“They looked at his identity card and shot him dead” Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire 11 2.3. SPIRAL OF VIOLENCE IN ABIDJAN AND THE WEST OF THE COUNTRY Just after the proclamation of the electoral results, the security forces and Laurent Gbagbo's supporters began to commit acts of violence. They attacked one of the offices of Alassane Ouattara's party, the Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR, Rally of the Republicans), on 1 December 2010, followed by the office of former president Henri Konan Bédié's party, the Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI, Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire) on 4 January 2011 (see Section 3.1). Meanwhile, in the west of the country, the FAFN occupied some towns and villages previously held by troops loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. This offensive led to human rights abuses against populations perceived as supporters of Laurent Gbagbo and led to an exodus of people who found refuge in other regions of Côte d’Ivoire or in neighbouring countries, especially in Liberia. UNOCI was also targeted from the end of December 2010. It was subjected to verbal and physical attacks by forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. Media close to Laurent Gbagbo broadcasted calls to resort to violence and supporters of the outgoing president attacked UNOCI vehicles and personnel and prevented the peacekeeping forces from circulating in some districts and from investigating allegations of human rights violations (See below Box 2). In protest at Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to relinquish power, Alassane Ouattara and his Prime Minister Guillaume Soro called on supporters to demonstrate on 16 December 2010 and to take control of the Radio-télévision ivoirienne (RTI, Ivorian Radio-Télévision) and other official buildings controlled by supporters of the outgoing president. Security forces and militias loyal to Laurent Gbagbo dispersed this demonstration violently and fired live ammunition at demonstrators, many of whom were unarmed. During this demonstration on 16 December six police officers were killed by firearms by demonstrators in the PK 18 and the Filtisac neighbourhoods, in Abobo, a district in the north of Abidjan where most of the population were considered to be supporters of Alassane Ouattara. The Amnesty International delegation that visited Côte d'Ivoire in January and February 2011 investigated these events and established that armed demonstrators supporting Alassane Ouattara attacked a building occupied by military and police personnel in the PK 18. The demonstrators threatened occupants of this building with death, including women and children and looted and set ablaze almost all apartments. Women were attacked and beaten and one man, accused of shooting at the crowd, was killed and burned. In December 2010 and January 2011, tension was mainly concentrated in Abobo, where security forces and militias loyal to Laurent Gbagbo made frequent raids on houses of people suspected of supporting Alassane Ouattara. They were also responsible for unlawful killings, including extrajudicial executions, and rape (see below, Section 3.3.1). In the same district, FAFN members and demobilized fighters formed an armed group and organized commando operations against the forces loyal to the outgoing president. Some of these armed elements later called themselves the ‘Invisible Commando’ and attacked military and civilian targets. The Invisible Commando was led by a former Ivorian military commander, Ibrahim Coulibaly, nicknamed “IB”, who participated in the attempted coup in 2002. Index: AFR 31/002/2011 Amnesty International May 2011