28
“They looked at his identity card and shot him dead”
Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire
supporters have said the group was part of the FAFN but the latter have denied any link with
the Commando and, in a press release dated 16 March 2011, they said they "have never
claimed to have a presence in Abobo commune".19 In addition, on 4 April 2011, a former
member of the military, Ibrahim Coulibaly, nicknamed "IB", who had played a role in the
attempted coup of September 2002, publicly stated in an interview with Radio France
Internationale that he was the leader of the Invisible Commando and that it had no links with
the FRCI. After the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo, Ibrahim Coulibaly asked to meet Alasanne
Ouattara. On 27 April 2011, the Ivorian president called on the Invisible Commando to
disarm but they did not comply. The FRCI then attacked the location where Ibrahim
Coulibaly was staying and he was killed in an exchange of fire in conditions that have yet to
be clarified.
This armed group committed serious human rights abuses by attacking individuals belonging
to the Ébrié ethnic group, accused of supporting Laurent Gbagbo. In particular, they attacked
the village d’Anonkoua-Kouté, in Abobo, on 6 March 2011, killing and wounding dozens of
people.
At the time of the attack, the village was inhabited by members of the Ebrié ethnic group and
people from other parts of Côte d’Ivoire and foreign nationals from ECOWAS countries. This
attack is said to have left some 20 dead and about 40 wounded and to have resulted in a
massive displacement of the population.
An eyewitness of this attack told Amnesty International:
"On Sunday morning, around 9am, as we were coming out of mass, we noticed that the small
restaurant called Challenger at the entrance to the village had been burned down by the
attackers. We decided not to respond to provocations and returned to our homes. The FDS
[Defence and Security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo] arrived at about 2pm and then left
again. Around 4pm, we heard shots. More than 20 people speaking French and Dioula were
attacking the village. I ran away but was hit in the shoulder by a bullet. I tried to hide inside
my home but they managed to get in by breaking the door down. When they came in, they
saw I was bleeding and they said this is a war and asked me the names of the people living in
my house. They told me to call my wife. They told her to get down on her knees and pointed
their weapons at her. I asked for mercy, then they left, but they took our mobile phones."
That same afternoon, other attackers set fire to wooden shacks not far from an electricity
sub-station. People tried to put the fire out but the attackers prevented them from doing so
by threatening them with their weapons. These armed men also killed three people who were
coming back from a health centre: a man called Nzoué Augustin and two children, his son
and his nephew.
The main attack took place the following night. An eyewitness told Amnesty International:
"Around 2am on 7 March, we heard shooting. The attackers had broken down the doors at
various houses. They cut the throats of some people, killed others with machetes, shot other
people dead and ill-treated others. They set fire to two women and set ablaze several houses."
Amnesty International May 2011
Index: AFR 31/002/2011