54 “They looked at his identity card and shot him dead” Six months of post-electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire was “besieged”. In support of this they referred to the reported incident in which a UNOCI helicopter was shot at by the FRCI on 28 March 2011.51 The AI delegation informed UNOCI that on 29 March 2011 there was no fighting in Duékoué anymore as the town was under the total control of the FRCI and asked why the UNOCI peacekeepers did not intervene to protect the civilians from being killed by the FRCI and their militia groups and prevent the burning and plunder of the abandoned houses. Amnesty International was informed by the UNOCI officials that an investigation was under way into how the UN contingent in the area responded to this serious situation and that this investigation will also shed light on the number of people killed in Duékoué and surrounding villages. During this meeting, Amnesty International raised its concern about how UNOCI peacekeepers allegedly buried some of the bodies of victims in Duékoué without taking any steps to identify them and failed to follow internationally recognized standards on the temporary burial of bodies (See above Section 4.2.3.1). The delegation stressed that the way these bodies had been buried in mass graves, including in a marshy area, without any recording of their identity, was not in line with international standards and could hamper investigation into war crimes or crimes against humanity. The UNOCI officials answered that it was not within their mandate to bury the bodies and they did not give such orders to the UNOCI staff in Duékoué. Amnesty International also asked about the protection measures taken in the villages surrounding Duékoué, especially Diahouin, Bahé Bé and Delobly since the launch of the FRCI offensive on 28 March 2011, where civilians belonging to the Guéré ethnic group were subjected to killings, rape and other serious violations. In addition the Amnesty International delegation stressed the urgency of deploying UNOCI troops between Guiglo and Toulepleu in order to reassure and protect the thousands of people who were still in the bush for fear of returning to their homes and being the victim of reprisals. The UNOCI officials responded by saying that they did not receive any request from the UN regional commander and that he did not use the reserve forces at his disposal. The UNOCI officials added that their peacekeepers had to abandon the region of Toulepleu as their convoys were regularly blocked by the militiamen supporting Laurent Gbagbo. As the UNOCI officials were not able to answer all Amnesty International concerns, the organization was asked to request further information in writing. A letter was sent on 28 April to the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Côte d’Ivoire and the UNOCI answered on 5 May. 52 While welcoming the “spirit of cooperation and dialogue between UNOCI and Amnesty International” this letter did not provide answers to the very detailed concerns raised in Amnesty International’s letter. Concerning the specific situation in Duékoué, the UNOCI letter stressed that the UNOCI had finished its investigation and was about to finalize the report, which would subsequently be Amnesty International May 2011 Index: AFR 31/002/2011