Conflict in Ivory Coast of 2011 - Essay Example

2011 Conflict in Ivory Coast Introduction The Ivory Coast conflict resulted from grave cleavages grounded in religion, nationality, and ethnicity. In their attempt to strengthen their monopoly upon power, politicians get caught into these differences and along the way, paved way for the outbreak of the civil war. In December 2010, a dispute of election ignited violence among the followers of the President Laurent Gbagbo and supporters of Alassane Ouattara, the opposition leader. The electoral commission’s announcement of the results that declared Ouattara as winner of the presidency’s second voting round became the cause of dispute. Gbagbo rejected the results with his strong hold in the country’s south and accused that Outtara’s votes were inflated as a result of rigging in the northern Ivory Coast’s opposition home base. This threw the Ivory Coast into a political deadlock. Gbagbo and Ouattara both took oath as presidents of the country and both appointed their own cabinets, though Gbagbo had to face the pressure from the international community to step down as the international community had accepted only Ouattara as president. Many lives were lost, a lot of property got destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced during the course of the clashes between the supporters of the two presidents. As a result of the violence that had erupted, the country was divided into two parts; the south controlled by Gbagbo’s army and the north governed by Ouattara’s rebels. In April 2011, Ouattara’s forces took hold of Abidjan and besieged Gbagbo in his residence. Gbagbo remained defiant and rejected the idea of ceding power. Gbagbo was removed from his assumed status of the country’s president when the UN and French troops intervened, arrested Gbagbo from his residence and gave him to Ouattara’s loyal forces. Subsequently, Ouattara, took the Ivory Coast’s president’s role. Apparently, the conflict seems to have risen because of the results of elections. However, when the matter is studied in detail, the manifestation of the election dispute as differences of nationality, ethnicity, religion and such other differences among the Ivorian society reveals itself. Historical context of the conflict Growing tension between native Ivorians and the immigrants Ivory Coast depended on the production of coffee and cocoa for its economic stability. The plantations of coffee and cocoa were run by the immigrant laborers brought first by the French colonialists into the country. To ensure their sustenance in the Ivory Coast after independence, Houphouet-Boigny enhanced the immigrant laborers’ right to live as well as work in the country. Although the policies of Houphouet-Boigny were quite progressive, yet they could not remove the inequalities between north and south. The disparity mainly arose because of the fact that most plantations of coffee and cocoa were located in the south whereas north only had a small share of plantations. Houphouet-Boigny attempted to address this issue by commencing the production of food on commercial scale in the north. Circumstances changed for the worse when the prices of coffee and cocoa dropped in the 1980s on the world markets (“Ivory Coast – Economy”). This certainly had unfavorable consequences for the economy of the Ivory Coast. Plummeting living standards and rising petroleum prices spurred student riots and civil unrest. Vanishing job opportunities and declining income caused the young people to seek work in the informal sector but the immigrant workers had already occupied most of the best areas. This strengthened the negative feelings of the Ivorians toward the immigrants (Collier). The economic difficulties that resulted increased the differences between the immigrants and the indigenous Ivorians as well as between the southerners and the northerners. Since the northerner indigenous Ivorians had settled in the south in large numbers, conflicts between the northerners and the southerners ensued. Differences of ethnicity and religion Ethnicity was one of the main political factors in the first multiparty election of the country held in 1990 that pitted the Democratic Party of Cote dIvoire of Houphouet-Boigny against the Ivorian opposition. Henri Konan Bedie succeeded Houphouet-Boigny after his death. Bedie capitalized on the racial tension after the death of Boigny in 1993. Ivoirite entered the Ivorian politics as a new term that distinguished the mixed background Ivorians from the real Ivorians. The Rally for Republicans surfaced as a new opposition party in 1994 while preparations were being made for the second multi-party elections of Ivory Coast to be held in 1995. The Rally for Republicans’ creation furthered the split among the political elite of the Ivory Coast. This party promoted identity politics in the Ivory Coast by way of reinforcing the differences grounded in ethnicity and religion. Alassane Ouattara, the Muslim leader of the party from