“They looked at his identity card and shot him dead” Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire 43 "On Friday 1 April, Dozos and men in fatigues arrived, causing panic in the village. They vandalized the house of the village chief, a former sergeant in retirement. They burned his house down and said they would be back. All the inhabitants sought refuge in the bush. The next day, I returned to the village but I was caught by the FRCI. They told me to call the villagers but the FRCI and the Dozos said they had not come to kill people. They then asked people to assemble. They took three young people from the displaced population. They said that these were criminals. Two of them were tied together back-to-back, with their hands behind their backs, another was attached in the same way. One of them took out a knife and cut their throats." Those who could not flee in time, including old people, were among the first killed in these attacks. A resident of Diahouin (about 20 km from Duékoué) told Amnesty International: "On 28 March, towards 10am, we heard shots. The villagers went out and went into the bush. A group of 15 of us, who were not able to run very fast, were killed straightaway. The bodies were burned; other bodies were thrown in wells." One old man, who could not run quickly, was also killed in front of his daughter in Délobly. "When I saw them arrive, I told my father to run. He tried but he was too old to run quickly and he was caught. He asked them what he had done, they cut his throat, then they cut his head and hands off. They threw the rest of his body into a well." Several witnesses confirmed that many bodies were thrown into wells. One man said : "After hiding in the bush for a few days, Blesson Jean went back to his home on Monday 5 April. He was caught by the FRCI and the Dozos, who cut his throat and threw his body in a well." Dogs were also used to track people who fled from the massacres. One witness said: "On Monday [28 March 2011], the day of the attack, I fled into the bush to hide. Two days later, on Wednesday, the FRCI came to look for me with dogs. The dogs bit my feet and buttocks [the scars left by the bites were still visible when Amnesty International delegates met this person two weeks later]. They followed me even after I had crossed a river. I was able to reach a hill and they could not climb after me. The people who were following me fired in my direction, but did not hit me." In some villages, notably Diéhiba, houses were set ablaze and people were burned alive inside them. "On Monday 28 March, we were surprised to hear gunshots towards 9am. Men in fatigues had come to our village, some of them were on foot, others were on motorbikes. They shot at everybody. They broke down doors, looted everything, took the villagers' personal belongings in wheelbarrows. They burned houses down and some people were burned alive inside their own homes." In another case, attackers prevented one person from leaving his home, which was on fire. Index: AFR 31/002/2011 Amnesty International May 2011