A/HRC/25/73 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 13 January 2014 English Original: French Human Rights Council Twenty-fifth session Agenda item 10 Technical assistance and capacity-building Report of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire, Doudou Diène Summary In this document the Independent Expert reports on his fifth visit to Côte d’Ivoire, from 14 to 23 October 2013. He presents a view of the human rights situation in the country since his fourth visit, thus covering the period from 4 May to 30 December 2013, in the light of his previous recommendations. This visit took place in a context marked by important developments, including the release of about 15 detainees associated with the former President, Laurent Gbagbo, a presidential amnesty for persons convicted of minor offences and the publication of laws on sensitive topics such as nationality and rural landownership. Such questions have been the subject of numerous recommendations by the Independent Expert and other United Nations mechanisms. The Independent Expert noted that the security situation in Côte d’Ivoire has continued to improve, but remains fragile. On the one hand, a culture of violence persists and a large number of former combatants have yet to benefit from the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme. On the other hand, in some regions, dozo groups have continued to replace the State in its sovereign role of providing for security. The Independent Expert noted with concern that despite the establishment of the permanent framework for dialogue, the political dialogue is still deadlocked. The most worrisome sign of this is the return to the partisan and polarizing verbal invective that characterized the pre- and post-election crisis. In the run-up to the 2015 presidential elections and with the kind of electioneering the country has seen, such trends could leave any progress made in the past two years in establishing democratic institutions devoid of any meaning. A moral resurgence on the part of the country’s political leaders is urgently needed; they must take bold and meaningful political initiatives to resuscitate the political dialogue and establish the conditions required for peaceful and democratically credible presidential elections. The recent resumption of contacts between the Government and the Front Populaire Ivoirien (Ivorian Popular Front) (FPI) should not aim merely to “cool GE.14-10154 (E) 170214 180214 *1410154*