the north served as a main threat to the electoral support of the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire in the north. Therefore, as Bedie became president, he took measures to deter Ouattara from participating in the 1995 elections as a result of which, the parliament of Ivory Coast that was dominated mainly by the party of Bedie made a law according to which, someone whose parents were born outside the Ivory Coast was not able to participate in the election for presidency. This law was purposefully made to bar Ouattara from participating in the election since one of his parents was known to belong to Burkina Faso. Upon approach of the 1995 elections, it was evident that only Ouattara was capable of commanding a considerable vote share. Gbagbo refused to participate in the elections since he was an opposition candidate and thought of the electoral policies as unfair. Gbagbo developed alliance with Ouattara in order to boycott the elections. When Bedie won the elections, he removed a large number of northerners from the positions in the government. Use of the Ivorite concept Bedie’s ideology was firmly entrenched into the politics of Ivory Coast. General Robert Guei’s military coup ousted Bedie in 1999. Economic stagnation of the Ivory Coast and Bedie’s identity politics caused a rebellion led by General Robert Guei in 1999 who was committed to hold new elections within the period of six months. In the elections of 2000 called by Guei, Laurent Gbagbo was the challenger. Although in the start, Guei denounced the Ivorite concept, but later took advantage of it to become the president. An example of this is his disapproval for the eligibility of Ouattara to compete in the elections for not being Ivorian. In spite of his defeat in the elections caused by Gbagbo, Guei disbanded the electoral commission that caused him to flee away, only to leave the power in the hands of Gbagbo. Despite Guei’s claims that he had a convincing victory in the elections, results were disputed by Gbagbo. Guei was made into conceding by a powerful revolt in favor of Gbagbo that broke out in Abidjan on 22 October, 2000. Although Gbagbo took charge as the fourth president of the country, yet the Ivoirite concept uprooted. Gbagbo’s measure of excluding the northernersfrom the government because he had always been supported by the south was harsh and served to aggravate the conflict between the north and the south. Northerners initially hoped that Gbagbo would welcome the immigrants in the country but their continued exclusion spurred discontentment among the northerners leading them to revolt. Black Monday The disgruntled army elements from the north attempted a rebellion in 2001 but were unsuccessful. In September 2002, Gbagbo made an attempt to demobilize two Ivorian army contingents. The soldiers rioted with the northern soldiers thus causing the northerners to retreat to the towns of Karhogo and Bouake. The disgruntled and excluded politicians joined them within weeks. 19 September 2002 was Monday when the first shots of the full-fledge rebellion against Gbagbo’s government got fired (“An Ivorian miracle”). achieved control over the situation by midday. Thousands of motivated northerners joined the cause under the leadership of Guillaume Soro in an attempt to establish democracy and legitimacy in the divided country particularly because the consequences of war were more experienced in the north. However, the fighting only intensified resulting in the involvement of the former colonial power. The Civil War Civil war started in the Ivory Coast at the end of September 2002 in which the rebels controlled the north. These rebels made a force of economic police in their areas of control to patrol the diamond areas. They also imposed taxes so that funds could be raised for the war. The rebels called themselves as the New Forces and rapidly advanced toward Abidjan. Gbagbo approached France for protection in response to which France sent her troops to help the forces of the government. The French military not only enforced a ceasefire but also withdrew the rebels from their captured positions in the south of the Ivory Coast. From the time of the commencement of the Ivory Coast conflict, Washington and Paris had both been ignorant toward more substantial civilian genocides by Ouattara’s supporters. It was related to a broader French militarism explosion in Africa. Nigeria made resolution with the UN in 1975 that provided the UNOCI with civilians’ protection mandate. It took only few days for the UNOCI and France to commence action in Abidjan after the agreement over the Ivory Coast resolution. Although France’s attack was not authorized by the UN resolution, yet French help was requested by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, “It is urgent to launch necessary military operations to put out of action the heavy arms which have been used against the civilian population and the peacekeepers” (Ki-moon cited in Talbot). Operation Unicorn