“They looked at his identity card and shot him dead”
Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire
19
We wondered what was going on, then suddenly they opened fire on us. People were running
in every direction. Six women were killed immediately, including a baby who was with her
mother. Several people were wounded."
A few days later, on International Women's Day, 8 March, a march was organised in
Treichville neighbourhood in tribute to the women killed at the Abobo demonstration. The
march took place in a calm atmosphere. A witness told Amnesty International:
"After the demonstration, the women went to the St Jeanne d’Arc Church. The church was
not big enough to hold everyone. A CRS patrol parked at the roundabout in front of the
church. When they saw this vehicle, young people lined up in front of the women. There were
shots, people were running in every direction. A Senegalese man, Moudou Faye, who was
closing his shop, was killed. A Malian, Mohamed Diawara, who was passing by, was also
killed. A Burkina Faso national, Moussa Ouédraogo, who was looking for his wife, was also
hit. A young girl, Kobena Ama Alice, who was standing outside her house, was killed by
members of a CRS patrol who came to support their colleagues."
Enforced Disappearances
A number of people were subjected to enforced disappearance after being arrested by
security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. Several such disappearances occurred in the
aftermath of the 16 December 2010 demonstration. One of the December 16 demonstrators,
Dao Sago, born in 1971, was detained by security forces. An eyewitness told Amnesty
International:
"When we learnt that the security forces were out shooting and making arrests, we avoided
going round in a group, we followed behind each other. Dao was at the front of the march. A
group of the security forces and militiamen arrested my brother. When he showed his identity
card, the militia and soldiers surrounded him. They took off his clothes until he was only
wearing his underpants. They began to beat him with clubs and gun butts. Some of them
kicked him. We fled and then I called him on his mobile but someone else answered and told
me that they were killing Dao. We went to look for him in all the police stations and
mortuaries but couldn’t find him."
The Amnesty International delegation also interviewed the parents of Doumbia Aboubakar, a
carpenter, born on 20 April 1980. According to his parents, there has been no information
about his whereabouts or fate since he was arrested by the security forces during the march
held on 16 December 2010:
"We went to several police stations to ask where our son was detained. We also went to the
mortuary at Treichville. An employee told us that they had been ordered not to show the
bodies of victims to their parents. Another employee told us that at least 80 bodies were in a
container and that staff were not allowed to take any of them out. I feel disheartened and I
do not want to go to the other mortuaries because they will say the same thing. When I think
about my son, I am unable to sleep. He used to watch television with me in the evening and
he would come to greet me in the morning."
Index: AFR 31/002/2011
Amnesty International May 2011