The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan publically expressed shock at the October killings, calling the Charnier de Yopougon a “heinous crime.”137 International calls for accountability for the Yopougon massacre and other serious abuses led the secretary-general to appoint a special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, in November, and then an international commission of inquiry, chaired by Ambassador Colin Granderson (Trinidad and Tobago), in December. The secretary-general decided to appoint a commission following discussions with senior officials of the new Ivorian government. The other members of the commission were Franca Sciuto (Italy) and Mahamat Hassan Abakar (Chad), and the team comprised four human rights investigators, a police investigator, a political advisor, a legal advisor, a forensic specialist, and an anthropologist. The commission’s mandate, accepted by President Gbagbo, was three-fold: 1) to establish the facts and circumstances relating to the events that followed the October 22 presidential elections, their origin and aftermath; 2) to determine the nature of the acts committed and attribute responsibilities; and 3) to recommend measures to address impunity and prevent the recurrence of similar events. The commission spent two months in the country.138 The report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Côte d’Ivoire was submitted to the secretary-general and the Ivorian government in late May 2001, and was made public in late July 2001. The report concludes that serious and systematic human rights violations took place during the October and December events, which at times took on an ethnic dimension. It states that “since these tragic events, the Côte d’Ivoire has tried to improve its human rights situation, and it should continue on this path. But reconciliation will be difficult as long as people, Ivorians or not, do not feel safe from serious attacks against their individual rights, and as long as the forces charged with keeping order operation with impunity.”139 In its recommendations, the report focuses on the fight against impunity; compensation for victims or their relatives; the fight against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; the security forces; technical assistance; and national reconciliation. On the question of impunity, the report states: “As the commission has underscored throughout its report, the fight against the longstanding culture of impunity within the security forces must constitute a top priority for the Ivorian authorities. Those persons believed to be responsible for human rights violations must be punished, regardless of their function or rank, on the basis of in depth and impartial investigations and fair trials.” It goes on to call for investigations into cases of torture and ill-treatment within the gendarmerie camps and maintains that the measures taken so far by the Ivorian government to address the consequences of the events — for instance the charges brought against eight gendarmes — constitute encouraging first steps, but are not sufficient.140 The U.N. had sent monitors to the October presidential elections, despite the many concerns about the legitimacy of the process, including the exclusion of RDR candidate Alassane Ouattara and others from the process. Following the Ivorian Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Ouattara once again from participating in the December parliamentary elections, however, the secretary-general issued a statement expressing dismay and later canceled the participation of U.N. election monitors in the second poll. France The crisis in Côte d’Ivoire caused much political wrangling within the French government and between the French and their European partners. France’s significant economic interests and historical closeness to the Côte d’Ivoire led to considerable debate over how much abuse of power by the Ivorian government should be tolerated. The French government accepted the new government while also publicly condemning the violence, but it often played an ambiguous role internationally. 137 “Ivory Coast: Secretary-General Shocked by Mass Grave Discovery,” IRIN-West Africa, October 31, 2000. Commision D’Enquéte Internationale pour la Côte D’Ivoire, “Côte D’Ivoire: Rapport de la Commission D’Enquéte Internationale pour la Côte D’Ivoire, Février-Mai 2001,” July 19, 2001, Published by the Untied Nations, p. 2. 139 Ibid. p. 55-56. 140 Ibid. p. 57-63. 138 Human Rights Watch 63 August 2001, Vol. 13, No. 6(A)