Gbagbo and New Forces fought a civil war in Ivory Coast from 2002 to 2004. Clashes started between the French troops and Ivorian rebels in December 2002. France sent troops to Ivory Coast in 2002 as peacekeepers under Operation Unicorn. The main purpose of these troops was to support the peacekeeping mission of the UN in Ivory Coast and to ensure protection of both the foreign and the French nationals. The United Nations Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) was established by the UN in February 2004 “to facilitate the implementation by the Ivorian parties of the peace agreement signed by them in January 2003” (“UNOCI Background”). The civil war ended for the most part by late 2004, but Ivory Coast was divided between north held by rebels and south held by the government. The civil war of the year 2002 reached its end in the year 2004 but left the Ivory Coast divided into north and south along ethnic as well as religious lines with the north being populated by the Mande, Senufo, and Lobi groups that are predominantly Muslim and the south accommodating the Krou, Akan, and Lagune groups that are predominantly Christians. The presidential elections held in October and November of the year 2010 had been conducted after postponement of many years. The guerilla war After failure of a peace accord, Gbagbo called for an attack of Bouake in November 2004 in an attempt to control the territory held by the rebels, causing the assassination of nine French soldiers. France, in response, bombed Ivorian airforce entirely. When France made attack in Abidjan, crowds emerged on the streets to protest under the leadership of Ble Goude to stand against the colonialists and attacked anybody they thought was French. In response to this, the French helicopters dispersed the crowd with concussion grenades and tear gas. This arrogant behavior of France underscores its former colony’s sustained imperialist oppression. Despite running out of his mandate as president in 2005, Gbagbo resolved to remain in power cancelling several elections. The Young Patriots of Ble Goude had become the unofficial army of Gbagbo in Abidjan and were believed to be attacking the immigrants. The nationalistic fervor of trying to free Ivory Coast from the colonial interests erupted violence. The Young Patriots encouraged people to attack the UN peacekeepers on the streets of Abidjan. The UN, in response, accused Ble Goude of threatening the reconciliation process and peace in Cote d’Ivoire and traveled sanctions on him. Since 2006, Ble Goude could not leave Ivory Coast and his assets got frozen. A peace treaty was signed in March 2007 giving Guillaume Soro the prime minister’s post and Gbagbo, the post of president. Ble Goude was made the peace ambassador of Ivory Coast. Aftermath of 2010 presidential elections A wave of violence erupted with these presidential elections as Ouattara, the opposition leader defeated the incumbent president of the Ivory Coast, Gbagbo. In the post-election violence, as many as 3000 people lost their lives (“Genocide Watch”). Armies loyal to both Gbagbo and Ouattara committed the atrocities. Crimes that happened after the elections can be classified as genocidal massacres. In its arrest warrant for Gbagbo, the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated explicitly that his attacks were found to be meant for particular religious or ethnic communities in addition to certain national groups of the West-African immigrants. The violence comprised a lot of rapes, murders, and inhuman acts of various sorts meant to destroy the national, religious, and ethnic groups dwelling in the Ivory Coast. The Military Intervention of France, and UN Resolutions The defense agreement between France and Ivory Coast In 1960, Ivory Coast and the French West Africa got formal independence. France maintained its troop existence in the Ivory Coast under the defense agreement signed between France and Ivory Coast in August 1961. Under this agreement, France had priority access to the strategic raw materials and it was the responsibility of Cote d’Ivoire to “inform the French Republic of the policy they intend to follow concerning strategic raw materials and products and the measures that they propose to take to implement this policy [and] concerning these same products, the Republic of Ivory Coast for defence needs, reserve them in priority for sale to the French Republic, after having satisfied the needs of internal consumption, and they will import what they need in priority from it” (Meehan). UN resolutions On 4 February 2003 was the date of unanimous adoption of the UN Security Council resolution 1464 after reaffirmation of its commitment to Cote d’Ivoire’s unity and sovereignty of the territorial integrity. The Council demanded termination of the civil war in Ivory Coast through implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis peace agreement. The Security Council recalled the significance of regional cooperation, noninterference, and