The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Côte d’Ivoire is a party, states: “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”195 The Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors compliance with the Covenant, has said that the deprivation of life by state authorities is a matter of the utmost gravity. A state must strictly control and limit the circumstances in which the authorities might deprive persons of their lives. The summary executions of dozens of civilians by the state security forces were clearly a gross violation of these legal obligations. In addition, Côte d’Ivoire violated basic principles of international law when the government imposed an order stating that “any suspicious individuals would be shot without warning” during the curfew hours.196 The U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials provides guidance on the use of force and firearms by those enforcing the law, including soldiers. In situations of law enforcement such as the control of civilian crowds or the enforcement of a curfew, where the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials must exercise restraint and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved; they must minimize injury, and respect and preserve human life. The Basic Principles further provide that the intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made “when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.” Exceptional circumstances such as internal instability or other public emergency may not be invoked to justify a departure from these basic principles. A blanket order such as the one described above did not meet the required standards of proportionality. The response of the government of Côte d’Ivoire197 Throughout much of the conflict in western Côte d’Ivoire, the government has acted in abnegation of its responsibility to protect civilians in territory under its control from violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Instead, government security forces have frequently and sometimes systematically conducted campaigns of violence against civilians, generally based on ethnic, religious, national and political affiliation. The government has consistently denied responsibility for attacks on civilians. Instead, they have attempted to divert responsibility for violations of humanitarian law that have been brought to public attention onto their opponents, onto the French forces, onto the media, in short, onto any possible alternatives. In addition to denying responsibility, the government’s use of the media and political discourse, both before and since the events of September 19, 2002, has been inflammatory and has encouraged attacks by civilian militias against civilians. Calling on civilians to act as self-defense committees and man checkpoints encouraged vigilantism and was a virtual license to violence. In October 2002, the government stated that it would investigate the events in Daloa, but there has been no official inquiry or report published on the findings to date. In May, the government announced anew that an inquiry would be undertaken into the events in the west. To date, Human Rights Watch is not aware of any individuals who have been arrested or convicted of any of the deaths of civilians since September 19, 2002. The government has consistently denied using Liberian refugees and other fighters from the MODEL faction despite overwhelming evidence of their presence in the west and their link to the Ivorian state. Even when Liberian “LIMA” forces were detained by the French military, the Gbagbo government refused to acknowledge their deployment and responsibility for the Bangolo massacre. Instead, the “young patriots” mobilized a march to Daloa under the leadership of Charles Blé Goudé and decried the detention of the so-called young Guerés, resulting in the escape of a number of the detainees. In the weeks following the Bangolo events, popular concern over the “genocide” against the Wê was fueled and manipulated by government statements. 195 Article 6.1. Adopted and opened for signature, ratification, accession by United Nations General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI) on December 16, 1966. Entered into force on March 23, l976 in accordance with article 49. Côte d'Ivoire ratified ICCPR on March 26, l992. 196 Statement of Jules Yao Yao, armed forces spokesperson, transcribed in le jour, December 7-8, 2002, p.2. 197 All references to the government are to the government of President Laurent Gbagbo, which was still in place as the main authority through April 2003, when members of the new government of reconciliation began taking their places. Human Rights Watch 49 August 2003, Vol. 15, No. 14 (A)