GENEVA / CÔTE D'IVOIRE VIOLENCE

The UN reported that more than 100 bodies, some burned alive and others thrown down a well, have been found in Côte d'Ivoire in the last 24 hours. The victims are believed to be of the Guerre ethnicity, traditionally known to be supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. ONUCI

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:04
• Production Date: 8 April 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS OPERATIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE - UNOCI
• Subject Topical: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; PEACE AND SECURITY; HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: COTE D'IVOIRE
• MAMS Id: U110408f

Description

STORY: GENEVA / CÔTE D'IVOIRE VIOLENCE
TRT: 2:04
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 8 APRIL 2011, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RECENT

Shotlist

RECENT - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior UN Geneva headquarters

8 APRIL 2011, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Med shot, press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Rupert Colville, Spokesperson, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The Human Rights Team investigating reports of killings and other human rights violations in Western Cote d'Ivoire have found more than 100 bodies in the past 24hours in three main locations. All the incidents appear to be ethnically motivated.
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Rupert Colville, Spokesperson, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The victims are believed to be mostly or all of the Guerre ethnicity. These have traditionally been supporters of Laurent Gbagbo side in the political sphere and the killings which took place when fighters who support President Ouattara took control of Duékoué. But as I say there is an existing ethnic element in this event. Some of the victims seem to have been burnt alive and some corpses were thrown down a well.”
6. Cutaway, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesperson, High Commission for Refugees, United Nations:
“Close to 150,000 Ivorian refugees are now spread across twelve West African countries. Most of these are located in Liberia. On Wednesday alone over 4,500 Ivorians were estimated to have entered Maryland County which is in the countries South East. Two refugees with gun shot wounds were transferred to hospital. Some of the new arrivals told UNHCR they fled after fighting erupted the same day in Tabou across the Cavally River. Another group said they'd fled after hearing of the massacres in Duékoué.”
8. Cutaway, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Phillipe Chauzy, Spokesperson, International Organisation for Migration:
“The humanitarian challenges remain enormous. Access to drinking water remains the major challenge. Many of the wells are polluted. Water is unsafe for drinking. Access to sanitation is very, very limited.”
10. Med shot, press conference

Storyline

The United Nations (UN) human rights office said today (8 Apr) that its investigators have found more than 100 bodies over the past 24 hours in three different towns in strife-torn Côte d’Ivoire, with some of them appearing to be ethnic killings.

Staff from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) saw 15 new bodies in Duékoué yesterday, in addition to the 229 already found and buried, bringing the total number to 244 known for sure to have been killed during an incident that took place between 28 and 29 March.

Rupert Colville, OHCHR’s spokesperson in Geneva, told reporters that the victims are believed to have been mostly or all of Guerre ethnicity. The Guerre have traditionally been supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power despite the UN-certified victory of Alassane Ouattara in November’s presidential run-off poll.

“The killings took place when fighters who support President Ouattara took control of Duékoué,” he stated. “Some of the victims seem to have been burnt alive, and some corpses were thrown down a well.”

This incident followed an earlier one in mid-March when another 100 people of the Dioula ethnicity, including some women, were reportedly killed by pro-Gbagbo forces who were in control of Duékoué at that time.

The human rights team also found around 40 corpses in the small town of Blolequin, to the west of Duékoué.

In the nearby town of Guiglo, investigators saw more than 60 corpses, including a number of West Africans.

OHCHR has also been receiving reports of smaller-scale killings in other towns and villages which are still to be investigated.

On the humanitarian front, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that “close to 150,000 Ivorian refugees are now spread across twelve West African countries.”

The agency noted that the ongoing fighting in Abidjan is driving more civilians into exile in Ghana. Some 2,000 Ivorians have crossed into Ghana in the last week, bringing the total there to 7,200. Further east of Côte d’Ivoire, some 200 Ivorians have been arriving daily in Togo in recent days, bringing the total there to 2,300.

Spokesperson, International Organisation for Migration Jean-Phillipe Chauzy said that “the humanitarian challenges remain enormous” adding that “water is unsafe for drinking” and access to sanitation “is very, very limited.”

UN aid officials have estimated that up to one million Ivorians have been displaced by the violence, with some internally displaced and others forced to flee into neighbouring countries, particularly Liberia which is hosting 135,000 Ivorians.