good neighborhood. Noted by ECOWAS’s decision, a peacekeeping force was deployed to Cote d’Ivoire for peaceful conflict settlement. Security Council Resolution 1528 authorized the mission of taking over from MINUCI on 27 February 2004 from 4 April 2004. Subsequently, this mandate saw a number of extensions. Kofi Annan, the UN Security General made an appeal in February 2006 to the UN Security Council demanding strengthening of the forces of ONUCI in Ivory Coast with the addition of 800 soldiers from the UN Mission in Liberia. Nearly 8000 soldiers from 41 different countries were deployed in Ivory Coast along with the Operation Licorne intervention made by 4000 French soldiers. On 29 July 2008, the mandate was extended by unanimous voting of the UN Security Council to 31 January 2009 to enable the peacekeepers to ensure conduction of free and fair elections. After withdrawal of the from the peace process of Ivorian Civil War, Gbagbo’s supporters attacked the UN peacekeepers’ base. In this event, the UN base at Guilo was invaded by 1000 protestors. Gbagbo demanded retrieval of the UNOCI troops from Ivory Coast after the 2010 presidential election. Upon refusal of the UN, the aides of Gbagbo said that they would treat the UN troops as rebels if they stayed in Ivory Coast protecting the election’s domestically disputed winner. The UN Security Council Resolution 1975 was issued on 30 March that required the Ivorian parties to respect people’s will as well as recognize Ouattara as Ivory Coast’s President since it was so believed by the African Union, ECOWAS, and the international community also. After the recall of the preceding resolutions over the conflict, the UN Security Council resolution 1633 demanded the implementation of the peace agreements of Accra III, Linas-Marcoussis, and Pretoria by the signatories. The international community in general and the UN in particular is emphasizing upon boosting the democratic efforts and making the judicial process in the Ivory Coast impartial. An independent expert of the UN asserted that the international community needs to support the Ivory Coast in the tough time, “The urgency of the need for political reconciliation and for democratic, economic and social reconstruction is made stronger by the crisis in Mali, the political, military, religious and economic implications of which could destabilize all countries in the region profoundly and in the long term…A multicultural, democratic, egalitarian society that respects human rights is the best defence against this new peril that is fuelled by violence, intolerance and discrimination," (Diène cited in “Cote d'Ivoire”). Situation in Ivory Coast in the Ivory Coast, nearly 9000 UN Peacekeepers re standing lightly armed between the full-scale civil war and the mere political crisis. Since the start of violence in the Ivory Coast, the indispensable role of the UN peacekeepers has been quite noticeable as they attempt to protect the presidential election’s rightful winner and restore democracy in the country. Although he does not have the international support that Ouattara has, Gbagbo controls the armed forces of the Ivory Coast and is determined to stubbornly unleash them to sustain power. Since the calls for the eviction of the UN from the Ivory Coast made by Gbagbo, peacekeepers have themselves experienced numerous attacks. The violent conditions have forced Ouattara to seek refuge in Abidjan. Almost 800 peacekeepers of the UN known as UNOCI are guarding the hotel where Ouattara has sought refuge in Abidjan. UNOCI has been providing Ouattara with water, food, and medication in its attempt to block Gbagbo’s attempts to flush Ouattara out. The united international community is supporting the peacekeeping mission. Some of the prominent members of the international community backing the peacekeeping mission include the UN, the African Union, ECOWAS, and the US. Gbagbo understandably wants the UN peacekeepers to leave the Ivory Coast. The regional switch of circumstances from conflict to democracy particularly in the neighborhood of the Ivory Coast can largely be attributed to the UN Peacekeeping. Works Cited: “An Ivorian Miracle?” AlJazeera. 12 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Sep. 2013. . Collier, Paul. Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places. London: Vintage Books, 2009. “Cote d'Ivoire: Human Rights Violations Threaten to Erode Progress in Cote d'Ivoire, UN Expert Says.” UN News Service. 20 March 2013. Web. 11 Sep. 2013. . “Genocide Watch: Côte d'Ivoire.” Genocide Watch. 25 April 2012. Web. 11 Sep. 2013. . “Ivory Coast – Economy.” 2013. Web. 14 Sep. 2013. . Meehan, Patrick. “The 'problem' with Côte d’Ivoire: how the media misrepresent the causes of conflict.” 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 14 Sep. 2013. . Talbot, Ann. “France intervenes in Ivory Coast’s civil war.” World Socialist Web Site. 7 April 2011. Web. 11 Sep. 2013. . “UNOCI Background.” 2013. Web. 14 Sep. 2013. . Read More