COJEP), les Femmes patriotes, and the Union pour la libération totale de la Côte d'Ivoire (UPLTCI). In addition to these political groups, there exist paramilitary militias, which are more active in some periods than in others and who played a dominant role for Mr. Gbagbo during the crisis. 25. Two major groups can be distinguished around the Minister of Youth, Mr. Charles Blé Goudé, and COJEP, on the one hand, and around Eugene Djué and ULPTCI, on the other, often regarded as the most radical group. JP serve as the political support and propaganda tool of the former president and, if necessary, his military arm. According to reports from credible sources, the special adviser of President Gbagbo, Kadet Bertin, and the director-general of Abidjan harbour, Marcel Gossio, helped to finance and arm the militias. 3 4 Commander Morou Ouattara “Atchengué”, zone 1 of Bouna, Commander Hervé Touré “Vetcho”, zone 2 of Katiola, Commander Ousmane Chérif “Papa Guépard”, zone 3 of Bouaké, Commander Zoumana Ouattara “Lieutenant Zoua”, zone 4 of Mankono, Commander Koné Zacharia “Djacki”, zone 5 of Séguéla, Commander Losseni Fofana “Loss”, zone 6 of Man, Adjudant Dramane Traoré “Dramane Touba”, zone 7 of Touba, Commander Ousmane Coulibaly “Ben Laden”, zone 8 of Odienné, Commander Gaoussou Koné “Dja Gao”, zone 9 of Boundiali, Commander Kouakou Martin Fofié, zone 10 of Korhogo. The north-west sector commanded by General Gueu (also Deputy Chief of Staff and military adviser in the Ministry of Defense), the north-east sector commanded by General Bakayoko, the Abidjan-east sector commanded by Colonel Soumahoro (also General Staff head of operations); the four sectors were themselves divided into 10 tactical units corresponding to the 10 former FAFN zones. GE.11-14375 (EXT) 9