COTE D’IVOIRE / PRISON

UN peacekeepers aided in the repair and renovation of the main prison in Abidjan following the release of thousands of prisoners in the recent post-electoral violence. ONUCI

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:12
• Production Date: 17 August 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS OPERATIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE - UNOCI
• Subject Topical: CRIMES; CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• Geographic Subject: COTE D'IVOIRE
• MAMS Id: U110817c

Description

STORY: CÔTE D'IVOIRE / PRISON
TRT: 2.12
SOURCE: ONUCI
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH/ NATS

DATELINE: 16 AUGUST 2011 YOPOUGON, ABIDJAN, COTE D’IVOIRE

Shotlist

1.Med shot, Minister of Justice Ahoussou Kouadio Jeannot opens the doors at MACA Prison
2.Wide shot, government delegation enters MACA and is greeted by employees
3.Pan right, MACA’s main building
4.SOUNDBITE (French) Ahoussou Kouadio Jeannot, Minister of Justice of Côte d'Ivoire:
‘'Today, MACA is open. It is open to the delight of Ivorians, to the delight of all who inhabit the territory of Côte d'Ivoire. It cost 2 billion but a well spent 2 billion for the safety of individuals."
5.Pan left, delegation visiting MACA’s compound
6.SOUNDBITE (French) Ahoussou Kouadio Jeannot, Minister of Justice of Côte d'Ivoire:
‘’MACA was built to accommodate 1,500 people in 1980, but it was holding 5,300 people when it was formally identified by UNOCI. ‘’
7.Zoom out, building A
8.Various shots, prison cells
9.Med shot, Françoise Simard visiting prison cells
10.SOUNDBITE (French) Françoise Simard, Chief of the Rule of Law section of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI):
“We must congratulate Côte d'Ivoire for its determination to re-open the prison. This is a very important step at the level of the rule of law and the restoration of institutions.”
11.Wide shot, Jeannot, addressing prison guards
12.Tilt up, from prison entrance to flag

Storyline

United Nations peacekeepers aided in the repair and renovation of the main prison in Abidjan following the release of thousands of prisoners in the recent post-electoral violence.

Minister of Justice Ahoussou Kouadio Jeannot officially opened the gates of the Detention and Correction House of Abidjan (MACA) after extensive work worth two billion CFA francs.

Jeannot said that it was “a well spent 2 billion for the safety of individuals."

Closed for three months, MACA had suffered extensive damage during the recent post-electoral crisis and was extremely overcrowded, “built to accommodate 1,500 people in 1980”, it had been holding 5,300 people, according to Jeannot.

The UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) took an active part in the renovations, helping to get the administration buildings up and running and providing computers and registers as the country recovers from the violence spawned by former president Laurent Gbagbo’s abortive effort to stay in power despite his UN-certified election defeat last November to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

Françoise Simard, UNOCI’s legal officer congratulated Côte d'Ivoire at today’s ceremony, calling the re-opening “a very important step at the level of the rule of law and the restoration of institutions.”

Gbagbo was finally arrested in April and Ouattara was installed in office, securing the election’s aim of reuniting the country, which was divided into a Government-held south and a rebel-controlled north following a civil war in 2002.

Sixteen prisoners were reinstalled in the prison.