A/HRC/17/48 group, and militiamen. According to concordant testimony from relatives of the victims, once FRCI had gained control of the neighbourhood, they ordered women and small children to go off to the Catholic mission chanting the word “guerrier” (warrior). After the fighting, elements of FRCI, accompanied by Dozo men and armed members of Malinke militias, carried out searches, arresting individuals believed to belong to FDS. Some were executed on the spot. 65. The Commission was informed that, on arriving in the towns, FRCI and their allies also committed numerous acts of violence against populations considered to be favourable to former President Gbagbo and that such acts continue even today. C. 1. Characterization of the facts Human rights violations 66. The events described above constitute serious violations of human rights under Ivorian positive law as well as under the international and regional human rights instruments to which Côte d'Ivoire is a party. The Commission noted that, right up to the end of its mission in Côte d'Ivoire, serious violations continued to be perpetrated every day. 67. According to information gathered by the Commission, the most serious incidents took place in Abidjan and in the west, particularly along the Duékoué-Toulepleu road, in San Pedro, and in the Divo-Lakota-Gagnoa triangle. The violations were committed by members of all the different groups involved. The Commission also noted that, within the same regions, the identities of the victims and perpetrators of violations changed as the conflict unfolded. 68. Thus, in Abidjan, it can be broadly said that, just after the presidential elections, those groups considered to be pro-Ouattara, by virtue in particular of their ethnic background, their political allegiances or their religion, suffered at the hands of FDS or militiamen or did not feel sufficiently safe to remain in their homes. Subsequently, from March onwards, those groups traditionally considered to be Gbagbo supporters were the targets of reprisals, particularly from the Invisible Commando in Abidjan and FRCI, as and when the various towns were taken. Right to life 69. The Commission considers that every person killed is one victim too many and has chosen not to join the debate about numbers. The Commission does not have the time or the resources to do any more than give an estimate of the losses in human lives. It did not have the means to disinter bodies from mass graves, reconstitute skeletons or analyse ashes recovered from burned-down houses. Nevertheless, on the basis of information obtained during its field visits and by crosschecking, it can be reasonably estimated that at least some 3,000 people were killed. Many people were killed by barbaric methods, particularly the torture commonly known as “Article 125”, which denotes the price of the petrol (100 CFAF) and matches (25 CFAF) needed to burn a person alive. In other cases, they were put into a container and died of suffocation. 70. In Duékoué, for example, the Commission had access to five mass graves where 197 bodies had been buried. At the IVOSEP morgue in Abidjan, 1300 bodies had been placed. Many graves and bones were found in the area, some burned and with large quantities of ashes nearby. 71. Many of the bodies seen by the Commission, directly or in photos, or as shown in the registers of the health-care units visited, had been wounded by firearms, including 16 GE.11-14375 (EXT)