UN probes Ivory Coast abuses

GENEVA – Members of an International Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations committed in Ivory Coast during the government’s conflict with rebel groups were due to arrive in the country yesterday, the UN said.

The four members of the commission are due listen to testimony on alleged abuse that have occurred since September 2002, the United Nations human rights office said in a statement. A UN report recently concluded that an operation organised by “the highest authorities of the state” resulted in at least 120 deaths at a peace rally in March.The brutal crackdown prompted opposition parties quit Ivory Coast’s unity government in protest.The Commission of Inquiry was set up by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in June under the terms of the Marcoussis agreement.The French-brokered peace deal, signed in the French town of Marcoussis in January 2003 between President Laurent Gbagbo’s government and the rebels, paved the way for a short-lived government of national unity.But the agreement now lies in tatters, with little hope of reviving it amid mounting ethnic tensions and spurts of violence.The UN Security Council warned Gbagbo last month that his government faced possible sanctions should the peace process in the divided state remain deadlocked.- Nampa-AFPA UN report recently concluded that an operation organised by “the highest authorities of the state” resulted in at least 120 deaths at a peace rally in March.The brutal crackdown prompted opposition parties quit Ivory Coast’s unity government in protest.The Commission of Inquiry was set up by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in June under the terms of the Marcoussis agreement.The French-brokered peace deal, signed in the French town of Marcoussis in January 2003 between President Laurent Gbagbo’s government and the rebels, paved the way for a short-lived government of national unity.But the agreement now lies in tatters, with little hope of reviving it amid mounting ethnic tensions and spurts of violence.The UN Security Council warned Gbagbo last month that his government faced possible sanctions should the peace process in the divided state remain deadlocked.- Nampa-AFP