A/HRC/17/49
2011, at least 500,000 people remained internally displaced, with 13,504 in Abidjan and
44,110 in the west (Danané, Duékoué and Guiglo). More than 70 per cent of IDPs are
staying with host families. Widespread damage to homes and infrastructures, the remaining
insecurity and the inability of the State to provide basic social services such as health and
education pose a challenge to the return process and Côte d’Ivoire could face a protracted
displacement situation. An estimated 187,266 Ivorians have sought refuge in neighbouring
countries, particularly in Liberia.
VIII.
Attacks on religious leaders and places of worship
32.
There were attacks against places of worship and religious leaders during the
reporting period with attendant consequences on the human rights of the victims. On 13
March, in Port Bouet II, Yopougon, the Imam of the local mosque was killed by elements
of the FDS. On 15 March in Attécoubé, two persons were killed and at least 18, including a
one-year-old child and four women, were wounded during a grenade attack by unidentified
men at the Boribana mosque. On the night of 19 March, a local Muslim leader, the Imam of
Williamsville, a Malian national, was killed in front of his mosque by elements of the FDS
assisted by militias during a military operation in the Williamsville neighbourhood in
Abidjan. His son was also reported to have been seriously wounded during the same
incident.
33.
Separately, on 17 April, a group of heavily armed members of the FRCI were
reported to have raided the premises of the Jesuit Institute of Technology in Angré,
Abidjan. During this raid, they were reported to have threatened and intimidated at least six
priests including the Rector and physically assaulted one of them while ordering them to
hand over the money in their possession and other valuables. The assailants also searched
the property and confiscated seven computers and a number of mobile phones. One of the
FRCI members was alleged to have stated that they were attacking the Institute in
retaliation for attacks against mosques and also under the perception that the Catholic
Church supported Mr. Gbagbo and that the Institute was being used to hide weapons. It
should be noted that no single weapon was found. In May, elements of the FRCI also
conducted an attack against the Baptist Church in Yopougon and arrested 56 people whom
they detained in Gesco before releasing them following intervention by UNOCI.
IX.
Incitement and violence against ECOWAS foreign nationals
and UNOCI
34.
Through the State-run media Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI), the
Gbagbo camp systematically sent out messages with hate and xenophobic contents directed
specifically towards UNOCI, pro-RHDP individuals and nationals of ECOWAS member
States. The RTI regularly presented distorted information and pictures aimed at
encouraging the public, particularly the Young Patriots, to attack UNOCI staff members. In
addition, through meetings held in several neighbourhoods in Abidjan, as well as
statements through the RTI, Mr. Blé Goudé, the leader of the so-called Young Patriots, on
numerous occasions ordered his membership to directly obstruct the work of UNOCI by all
possible means, as illustrated by his announcement on 24 February through RTI. Prior to
this call, Mr. Blé Goudé, on 5 February, during a meeting at the place de la République in
Abidjan, called on his members to attack the convoy of UNOCI military contingents.
35.
Within the context of the post-electoral conflict, nationals of ECOWAS member
States, in particular from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Togo, were targeted by
pro-Gbagbo groups with the support of the security forces. The Human Rights Division of
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