14 “They looked at his identity card and shot him dead” Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire has been a country of migrants for decades and has attracted millions of foreign nationals from the sub-region, most of whom worked in the cocoa and coffee plantations and in small-scale trade. With the advent of the economic crisis, these migrants often became scapegoats and many of them, especially those from Burkina Faso, were evicted from the land they cultivated. Laurent Gbagbo has sometimes adopted this rhetoric, notably during the recent presidential election in November 2010 in which he stood against Alassane Ouattara. At a press conference held on 9 November 2010, Laurent Gbagbo described his opponent as the "foreign candidate" adding that this means "someone who is working in the interests of foreigners". 7 Incitement to violence against peacekeeping forces The UN decision to confirm the victory of Alassane Ouattara at the beginning of December 2010 provoked an explosion of verbal attacks against the UN peacekeepers and France on RTI, controlled by Laurent Gbagbo, and in newspapers close to the outgoing president. The attacks particularly targeted Young Jin Choi, Special Representative of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral for Côte d’Ivoire, who was described as a "serial killer of Côte d’Ivoire's people" by the daily newspaper Le Temps, close to Laurent Gbagbo. This same article stated that Young Jin Choi "has turned the United Nations force, which initially behaved impartially, into an occupying army that has given itself the task of killing anyone not willing to sing the refrain ‘Alleluia Ouattara’ ".8 The daily Notre Voie, organ of Laurent Gbagbo's party, the Front populaire ivoirien (FRI, Ivorian Popular Front), accused France of preparing a "genocide" in Côte d’Ivoire9 and described UNOCI radio as "One Thousand Hills Free Radio and Television"10 (in reference to the radio station of the same name that propagated hate during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994). The UN peacekeepers and French troops have also been accused of being "killers, rapists and thieves"11. In a speech made and filmed on 25 February 2011, Charles Blé Goudé12 appointed Minister for Youth and Employment in December 2010 by Laurent Gbagbo, asked his supporters "to prevent UNOCI from circulating."13 Moreover, in January 2011, the RTI broadcasted the registration numbers of 41 private vehicles rented by UNOCI, exposing UN personnel to controls at roadblocks guarded by security forces and militias close to Laurent Gbagbo, generally known under the name of Young Patriots. These verbal attacks led to a number of physical assaults on UNOCI troops, who were also prevented from investigating locations where human rights violations had allegedly taken place. Amnesty International May 2011 Index: AFR 31/002/2011