A/HRC/16/79 5. The first round of the presidential election was marked by a high voter turnout of 83 per cent and a large participation of women. Observers were generally satisfied with the organization of the election despite several logistical problems and lacuna, and no major incident or serious human rights violation was reported. On 3 November 2010, the Independent Electoral Commission announced the provisional results of the first round. Of the three leading contenders, Laurent Gbagbo obtained 38.3 per cent of the votes, Alassane Dramane Ouattara 32.8 per cent and Henri Konan Bedié 25.24 per cent. The provisional results announced by the Commission were confirmed and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council on 5 November 2010, and were certified by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on 12 November 2010. As required by the electoral laws, a second round of the presidential election was scheduled between the two leading contenders, Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Ouattara, on 28 November 2010. 6. On 27 November 2010, on the eve of the run-off election, President Gbagbo imposed a night-time curfew, ostensibly to deter violence. On the same day, in a communiqué broadcast on SR TV, Forces nouvelles announced its decision not to enforce the curfew in its zone, while the opposition political parties denounced the curfew as a means of instilling fear in voters and called for it to be lifted. Earlier, on 14 November, President Gbagbo had decided to deploy the national army across the country, citing the apparent inability of the Centre de commandement intégré (CCI) to provide sufficient security as it had been mandated to do by the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. 7. On 28 November, the presidential election was conducted successfully; voter turnout exceeded 81 per cent, although there was last-minute confusion over its outcome. Repeated attempts to prevent members of the Dioula and Baoulé ethnic communities from voting in several areas, including in Lakota, Issia and San Pedro, led to violent clashes between supporters of Gbagbo’s party, La majorité présidentielle (LMP), and that of Mr. Ouattara, RHDP. LMP supporters depicted Mr. Ouattara as the “father of the rebellion”, and displayed defamatory posters and screened a film denigrating him, inciting violence against members of the Dioula ethnic group to which Mr. Ouattara belongs. Some messages were blatantly xenophobic and propagated religious and ethnic division between the North and the South. They appealed to people not to vote for Mr. Ouattara, calling him “the assassin”, to block his supporters from campaigning on his behalf, and to rise up against his supporters should he win the second round. Mr. Gbagbo’s campaign adopted a slogan that called on his supporters to “vote 100 per cent” for the “original”. On 18 November, the Minister for the Interior read a press release on State television in which he condemned these acts and asked the perpetrators to cease their activities. 8. In addition to the curfew imposed on 27 November, on 2 December 2010, the Government closed the country’s land, air and sea boundaries, which were was subsequently reopened on 6 December. The Government also decided to withdraw the members of the Forces de defense et de securité (FDS) from the CCI, and asked administrative authorities deployed in the North to relocate to the South. 9. After some delays, the Independent Electoral Commission finally announced the results on 2 December 2010, declaring that Mr. Ouattara had won the presidential election by 54.1 per cent of the votes against 45.9 per cent for Mr. Gbagbo. On 3 December, the Constitutional Council reversed the results announced by the Commission and declared Mr. Gbagbo the winner with 51.45 per cent of the votes against 48.55 per cent for Mr. Ouattara, after invalidating the votes from seven regions in the North that had voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Ouattara. In his certification role, the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral validated the results announced by the Commission declaring Mr. Ouattara the winner. The certification of the Special Representative was fully endorsed by the international community. Nevertheless, on 3 December, the Constitutional Council swore in Mr. Gbagbo for a new term as President. In turn, on 4 December, Mr. Ouattara notified the 6