A/HRC/16/79 L. Recruitment, arming and use of youths, militias and mercenaries 30. A worrying trend of youth militarization was observed in the country, particularly after the presidential run-off of 28 November 2010. Young people were recruited in different localities, but particularly in Abidjan, Bouaflé, Daloa, San Pedro, the Agnéby region, Vavoua and Zuenoula. In some instances, they were reportedly brought to Abidjan to undergo rapid military training in designated centres, such as Akakro village in Bingerville, in Cité verte (Yopougon), Zaon and 220 Logements. It was also reported that some youths were forcibly abducted and taken to the training centres to be used later as human shields should ECOWAS forces enter the country. Many were promised integration into the regular police force and the army. Some youths who had already completed their training were sent to the field with military uniform and weapons, while others have been kept in training centres, hotels and other venues. In this respect, UNOCI has received reliable information on the existence of a new fighting group called the “Force de résistance et de libération de la Côte d’Ivoire” linked to Mr. Gbagbo’s camp. The group has already issued combatant cards to new recruits with a registration number and the signature of a certain “colonel Djédjé Gbeazigboyou”. The reverse side of the card reads La Côte d’Ivoire ou la mort (“Côte d’Ivoire or death”) and Nous vaincrons (“We will win”). 31. Another disturbing element is the reactivation of the Compagnie des Scorpions Guetteurs (also known as the Front de libération du Grand Centre), which reportedly intends to launch a new operation called “Liberté immuable” from the centre of the country to “liberate” Bouaké and the FAFN-controlled zone. The operation was reportedly launched more than eight months ago and involves the recruitment of around 1,000 youths, whose task will be to infiltrate zones controlled by Forces nouvelles and to collect information on the position of the FAFN and the Impartial Forces before the final assault by the FDS. A total of 14 sites - 10 in the north-east and four in the north-west - were identified for this operation, which is estimated to cost 35,000,000 CFA francs (around $70,000). In Yamoussoukro, the Scorpions Guetteurs committed abuses against the local population in the Dioulabougou neighbourhood. They injured 10 people, including two children, when locals attempted to dislodge them from the area to put an end to these abuses. 32. Other groups include the Young Patriots, led by Charles Blé Goudé, the FESCI and alleged Liberian mercenaries reportedly recruited by the Gbagbo “Government”. Witnesses reported the presence of heavily armed mercenaries among the FDS in Abidjan, on 16 December, in Duekoué during the intercommunity clashes of 5 January 2011, and in Abobo PK18, on 11 January 2011. In response to the allegations about the involvement of Liberian mercenaries in the country, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia issued a press communiqué on 7 December in which she strongly advised Liberian nationals not to get involved in the Ivorian crisis. All these fighting groups work closely with the FDS, especially the Republican Guard and the CECOS. They are often used as informants in charge of identifying individuals to be arrested, abducted or assassinated and whose residences can be identified by specific symbols and markings. 33. Among the instigators of the above-mentioned operations, Charles Blé Goudé, Mr. Gbagbo’s “Minister for Youth Affairs”, has been consistently cited by witnesses, alongside the former Minister for the Interior, Désiré Tagro, the mayor of Yopougon, Bamana Djida, as well as other high-ranking LMP politicians and military officers. Sophisticated arms and machetes were reportedly distributed illegally to the recruits. Many reports revealed the existence of weapons caches in different locations in Abidjan and in the interior of the country. Armed youths from the native Bété, Gouro, Guéré and Dida communities and other LMP supporters are reported to have committed acts of violence against members of other ethnic groups for not voting for Mr. Gbagbo. 12