26 “They looked at his identity card and shot him dead” Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire seen the body, we could have prayed to God to pardon him and welcome him. It's a cruel thing to do." In other cases, attacks have specifically targeted presumed supporters of Alassane Ouattara, without referring to their foreign origin. For example, on 25 February 2011, a group of young people were in the company of friends in a maquis [small restaurant] at Gabriel Gare, in Yopougon when Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters came in and threatened them. A witness told Amnesty International: "They said to us: ‘You Alassane supporters and Baoulés18, we are going to kill you one by one’. We ran away but one of our group, Diomandé Adama, a mobile phone salesman, was hit in the back by a bullet. He died from his wounds at a health centre in Yopougon." In some cases, people have been taken from a vehicle under the pretext that they were "rebels" and have been killed in front of passers-by. In March 2011, a witness told an Amnesty International delegation that a few days earlier he had witnessed the execution of two young people in front of the Yopougon town hall. "On Monday 14 March, towards 2.30pm, I was leaving the town hall when I heard people shooting in the air. The Young Patriots had stopped a taxi driver and taken two young men from the vehicle. The Patriots said that the "rebels" had been arrested. They were beaten to death then thrown into the car. The Young Patriots then set the vehicle alight. The driver was able to get away." 3.2.1. SECURITY FORCES SUPPORT FOR OR COMPLICITY IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED BY MILITIAS SUPPORTING LAURENT GBAGBO. Some of these militia attacks took place in the presence of security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo who did nothing to prevent these acts or to protect the victims. This clearly indicates that they acquiesced or were even complicit in these abuses. One person witnessed an attack on 24 February 2011 in Gesco, Yopougon district, when a man wearing a boubou and a rosary round his neck was detained and accused of being a rebel. "The Young Patriots punched him and accused him of being a rebel. A passing police patrol stopped and talked to the Patriots for a few minutes. While the police were talking to each other, the man wearing a boubou was held by the Young Patriots. He was screaming and crying but the police officers did not intervene and then left. After they had gone, the man was beaten more severely. They kicked and punched him and struck him with a stick. One of them held the rosary tight around his neck, another picked up a brick and hit him on the head with it and he collapsed and died." On 25 February 2011, a man was beaten to death by Young Patriots with blows from truncheons, clubs and rakes. An eyewitness asked the Young Patriots why they were hitting him. "They replied that he was Guinean. At the same moment, a police vehicle was patrolling the neighbourhood. The Young Patriots said that the police were not going to shoot at them. Amnesty International May 2011 Index: AFR 31/002/2011