announced Ouattara the winner with 54.1 percent of the vote—a result certified by the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and endorsed by regional bodies and countries around the world—Gbagbo refused to step down.48 Six months of violence followed, in which at least 3,000 civilians were killed and more than 150 women raped, often in attacks perpetrated along political, ethnic, and religious lines.49 By conflict’s end in May 2011, armed forces on both sides of the politico-military divide had committed war crimes and likely crimes against humanity, as documented by a national commission of inquiry created by President Ouattara, a UN-mandated international commission of inquiry, and human rights organizations.50 The most serious crimes occurred in two areas: Abidjan, where the struggle for political and economic control centered; and western Côte d’Ivoire, beset by longstanding communal tensions and where pro-Ouattara forces launched their military offensive in March 2011 to take control of the country.51 The human rights division of UNOCI reported in May 2011 that it had documented 1,012 crisis-related killings in western Côte d’Ivoire, including at least 505 deaths in Duékoué alone.52 Among those identifiable, UNOCI documented at least 341 Guéré victims, the native population that tends to support Gbagbo; and, on the typically pro-Ouattara side, 48 The basis of Gbagbo’s claim rested with the December 3, 2010 decision of the Constitutional Council, led by Paul Yao N’Dre, a close ally of Gbagbo, to overturn the electoral commission’s results and to proclaim Gbagbo the victor. The Council annulled hundreds of thousands of ballots from northern regions, where Ouattara drew significant support, based on alleged voting irregularities. When the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Côte d’Ivoire certified the electoral commission’s results, he also “certified that the Constitutional Council’s proclamation [that Gbagbo won] was not based on facts.” Y.J. Choi, “Statement on the second round of the presidential election held on 28 November 2010,” December 8, 2010, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unoci/documents/unoci_pr_elections08122010.pdf (accessed August 29, 2013), paras. 11-15. 49 Human Rights Watch, “They Killed Them Like It Was Nothing.” 50 Commission nationale d’enquête (CNE), Rapport d’enquête sur les violations des droits de l’homme et du droit international humanitaire survenues dans la période du 31 octobre 2010 au 15 mai 2011, July 2012, http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/cne_resume_rapport_d_enquete.pdf (accessed August 29, 2013); UN Human Rights Council, Rapport de la Commission d’enquête internationale indépendante sur la Côte d’Ivoire, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/17/48, July 1, 2011, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ee05cdf2.html (accessed August 29, 2013); Human Rights Watch, “They Killed Them Like It Was Nothing”; Amnesty International, “‘They looked at his identity card and shot him dead’: Six Months of Post-Electoral Violence in Côte d’Ivoire,” AI Index: AFR 31/002/2011, May 25, 2011, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR31/002/2011/en (accessed August 29, 2013); ONUCI Human Rights Division, “Rapport sur les violations des droits de l’homme et du droit international humanitaire commises à l’Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire,” May 10, 2011, UNOCI/HRD/2011/02 http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Rapport_sur_les_violations_des_droits_de_l_homme_a_l_Ouest.pdf (accessed August 29, 2013). 51 Ibid. 52 ONUCI Human Rights Division, “Rapport sur les violations des droits de l’homme et du droit international humanitaire commises à l’Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire,” May 10, 2011, p. i. 23 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2013