immigrants, RDR leaders and supporters, and suspected rebel sympathizers by “death squads” composed of members of the security forces and civilian vigilante groups in Abidjan. The war moves west: November 28, 2002 In the end of November 2002, the capture of Man and Danané and an attack on Toulepleu, all sizeable towns in the west near the Liberian border, marked the appearance of two new rebel groups and a new military front. The new groups, the Movement for Justice and Peace (Mouvement pour la justice et la paix, MJP) and the Ivorian Popular Movement for the Great West (Mouvement Populaire Ivoirien du Grand Ouest, MPIGO), claimed to be Ivorians pursuing vengeance for General Guei’s death.24 However the MPIGO group was mainly composed of Liberian and Sierra Leonean fighters, including some former members of the Sierra Leonean rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Liberian forces linked to Liberian President Charles Taylor. While the MPCI initially denied links with the two new groups,25 there were signs that the western offensive on November 28 was coordinated among the three groups. Certainly the emergence of the two western groups and the opening of another military front came at an exceedingly opportune time for the MPCI, which had signed a cease-fire with the government and could not pursue further military gains without violating this agreement.26 The MPIGO group quickly moved south from Danané along the Liberian border, capturing Toulepleu on December 2. It then moved east towards Guiglo and captured Blolékin on December 7, 2003. Meanwhile, the government forces recaptured Man on November 30. In December 2002, both sides reinforced their troops with fresh recruits, including additional Liberians on the rebel side and a new force of Liberian troops fighting alongside the government. The French military force monitoring the initial cease-fire line, known as Operation Unicorn, also received additional troops until it numbered almost 2,500 by the end of December 2002. Fighting continued in late-December and resulted in a rebel counter-offensive re-capturing Man and Bangolo and a series of clashes between French forces and the western rebels around Duékoué as the rebels sought to push their offensive further south. January 2003 brought further fighting and increasing reports of abuses against civilians in the west. French diplomacy produced a second cease-fire agreement between the government and western rebel groups on January 13, 2002, but peace talks convened by the French government in Linas-Marcoussis were plagued by reports of ongoing fighting along the Liberian-Ivorian border. The Paris negotiations produced the framework for a new government of reconciliation in which President Gbagbo retained the presidency while delegating most substantive powers to a new prime minister selected through consensus. In an annexe, the Linas-Marcoussis accords also tasked the new government of reconciliation with legislative reform of the laws on nationality, electoral procedure, and land inheritance. Human rights concerns featured prominently in the agreement, which required the immediate creation of a national human rights commission, the establishment of an international inquiry into grave breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law, and demanded an end to the impunity of those responsible for summary executions, in particular the death squads. The signing of the Linas-Marcoussis peace accords by all the warring parties on January 25, 2002 was followed by four consecutive days of street demonstrations in Abidjan, mainly by the “young patriots,” youth supporters of 24 A recent report by the International Crisis Group notes that General Guei may have been preparing a coup with Charles Taylor’s support well before the events of September 19, and that five hundred soldiers were trained in Liberia with support from high-level Liberian commanders and regional mercenaries. This may explain the origins and behavior of the MPIGO. See International Crisis Group, “Tackling Liberia: the Eye of the Regional Storm,” April 30, 2003, pp. 15-16. 25 The question of whether the links between the groups pre-date September 19, 2002 remains unclear. While Guei’s Yacouba followers and the founders of the MPCI shared the aim of removing President Gbagbo, some of the founders of the MPCI were probably equally anti-Guei given that they were tortured under his regime. Guei’s death may in fact have created a partnership that might not have existed if he had lived. 26 The government’s re-capture of Daloa on October 14 effectively ended any hopes held by the MPCI for a quick offensive through Daloa to San Pedro, a key strategic port. Opening a second front in the west, particularly with the aim of cutting off the transport route to San Pedro, was therefore crucial. Human Rights Watch 11 August 2003, Vol. 15, No. 14 (A)